Kitchen gardens are usually referred to as vegetable gardens. I prefer to call mine the potager garden. Potager is the French word for kitchen garden. This is where you would grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers for use in cooking.
Why add flowers?
But why should I add flowers to my vegetable garden? Because, adding flowers increases yield and decreases pest problems. Flowers attract beneficials and pollinators that do the work of chemicals. And you can eat many flower parts and petals!
I am not talking about making completely permanent flower beds in the kitchen garden. Rather, I would add beds that have a mix of annual and perennial flowers, herbs, and annual or perennial vegetables in them. You could also add fruit trees and bushes.
Edible flowers for the Kitchen Garden
Annuals
Some annual flowers that you can add to the Potager that are edible include:
- Calendula (flowers)
- Marigolds (flowers)
- Dianthus (flowers)
- Purslane (leaves and flowers)
- Dill (whole plant and seeds)
- Borage (whole plant)
- Parsley (leaves)
- Basil (leaves)
- Violas (flowers)
- Rosemary (leaves)
- Cilantro (whole plant and seeds)
Perennials
Perennial flowers that have edible parts include:
- Lavender (whole plant)
- Dianthus (flowers)
- Daylily (flower buds and open flowers)
- Yarrow (root and leaves)
- Chives (whole plant)
- Beebalm (flowers)
- Strawberry (flowers and fruit)
- Comfrey (leaves)
- Mint (leaves)
- Oregano (leaves)
- Thyme (leaves)
- Fennel (whole plant)
- Lovage (leaves)
- Mountain Mint (leaves)
- Miniature Rose (flowers)
- Honeysuckle (flowers)
Pollinator plants for the Kitchen Garden
Annuals
Other flowers might be added to the garden to improve the number of pollinators. Of these, you might include annuals such as:
- Zinnia
- Cosmos
- Sunflowers
- Nicotiana (flowering tobacco)
- Petunias
- Lantana
- Ageratum
- Helenium
- Larkspur
- Salvia
- Verbena
- Tithonia (Mexican sunflower)
Perennials
Or you may want to use the following perennials in the potager:
- Echinacea (coneflowers)
- Rudbeckia (black-eyed Susans)
- Chrysanthemums
- Ornamental Onions
- Veronica
- Catmint
- Butterfly Milkweed
- Coreopsis
- Geum
- Helenium
- Liatris (blazingstars)
- Garden Phlox
- Betony
- Tall Sedum
- Salvia
These are all sun-loving annuals and perennials that can be mixed easily into the garden. Sometimes you can plant them with vegetables, sometimes they should be separate. If you have more questions about adding flowers to the potager, please contact Grimm’s Gardens for more help.
Happy planting!
