Pictures of Potager Gardens
by Doug
(In his Garden)
Combining flowers with vegetables
One of the things that beginning gardeners need to understand is that this isn't rocket science (contrary to some authors).
Here's what you really need to know.
Use your favorite flowers. You don't need to add special flowers or make any plans for companion planting. This is about adding flowers to a vegetable garden.
What about edible flowers? If you want to eat your nasturtiums and pansies, then by all means grow them there.
What about cut flowers? Same thing - if you want to grow a flower, plant it in the vegetable garden.
How to do it? The easiest way is to plant a block of flowers and then a block of vegetables beside them. Or you can plant a flower, then a vegetable, mixing them up in the row. There's no "rule" here - you do what makes sense to you.
What about companion planting? Too many garden authors make it seem you have to use this system. The research is still out on many of the folklore techniques but if you want to spend the time to figure it out - feel free. You don't have to (I don't)
If I have a bit of spare space, I tuck some zinnia or other flower for cutting into it. If that area is likely to be shaded by a taller veggie (those silly tomatoes do a lot of shading) I'll try to put shade loving annuals there (coleus, begonia, impatiens) just to keep the garden soil filled up (filling up the soil helps keep weeds down) but I don't get all worked up about it if the cut flower asters get a little too leggy. Heck, they're going to be cut off anyway. :-)
The most important rule to understand. There is no rule. It's what looks good to you.
That's the primary rule of gardening and creating a potager garden. You grow what you like and will use.
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