A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum To Plant or Not To Plant?....That's My Question

My parents are wondering why would I want to grow flowers? I know that they attract bees and can help pollinate my veggies.Are there any more advantages to growing flowers next to or with a vegetable garden?

Because they are beautiful????????

Some flowers, such as a marigold, have the added ability to be a natural pest deterant, due to the smell.

Carol

As Carol said, they will help deter some insects, things like nasturtiums (attracts bugs to itself instead of your veggies), marigolds and tansy (repels most insects), lavender and rosemary (repels slugs and snails), garlic or anything in the allium family (does wonders keeping most insects at bay) and a few more I can't think of. But I also heard mint and basil can deter insects as well.

Another reason...girls love flowers lol I'm already having people ask for tulips and daffodils!

Forgot to add, established flowering plants can help increase property value (I bet your parent's won't know what to say to that!)

to add to what the others were saying........your best bet when growing veggies is to have a variety of plants and flowers around. Grab a book or search the internet on 'companion planting'. You'll have a valid argument to use with your parents!

I've heard of companion planting.I think I know some things about it like planting marigolds next to vegetable plants.

There is something called butterfly weed that works well around veggies too. It atracts aphids. they get on the butterfly weed and off the veggies. in turn, lady bugs are atracted to eat up the aphids. The butterfly weed gets pretty tall though...4-5 feet. they make a really pretty flower and they reseed themselves.

Asclepias, also known as "milkweed". They are also essential to the future of the Monarch butterfly. Plant them where you don't care, cuz they are great to have, but sometimes look a bit ratty.