Plant Flowers and Vegetables Together

Organic gardening works better when you plant your flowers and vegetables together. Research the vegetables and flowers you want to plant to find out which ones work well together. I've begun my organic raised bed garden with carrots, lettuce, marigolds, and nasturtiums. The funny thing about this is the night before I purchased the seeds, I dreamed about nasturtiums. I didn't even know what a nasturtium looked like. However, I had been reading on gardening as I was about to try my hand at it again. Also, I remembered my mother talking about planting nasturtiums years ago. So on Easter weekend, I went vegetable and flower seed and plant shopping at Lowe's. The last thing on my mind was nasturtiums. As I browsed the seed packets, I saw "Nasturtiums" and grabbed the packet, remembering my dream. Sure enough, a nasturtium is an excellent companion for a lot of plants like collards, mustards, squash, tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers. These are plants I've either already planted or plan on planting soon. If you've ever planted a vegetable that aphids took over, then you can appreciate my determination to plant flowers that will deter aphids like nasturtiums will. Nasturtiums also deter squash bugs. I love squash. It's probably my favorite vegetable. Nasturtium seeds are already planted in one of the corners of my raised bed garden.

Geranium is another flower that is good to plant. Plant it with tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and even roses. I just learned this and wish I would have known it sooner as I planted two geraniums by my rock garden near one of my trees that flowers in the spring and summer and that I don't know the name of yet. Yes, geranium is on my flowers-to-buy list again. 

Lavender is another good flower to plant near vegetables and roses. It makes a beautiful garden in color as well.
French Marigolds deter whiteflies, and I've read that marigolds deter wild rabbits. I've planted several marigolds already. Before you plant your vegetables, be sure to do a little research on marigolds because there is a difference between varieties of marigolds and the benefits they provide for planting with various vegetables.
This weekend I am planning to plant a few more flowers and vegetables. One of the places I want to plant flowers in is an old mailbox on the side of my little country cottage cabin. My husband and I have plans already drawn up for a renovation of the cabin. Since we plan to do major renovations, we are not painting or making major repairs to the cabin. Believe me, if you drove down our street, you'd notice the little cabin in need of some paint. What can I do, I've been asking myself, to dress this little cottage up? Flowers. Yes. Decorate it with flowers. Flowers in the little mailbox. I've got the inspiration. Now I must get to work. I'll be sure to take pictures this weekend to show you the results. Come back soon for the update. In the meantime, think about your own organic garden and how you will plant your flowers and vegetables.