If you are growing out-breeding plants, you will want to attract pollinators. Flowers that are strong producers of pollen or nectar, and bloom over long periods, are best for this purpose. I believe that color alone is a relatively small factor. Flowers provide a food source for some beneficial insects, such as the wasps mentioned above. Those that bear plentiful seed (like sunflowers, dill, and cosmos) will also attract birds; whether the birds attracted will also eat harmful insects is another question. If you are saving vegetable seed, plantings of flowers between different cultivars of the same species may reduce the chances of cross-pollination. This works well for inbreeding species like beans & tomatoes. I have read of some flowers being used as "trap crops", to draw harmful insects away from vegetables; but most of these recommendations were anecdotal. In the vegetable garden, I try to limit flowers to "bee plants". Sunflowers would qualify. I'm not certain that petunias & marigolds have any beneficial effects, beyond their aesthetic value. I remember reading about marigolds grown as a cover crop, to reduce nematodes I believe; but that would require a major planting. There are also vegetables that are not commonly grown, that do triple-duty. Scarlet runner beans, purple basil, and bitter melon are attractive, edible, and good bee plants.

"How do you keep the woodlands in the back of some of those pictures from invading?" I work very, very hard to keep invasive plants out of my yard and remove them when they try to take hold of my garden, including unwanted trees, shrubs, vines and tree seedlings. It's my worst nightmare. I really get tired of it, that is for sure. Although there are no vast, heavily wooded forests here, there are still the plants that grow in the woods that move onto the property and into the immediate yard. It is a continuous battle. There are no heavy woodlands in the background. There are wooded areas along creeks. There is one small wooded area behind my back yard., I call "the Little Wood", and another slightly bigger wooded area further up the hill on my property, which I call :"The Big Wood", but no woodlands. All the vegetation and trees you see in my photos are what I grew with only a few exceptions. I live in the middle of the prairie. Here is a picture I took of the land on the southside of my property, along my driveway just so I could show people what this place was like when I bought it, minus the trees. The white flowering Spirea, Jonquils and green grass along the fence is on my side along the driveway. The trees in the distance are mostly junipers, elms, and hackberry growing along a dry creek. I don't believe any of those trees are native. They have become naturalized. The creek is dry most of the year but runs with runoff water after heavy rains. Farmers cannot plow there, so they leave them for shelter for their cattle. Now, I turned 180 degrees around and took this picture of my front yard: All the land around me looks like the the above land or with even fewer trees and underbrush. Mostly prairie grasslands on rolling hills. Now, if you drive 30 or so miles northeast and southeast of here, you will start getting into the woodland areas, and far eastern Oklahoma there are pine woods and river birch, much like the rest of the South, but not here. The worst thing I have to deal with is Bermuda grass and prairie weeds that blow into the yard, wash down the hill into the yard, or are carried into the yard by animals (via stickery seeds) or through animal and bird poop. Oh, they are awful!!! We get Poison Ivy in the yard and it has to be sprayed - I am terribly allergic. Puts me in serious jeopardy. We have Tall Ragweed that grows up to 18 ft tall. and the regular short ragweed There are sweetbriars, and all kinds of sticky, thorny, seedy vines. There are Cowpeas (Creeping Vetch), Wild Cicily, Buffalo Burrs, Stinging (Spurge) Nettles, Horse Nettle, Nightshade, Poisonous Sumac, Chickweed (from h*ll), Lamb'c Quarters, Virginia creeper (invasive here), Curly Dock, Poisonous Hemlock, Wild Cucumber, Wild Onions, Wild Carrots, Shepherd's Purse (oh so awful this year), and many, many more intrusive, weedy, prairie-type plants, as well as the woodland-type plants. I work hard hoeing, chopping and cultivating all the weeds and weedy grasses out of my garden. I have to battle with weeds and wild grasses and vines all the time. Oh, I hate Johnson grass, Nutgrass, Bermuda grass, and all the other weedy grasses that plague any garden and those "sticktight" vines that grow rampant in trees, bushes and everywhere if they get started. Gads. So, my answer is simply this: I work my arse off. ~Annie

Well ...... it's not growing as much as it oughtta' ;-) And not only that -- new plants keep appearing in the yard of one who is cutting back on plants .... just don't understand how things like that happen. Like how I was a Schumachers the other day and bought a tropical orchid tree, but for $16 and in a 7 gal pot how is one to resist? And not only that -- now it's fixin' to bloom -- out of season! Jim, you probably have one, aren't they supposed to bloom in the spring? (p.s. thanks Omar and all :-)

Thanks Gary. I always thought Lobelia was a cold climate plant, so a winter grower for you? That is a nice colour of blue. Thanks for the ID on the "Wallaby Food" plant Inga. That name sounded familiar so checked it out in my records. I did originally ID it years ago but forgot. It's quite nice, but apparently can become a weed. Although I'm sure the wallabies won't let it get out of control here.