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Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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Posted by Patti Belgau - WI-Z5 (pattibelgau@msn.com) on Thu, Feb 22, 01 at 14:51
This is my second year with my current garden. This is my first attempt at growing veggies. I have a large bed on the South side of the yard. Sun all day. I inherited the garden from the previous owner. She had some good ideas, Included, Cone flowers, sedum, Russian sage, lots of yellow button looking flowers, Peony’s, Tall purple flowers (bloom late) Ferns, and more. I want to utilize that area for veggies. I do not have the room for a lot and I think a square for veggies looks hokey. I am starting from seed, eggplant Bambino, a summer squash, (sunburst), Watermelons (duce of hearts), Gourds, Cabbage, Lettuce, Lemon Cucumbers, Pumpkins (the French Cinderella kind), and Cantaloupe.
In the flower department, I am adding moonflower and cardinal climber (together on a trellis) Nicotiana Syv., Sweet Pea, Larkspur, Delphiniums, creeping thyme, and cosmos sea shell. The BIG QUESTIONS, is there away to incorporate the veggies and the flowers so that they are pretty together? How many of the items can I trellis since I have so many things that grow on the ground? Would it be a more pleasing look to have them all on the ground? I am a trial and error kind of girl so I just picked what I wanted, NOW, I need a plan. Any hints on how to do this and any experience in my choice of veggies? Many Thanks
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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Your garden sounds wonderful. I've never grown melons but your squashes, cucumbers and pumpkins can be trellissed. Be careful about overcrowding, a good way to get weak plants and disease.
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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| Hi- you said you think veggies in square looks hokey- well then maybe you've simply not seen it done nicely - try visiting Farmer Johns Square Foot Garden web page and take a stroll through some of the Community Gardens that have used the Square foot methods to one extent or another. Lots of gorgeous places with flowers and veggies all mixed and believe or not- French Intensive Gardening- the Basis of Square Foot Gardening - utilized planting lots of Veggies in a small place and you get strong, not weak plants and more vegies for the area than you would with traditional rows.It IS a different kind of thinking -but if you try it - you will love it. Trellising is a crucial part of it and helps to produce heathier and more abundant veggies in a smaller space, plus shade other plants,add interest and beauty to the garden.Just my two cents.When I first started gardening this way - all my oldtimer neighbors said it wouldn't work-but it did- beautifully.My daughter's school has a garden and this is how they do it-The Sq Ft Group is very free with their help and loves it when community gardeners want to incorporate their ideas in their gardens- Might be worth a looksee before you decide it is not for you.I work with my daughters garden at her School and am amazed at what can be done when people get together-Just glad I'm not in charge! Good Luck-Kitty |
Here is a link that might be useful: Square Foot Garden Page
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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| Rodale's had a book out on "companion planting" and I'm sure that much has been written from other sources on the subject. I seem to remember they brought herbs and flowers into play also. Another plus about companion planting is that some flowers like marigolds repel many bad insects. So, you are also avoiding the use of insecticides. |
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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| If you want it to look attractive, the main thing you should do is water-water-water. Veggies need a lot of it. If they don't get enough of it, they'll crisp up and look tired. Cabbage and lettuce are attractive plants in their own right. I'd put them at the edges of the bed, especially the lettuce. I love having tall flowers growing up out of the leaves of my melons and pumpkins ~ gives a little splash of color in all that green. What kind of gourds are you growing? I grow luffas every year and the bright yellow flowers are gorgeous! I think they would fit right in in any ornamental flowerbed.
 All of the vines can be trellised, but if you trellis the melons and pumpkins you'll have to support them somehow. Usually people who do this use net bags or pantyhose which you might not want in your flowerbed (not too attractive). I don't know if you have the setup to do this, but you could grow them on a short trellis and prop the fruit up on upside-down clay pots, sections of logs or something else attractive. Good luck! |
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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| I found (by raising in two different locales) that the French Cinderella pumpkins were harder to raise than other pumpkins. This is my experience with them. |
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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Hi...
There is a really great book you should check out-- and anyone, for that matter. It's called The Kitchen Gardener by Anna Pavord. It is truly amaaazing... really beautiful (depressing) pictures of flowers and veggies together in happy profusion. Basically, follow the same patterns with veggies and flowers as you would if you were just growing flowers-- the way you might mix a deep blue hosta with a tiny coreopsis, instead of a hosta use a cabbage. Instead of ferns, use carrots. Also, many vegetable plants, especially the ones you are growing have big yellow flowers that would look nice with something purple or blue. Pansies? I edged my zucchini with yellow dwarf marigolds this past year-- it looked fantastic. I always put marigolds in with the tomatoes to discourage nematodes, and also with the cukes and other squashes to attract cucumber beetles to the marigolds and not the cucumber plants!! I think a trellis is an execellent idea-- great way to add drama to your plot. If you're using a simple tripod of sticks, make sure to cover the whole with chicken wire or nylon garden netting so your plants will twine. |
RE: Any Ideas on Veggies with Flowers
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| We grow herbs, flowers and veggies together, that way everything on the table from the food to the decore comes from the garden. Adding flowers to the veggie garden also increases the number of bees to the area, as well as some beneficial insects like the hover bee. |
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