Always plants flowers in your vegetable garden

Growing your own food is the best way to insure you know what’s ON your food. As the snow continues to fall, our thoughts turn to garden planning and seed starting. If you’re still growing flowers and vegetables on opposite sides of your yard, it’s time rethink your garden plan. Companion planting flowers and vegetables in the same beds is a strategy professional growers use to boost yields and keep crops healthy, and it’s easy and beneficial for beginners to do, too. (Whether you’re starting your first garden or switching to organic, Rodale’s Basic Organic Gardening has all the answers and advice you need—get your copy today!)

Maggie Saska, plant production specialist at the Rodale Institute organic farm, says the most important reason to grow flowers in your vegetable bed is to attract native bees and other beneficial insects. Without bees stopping by your garden to snack on nectar and swap pollen around, you’re going to have a pretty disappointing crop. Plus, planting bee-friendly flowers near your vegetables also supports struggling pollinator populations and biodiversity. You can also plant flowers specifically to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and other desirable species.

(You may have also heard that some flowers help vegetables out by repelling pests—a popular example is that growing marigolds next to melons controls nematodes in the soil that destroy the melons’ roots. If you’re interested, you can learn more about this practice in Great Garden Companions.)  

Our local seed providers can seeds and advice to help you get started.  Here’s information about Boise and the Treasure Valley. Share your favorite resources in your part of the state!

Get locally grown NON GMO seeds:

• SNAKE RIVER SEED COOPERATIVE – Heirloom, non-gmo, open …

  • SNAKE RIVER SEED COOPERATIVE sells heirloom, non-gmo, open-pollinated seeds grown by 29 small, family farmers around the Intermountain West!

• Welcome to North End Organic Nursery located in Boise, ID

  • It’s seed starting time! We have an amazing selection (over 1700) of organic, non-gmo, and heirloom seeds!
    Did you see the classes they have? 

• Edwards Greenhouse

  • Serving the Treasure Valley for over 80 years, Edwards Greenhouse is a family-owned, nursery and florist, situated on 10 acres in the heart of Boise.

• Adams Gardens – Full service nursery and garden center …

  • Adams Gardens is a locally owned and operated full service nursery and garden center located on the corner of Greenhurst Rd. and Happy Valley Rd. in Nampa, Idaho.
    *here’s their selection of fruit trees!