Flowers bring joy to our gardens. Painting our lives with beauty and colour. Often we think of flowers in our gardens as merely decorative components; colourful bursts of petals to break up the various shades of green or brown. However, it is often overlooked how these eye-catching botanicals hold significant roles that improve how your garden functions.
Integrating flowering plants in your garden has been linked to welcoming beneficial insects in your garden, most famously pollinators, but also predatory insects that prey on bothersome pests. Flowers that offer this function are: most herbs (such as dill and cilantro, if allowed to flower), sunflowers and zinnias.
Similarly, some flowers deter garden pests and keep them at bay, protecting all your delectable fruits and vegetables. Examples of these are marigold, nasturtium and chrysanthemums.
Including botanical biodiversity in your garden and integrating more flowering plants builds greater resilience in your growing environment.
