Gladoilus are nice and don't take up a lot of room...I have 4 to 5 hundred. Most will bloom two times.

I planted African Basil next to my tomatoes. They brought in honeybees, bumbles, and all sorts of other pollinators. They do tend to bush out if not trimmed though. As a plus, they are a mild mosquito repellent and smell SOOOOO good. The plant has a lot of oil so you smell like African Basil for a good while after being around the stuff.

Abby

I usually plant nasturtiums & marigolds to ward off some insects from my veggies. I also plant zinnias because they're pretty. In the past I've also grown geraniums and snap dragons because they're pretty. This year I'm trying calendulas along with marigolds, nasturtiums, and zinnias.

I have hummingbirds that love geraniums. The geraniums will probably go on the deck and not in the garden.

Boo

A few years ago I had gazillions of hummers coming to my sugar-water feeders for the third year. I think they reproduced and returned, so their numbers increased dramatically by that third year.

Anyway, I had to refill the feeders every day about 2 PM, and before long, those tiny birds would land on my shoulders, hands, and arms as I carried the refilled feeder back to its hanging hook. They were very bold little mites, squawking and divebombing each other. Their feet felt just like butterfly feet, all prickly and feather-light.

Some of the best things to attract wild pollinators are the things you wouldn't necessarily think of, those plants which don't have splashy or colorful flowers, but are good nectar and pollen sources.

A few things which come to mind are dill, fennel, mints (of course, they'll take over the world, so maybe not so good), oregano, parsley, carrots left to go to seed, onions and leeks left to go to seed, feverfew.

I like to put marigolds near my tomato plants to attract beneficial insects. I don't know how well it worked but it sure did look nice.

I plant Petunias,Pansies and Marygolds.Their flowers provide a fairly good color spectrum to attract pollinators.

Thanks, all. I have a majority of the flowers/plants you've mentioned so far so maybe I'll be all right. It'll be a new thing for me to interplant flowers and other plants with my veggies, since I grew up in an area where a garden was for FOOD, not anything pretty! But there's a need, and maybe there always has been an advantage to mixing things up.

chaman

When do you put pansies in? They're pretty much a fall-winter flower in these parts, don't survive our summer heat.

Denninmi, I never knew that about mint, oregano and parsley. I always have those in my garden (despite having weeded out the mint last year. Yep! It came back. I refer to it as the "evil mother-in-law weed" since my mother in law gave it to me. LOL!)

Anney, Wow! I've never had a hummingbird land on me! They usually scatter into the trees when I come outside. They are fast to come back when they think no one is around though.

To stay almost on topic, I also had verbena in flower pots on the deck last year.

Anney, gazania is said to attract lady beetles and spined soldier bugs.
I have a picture of gazania growing around beans and it's so pretty. I might do
that myself this summer.

I grow borage, goldenrod, lavender, chamomile, coneflower, dill, parsley, lovage,
rue, sunflower, zinnia, sweet alyssum and mint in containers. All are beneficial
and most volunteer lightly. The borage is very pretty with it's blue/purple flowers.
It attracts a multitude of bees. It does get gangly as it matures at which point I yank
it and toss it in the compost pile. The lovage and mint attracts a variety of insects.
Plants with small white flowers are attractive to predatory wasps, among others.
I always allow a few onions to overwinter as you can see in the pic below.
Also borage growing among the pole beans.

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I plant many flowers in with my veggie garden. One year I went through books of companion planting and followed suggestions there. It may or may not have worked but looked so pretty that I've continued to put as many flowers as I can fit into the veggie garden. I really like nasturtiums in with squash plants, they hold their own and on the border just cascade, making a beautiful visual. Marigolds are always good with most everything and are easy to grow from seed. I second the mention of the various herbs, I put thyme and oregano with cabbage and other brassicas (sp?). I let some flower and go to seed while others I harvest for seasoning. Dill is another good one, I usually scatter it where it may and it easily reseeds on its own. Basil is good, pretty and fragrant. I think you will really enjoy your new garden with all the added flowers/herbs.

Hi Anney! I plant zinnas too but also cosmos (yellow) which easily reseeds every year. Over wintered carrots also do well for beneficials. But the best honey bee attractor that I've ever planted was the year I planted crimson clover as a cover crop (planted seed in Oct). The bees were almost scary that year, ha.

Hi Peggy, nice pic! but watch out for the poison ivy growing up the fence trellis ;o)

anney, these pansies grow about 3 inches tall and bear the flowers of about half an inch in size.They are self seeding type.They flower from early summer to the end.I do not have more info. about these pamsies.

I'll second the advice for basil - I use the purple Thai basil because it flowers very freely, and attracts large numbers of bees. Many of the other herbs listed above are good also... but since I power-till each Spring, I can't use perennials in my predominantly annual vegetable garden.

The best flowers for attracting bees in the vegetable garden are long-flowering annuals... and if they volunteer each year, so much the better. For me these include cosmos, bachelor buttons, cleome, and dwarf sunflowers. I love the zinnias also, I just wish they would volunteer as well as those above.

A flowering mallow (Malva sylvestris, which is described in the link below) has proven to be especially effective. It flowers abundantly & attracts many species of bees... more than I have been able to identify. It can also become a weed, if the stalks are not removed at the end of the season, since it self-sows aggressively... but to me it has become a "welcome weed", if that makes any sense. It is not perennial in my Wisconsin climate.

Many vegetables can also be used to attract pollinators. Squashes, okra, limas, and scarlet runner beans are all highly effective. If you like hummingbirds, grow the scarlet runners on a tall trellis... you might have some close encounters.

There is an unusual relative of the tomato (Solanum sisymbriifolium) that bears trusses of 2" white flowers continuously, followed by sweet edible 1" fruit. It is an interesting bee plant, and a real eye-catcher... but it has wicked thorns. It has also proven to be an effective trap crop for some pests. I will offer seed for SASE... contact me through my member page if interested.

Although I plant marigolds around my garden (as do many gardeners), I feel their beneficial aspects are exaggerated, and I don't see a lot of pollinators working the flowers. Some of the older, single-flowered cultivars might be more effective than the modern double varieties.

Why use flowers in the vegetable garden? To add a little beauty, for one thing. If you spend as much time in the garden as I do, you need a little color to break up the monotony. ;-) Certainly to attract pollinators & beneficial insects, which increases the yield of most vegetables.

But for saving seed, I use flowers as "barrier crops" to _control_ pollinators. When planted between two varieties of the same species, flowers provide places for bees to "wipe their feet" as they cross the rows. This reduces the chances of unwanted cross-pollination, and allows closer spacing than would otherwise be required to save pure seed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Malva sylvestris

I have the malva sylvestris volunteering yearly here [prolificly]. I think some over winters here. It probably is a soil builder with its mass and deep roots.

Alongside a back fence I have Johnson Ivy and honeysuckle. I also have sunflowers at the entrance to my backyard and the garden. What part of the back that isn't being used as garden, I'm letting the clover take over. Last year, I had so many honey and bumble bees in my garden area, there was a constant "hum" in the air. And it was the best year, gardening wise. Connection? I think so.

I never thought of using flowers as barrier crops, great idea zeedman.

I too plant lots of basils as I love em all and I use the genovese variety for cooking and canning. The thai basil volunteers a little but not too badly.

Each year I plant a few more herbs in and around the garden hoping to confuse the bad bugs and attract the good ones. Some however, become weeds if I'm not careful. Oregano, for instance, tried to take over my herb garden so now I grow it in a pot. Another is cleome. I planted a mere 6 plants one year and the following year I had 1000's volunteer. I smothered all but a few with newspaper and mulch. I allowed a half dozen to grow but then I realized I have to remove the flower to keep them from dropping seeds so I was left with flowerless cleomes. I wish I could grow them as they are so pretty but they're just too much work.

Vgkg, I have never been able to grow carrots sucessfully but then I've only tried them as a fall crop 3x's = 3 failures. Once I had a few sprout then disappear. Let me tell you, my "poison ivy" taste sooo good boiled up with a little salt and a ham hock;)

The entryway to my veggie garden is an "herb quilt" set out with triangular and diamond shaped beds with stone and wood edgings. The garden beds are slightly raised with wood mulch walkways.

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I plant marigolds, California poppy, Sunflowers, Catmint, Bee Balm, Rocket, Garlic chives, Zinnias, and lavender at intervals within the garden. I like mixing in the flowers for pest control, beauty, bees, hummingbirds, fragrance, and visual pleasure.

Hi Peggy, Fall carrots aren't too easy that's for sure but my main bain with them is their slow germination which allows weed seeds to over take the carrots in short time. I have to meticulaously weed around the carrot seedlings at least 3 times before they're on thier own. Planting them 7 weeks prior to avg first frost date is utmost, any later and they may flop. My carrot planting window here is Aug 20th-25th with no room to wiggle. If your young carrot sprouts are vanishing overnite then it might be slugs coming out after dark to get them. If so beer traps are the way to go.

Back to bee flowers, I also leave some old fall planted collards, turnips, and kohlrabi to bloom in spring. This year I left out a few beets to see what blooms they exhibit for the spring pollinators. After blooming all these get composted.

granite

Your garden is lovely!