Whether you grow in the ground or in containers, the basics of Starting A Vegetable Garden are the same. Learn what varities work best in your area and how to prep the soil.
Vegetables need lots of sun, and the garden location should be easy to get to for watering and monitoring for disease or insect pests.
A vegetable garden full of flowers is beneficial to both the pollinators and the vegetables.
DENVER, Colorado — My vegetable garden is also a flower garden. It’s alive with bees, butterflies and birds.
Vegetables and flowers are so compatible. They can grow in harmony. Some flowers, such as marigolds, are beneficial companions to vegetables since the repel bad insects. My marigolds “volunteer” in my vegetable beds, meaning that they self-sow from year to year. The bees have pollinated them over the past 20 years, creating a variety of shapes and colors. Sometimes I need to cut back the marigolds to keep them from overwhelming the vegetables they’re protecting.
Most of my vegetables are thriving despite a slow start and a pounding by hail. Even the cabbage has rebounded. Speaking of cabbage, watch out for cabbage loopers. These are small caterpillars laid by those cute little white “butterflies.” They are not your friends. They attack anything in the cole family, including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussel sprouts.
I grow zinnias and dahlias in my vegetable garden as well. Both attract butterflies. I’m particularly fond of a strain of zinnia called ‘Raggedy Anne.’ It’s an heirloom variety with a shaggy look and it’s flat, like a helicopter landing pad. That’s perfect for butterflies to land on to get nectar and pollen. Many modern zinnias are all doubled up, making it more difficult for insects to get the pollen and nectar.
Dahlias are similar. That’s why butterflies and bees prefer those with single flowers. I especially like ones with deep bronze leaves, such as apricot ‘Mystic Dreamer,’ ‘Mystic Yellow,’ (there are also red and pink flowers in the Mystic series), and the crimson-flowered heirloom variety ‘The Bishop.’
Marigolds, zinnias and dahlias are native to Mexico, which explains why they grow so well in a warm, sunny vegetable garden. Sunflowers are also a welcome addition. Finches love the seeds, so make sure not to deadhead the sunflowers.
One peculiar feature of my vegetable garden is my ladder garden. I’ve added shelves to a tall wooden ladder and planted pots of begonias, impatiens and spider plants. it’s a futile attempt to distract attention from the compost pile behind it. Nevertheless, it’s great fun. Consider a ladder garden if you’ve got an eyesore to disguise.
More Proctor’s Garden:
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