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Top 8 Best Flowers for Vegetable Gardens & Their Benefits


The best flowers for vegetable gardens not only beautify your garden but also provide beneficial insects with pollen and act as a natural pest deterrent. In this post I reveal my top 8 flowers to plant!

The top reason for planting flowers around your vegetable garden is often to provide beauty all year round; however, many flowers (such as marigolds and sweet alyssum) are also trap crops.

What are Trap Crops

Trap crops are a form of companion planting as the plant attracts pests and insects away from your vegetables. These garden flowers can save the main crop from decimation by unwanted insects without the use of harsh pesticides.

To plant flowers among your vegetables can also provide ground cover for the soil. This helps in deterring weeds and preventing the soil from drying out so fast in the summertime.

Some of the best flowers to plant in vegetable garden to deter pests include zinnias, marigolds and more! Read on for the top 8 flowers varieties you should plant in your garden bed.

8 of the Best Flowers for Vegetable Gardens

1. Coneflowers

Coneflowers are some of the best flowers to plant around your veggie garden. They act as a living mulch and help suppress weeds while adding gorgeous colour to your garden.

In addition, coneflowers attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies. They help deter pests such as the squash bug while providing seeds for birds and other wildlife.

cone flowers are the best flowers for vegetable gardens
Coneflowers are beautiful and are one of the best flowers for vegetable gardens

2. Alliums

Alliums prove to be a great addition to any garden. These flowers are relatives of the onion and garlic family; they attract pollinators such as ladybugs, parasitic wasps, bees, flies, and butterflies. They also work to deter aphids, making them a great companion plant for runner beans and other vegetables.

If you’re looking for flowers that fight off pests as well as add beauty to your backyard; alliums are for you!

3. Daisy

Daisies are a great flower to plant around your vegetable garden. They’re beautiful, easy to grow, and attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, parasitic wasps, and flies. In addition, daisies are great at fighting off pests like Japanese beetles!

field of daisies
Daisies are a great companion plant in the vegetable garden

4. Marigolds

Another flower that’s easy to grow in your vegetable garden is the marigold. Marigolds are great for attracting beneficial insects while repelling harmful bugs such as aphids and thrips.

What makes these flowers even better is that they’re deer-resistant!

5. Pansies

If you want to add some colour during the winter months, then pansies are an excellent way to do so.

Pansies help fight off aphids and attract pollinators such as bees while being deer-resistant. They also attract hoverflies and parasitic wasps while deterring striped cucumber beetles.

Pansies are edible flowers too so they are great annual flowers to grow.

pansies are the best flowers for vegetable gardens
Pansies are one of the best flowers in the vegetable garden

6. Lavender

Lavender in vegetable gardens is excellent because it not only provides pretty colour but also smells wonderful! This fragrant purple flower attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies while deterring harmful bugs such as cabbage moths.

What’s even better about lavender is that this non-toxic herb is deer-resistant so you can enjoy these purple beauties without worrying about them being eaten!

7. Sunflower

Sunflowers are a popular choice for vegetable gardeners because they attract pollinators like bees and butterflies; they also deter harmful bugs such as aphids.

With their large flower heads, sunflower plants are also a great way to add some extra privacy when trying to grow veggies and beautify your garden.

bunch of sunflowers
Sunflowers

If you’re looking to find out more about plants that repel flies while maintaining their beauty, check out this list.

8. Zinnias

Last but not least, another one of the best flowers to plant around your vegetable garden is the zinnia.

Zinnias are pollinator-magnets that attract beneficial insects like bees, ladybugs, and hoverflies. At the same time they repel bad bugs such as aphids, cucumber beetles, crickets, and more!

These flowers can be planted in spring and summer. Zinnias in vegetable gardens can also be planted in fall and even winter.

The Best Flowers for Vegetable Gardens

So if you’re looking for plants to attract beneficial insects, help fight off pests and add colour to your garden, then these are the best plants to grow in a vegetable garden. They’ll not only provide some beauty but also act as a natural pesticide.

Having a vegetable garden is great, but you don’t have to stop there. Growing flowers near your vegetable garden can be just as beneficial. Flowers can provide more food for the table while adding beauty to your yard!

And that’s it from me today gardeners! Happy gardening.

Adele

Hello there, I’m Adele the creator of Absolute Gardener. I created this site to make gardening accessible for just about anyone with easy garden tips and tricks.

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