[Greengiant152]

I'm quit interested in growning some flowers in my allotment next year. I like the idea of companion gardening just not sure which flowers to plant, so as not to attract any unwelcome visitors to my vegetables.......

[mumofstig]

I've moved this over to Grow Your Own, so that more allotment people can see it

I'm going to grow a lot more marigold next year, to try to keep the white fly numbers down

[Trillium]

I'm partial to calendulas. They don't grow too tall, easily grow from seed or self-seed, and bees love them as they're single flowers rather than doubles which hold less nectar.

[Yorkie]

Calendula are lovely, but the french marigold is, I think, the one often mentioned for companion planting purposes.

Also nasturtiums.

Herbs such as lavender are of course lovely. 

[Benandbill]

This is a really interesting thread, thanks Greengiant152.  We tried marigolds by our carrots this year but neither marigolds or carrots seemed to grow too well   

I'm really interested in the subject though especially as we're getting higher on the list on our site for a new plot now.  We only have a half at the mo but when we have more space I'd like to try some flowers to help pollinate our beans and peas etc.

Someone told me it's good to grow onions near broad beans as the black fly are repelled by the smell of onion.  Does anyone know if this is true or (sub)urban myth??

[mumofstig]

sorry can't help Benandbill, but peas don't need help with pollination - they are self-fertile 

[Yorkie]

Onions and climbers / runners should not be kept together.  The beans don't like it.

Don't know if the same is true for broad beans.

[Benandbill]

Gonna have to do the old spray with soapy water at the 1st sign of fly then just to be safe.

Will be nice to have a nice big veg patch with a smattering of floral coluor though...

[BabbyAnn]

We tried marigolds by our carrots this year but neither marigolds or carrots seemed to grow too well  

If I recall, french marigolds produce a chemical in the roots which repel pests so I would have thought carrots would benefit (Mexican marigold even better)  However, Tagetes are also supposed to be effective against some weeds such as celadine, ground elder, ground ivy, couch grass, bindweed and ...  :blink: horsetail (disbelieving ... yeah right) - so may well have affected the carrots (and other members such as parsley, parsnip etc)

Blackfly - nasturtiums are blackfly magnets, supposedly attracts them away from crops.  However, if its a bad year, I think it may just attract blackfly full stop    The best thing to do with broad beans is nip the tops off as the blackfly really just want to feast on the tender leaves, and also encourage ladybirds to your plot (don't tidy your plot too much - leave suitable hiding places for them to hibernate (over winter so they'll emerge in spring just when you need them)  

[MichelleC]

I tried planting marigolds next to carrots/toms etc but didn't really see any benefits except they're lovely and still growing - the flowers that is. I've also grown Cosmos/Dahlia/Calendula/Poppies/Ageratum/Salvia in and around the plot and it looked great. In fact all the flowers are still there and pretty as ever. Bees around all the time. Nearly forgot to say that Monty Don said for every vegetable you grow that you need to plant exactly the same amount of the companion flower.

[shokkyy]

As an experiment this year I surrounded my brassicas with nasturtiums climbing up the fence around the bed, hoping to draw away the cabbage whites. As far as I can tell, it worked fantastically well. I didn't have a single caterpillar on the brassicas, only the nasturtiums. Brassicas elsewhere in the garden did get attacked as usual, so I think it must have been the nasturtiums that did it.

[Springlands]

I planted some stock at the edges of my plot this year - they looked nice, had a beautiful sent and attracted the bees which was good for pollination.

[sunshineband]

This year we had sweetpeas and calendulas, which gave vases and vases of cut flowers as well as looking great.

There were also annual lavateras in pink and white - very pretty- some dahlias (more cut flowers) and now moving on to spray chrysanths.

Oh, forgot the miniature daffs and musacri in spring too --- even more cut flowers 

[angelavdavis]

I have planted a cut flower border which contained sweet peas, dahlias, daffodils, tulips, alliums, nicotiana, cosmos, lilies, lupins and gladioli.  I have interplanted the veg with french marigolds and calendula.  I also have self-seeded borage and poppies growing where they appear.  I think companion/pollinator plants are essential in bringing a balance into the plot.  I still plant veg on over 70% of my plot.

[Yorkie]

Sounds lovely Angela 

Any piccies?