Use Flowers For High Yields In The Vegetable Garden

What are the best flowers to grow for vegetable gardens to attract beneficial insects? 

This was the very first question I asked after my epic fail of year 1 of vegetable gardening. It was a huge fail for me and I learned a very valuable lesson – quickly! 

I was excited to grow large quantities of vegetables for my family.  Varieties like: tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, beets and many others.

I had a lot of green lush plants and very little fruit production. Trying to figure out what I did wrong, I decided to take the Master Gardener 16 week class at the local extension office. The night it came to vegetable gardening, I reluctantly shared my failure with the class and learned that the one important thing I was missing was beneficial insects and pollinators. I needed to add flowers to the vegetable garden to attract pollinators like bees, butterflies,beetles, lady bugs and other beneficial insects. 

Why Are Flowers Important To Vegetable Gardens? 

For vegetables and fruit to produce they need to be pollinated. Pollination is when pollen from a male flower sexual organ, the stamen, comes into contact with a female flower’s sexual organ, the stigma. The pollen can be dislodged from one to the other by wind, beneficial insects or hand pollination. 

What Are Pollinator Friendly Flowers? 

Pollinator friendly flowers produce lots of pollen and nectar that feed beneficial insects. Some have large single head flowers such as Marigolds, Zinnias and Coneflowers to use as “landing pads”.  The most pollinator friendly flowers are native plants. These plants not only grow easily in your garden because they are adapted to our clay soils but they feed native bee populations and attract them to your garden more regularly. Native Plants like milkweed, ironweed, spiderwort and goldenrod are a great addition to your garden. These flowers don’t have to be planted next to your vegetables. They can be planted outside the garden in other borders or in different beds in proximity to your vegetable plants. 

There are two different types of flowers you can add: Annuals and Perennials. The annuals below are all prolific nectar and pollen producers. Some can be planted directly into the rows of vegetables to attract beneficial insects and help to ward off and deter pests. Many of these annuals will also self-seed and come back the next year. 

1. Borage (Borago Officinalis) 

Grows to 2-3 feet tall. Produces blooms in about 6 weeks after planting. This is an edible plant.

2. Coriander Or Cilantro (Coriandrum Sativum) 

Cilantro grows to about 3 feet tall and produces white blooms. Edible as well. 

3. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum Esculentum) 

Grows to about 2 feet tall and has these gorgeous white blooms. This annual flower is also edible and used to make cereals. 

4. Fava Bean (Vicia Faba) 

Plant gets from 2-5 feet tall. Both the leaves and the bean are edible. 

5. Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia Maritima) 

Fragrant low growing carpet like flower. Very drought and heat tolerant.

6. Phacelia (Phacelia Tanacertifolia) 

Grows to about 3 feet tall and blooms from early March until end of May

7. Dill (Anethum Graveolens) 

Grows to be about 1 1/2 feet tall; has large whispy yellow flowers and bees land on them easily. Also edible.

Here is also a list of great Perennials for the garden that will come back every year and attract all the beneficial pollinators your vegetables need:

1. Giant Hyssop (Agastache)

This bushy upright plant gives a drink of nectar or pollen to visiting bees and butterflies and is beautiful when dried. Blooms in July and August.

2. Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum)

Arramatic leaves that grows low to the ground. Has dense white clusters of flowers that butterflies flock to. Gets about 3 feet tall and great for cottage gardens and butterfly gardens too.

3. Spiderwort (Tradescantia Ohiensis)

Great for clay soils. Deep bluish-purple flowers that bloom late spring and into early summer. Grows to around 2-4 feet tall. 

4. Milkweed (Asclepias)

Butterflies will only lay their eggs on Milkweed which is the host plant for their caterpillars. The showy flowers are a beautiful magnet for these pollinators and are sure to attract them.

5. Ironweed (Vernonia Fasciculata)

Bees and butterflies love this flower. It’s named for its stem. It is tough and strong to hold up large clusters of deep purple flowers without slouching. Gets to be about 4-6 feet tall, so would be wonderful on the border of a vegetable garden.

6. Cup Plant (Silphium Perfoliatum)

Gorgeous yellow flowers that grow to about 10 feet tall. The flower holds rainwater and therefore excellent for birds. Butterflies and songbirds both will devour the seeds.

7. Goldenrod (Solidago)

This native plant makes a beautiful show in the late summer and attracts native pollinators to your garden 

8. Bee Balm (Monarda)

Perfect for bordering a vegetable garden. Will grow to about 3 – 5 feet tall. Hummingbirds arer attracted to this flower along with bees. Does need moisture during the heat of the summer, so watering may be necessary.

9.  Joy Pye Weed (Eupatorium)

Another great native plant that attracts butterflies to your garden in late summer to early fall.

10. Blazing Star (Liatris)

These beautiful spires of purple flowers will be covered in bees and provide a great contrast to other native plants on the list.

Remember, vegetable plants need to be pollinated so they can grow huge yields of vegetables for your family. And of course when they are in full bloom, your garden will be filled with beneficial insects and lots of gorgeous colors!