Vegetables need pollination in order to produce fruit. Bees move pollen from male to female flowers and when this occurs, the vegetable begins growing fruits.
To attract pollinators to your vegetable garden, plant flowers they like and group veggies so it is easier for pollinators to locate food supplies.
Plant Flowers That Attract Pollinators
Pollinators are an essential element of any vegetable garden, and certain flowers can play an especially vital role. By inviting pollinators to visit, you can increase fruit set rates while simultaneously decreasing pest damage.
Not only can certain flowers act as food sources for pollinators, they can also act as natural pest repellents in your vegetable garden and improve soil quality. Marigolds, nasturtiums and dianthus flowers serve as effective natural repellents while others such as sunflowers, nasturtiums, zinnias cornflowers foxglove and liatris (aka “blazing star” flowers are good food sources.
When selecting flowers to plant in your vegetable garden, keep pollinators in mind when selecting flowers – bees like white, blue and purple blooms while butterflies prefer reds and yellows. Hummingbirds like bright red and orange tubular-shaped blooms while bumble bees prefer round, flat-topped blossoms for pollination purposes.
Diversifying your flower garden with perennials, annuals and herbs that bloom during spring, summer and fall is vitally important in order to attract pollinators of various varieties. When selecting perennials for plantings in your landscape design project consider how they affect pollinator colonies at specific times of the year – perennials should attract pollinators while annuals and herbs tend to attract pollinators at other times of year.
Color, scent and height all impact a flower’s ability to draw pollinators in. Flowers with larger blossoms tend to attract more pollinators than shorter or dwarf varieties; when possible, plant in groups for maximum impact.
Add other garden elements that attract pollinators, like birdbaths, ponds and small water bowls, to attract bees. Be sure to leave plenty of bare ground in your veggie garden so bees can find shelter from beetles. Also avoid herbicides that may harm them such as herbicides and chemicals that are toxic for bees.
Let some of your vegetables and herbs flower to attract pollinators. Herbs such as parsley, thyme and sage can easily be grown from seed and make an excellent way of attracting bees and butterflies; perennial herbs like chives and sagebrush can also be grown from seed or purchased pre-established. And many vegetables such as beans and squash feature flowers that attract pollinators!
Plant Flowers That Bloom Throughout the Season
Flowers that bloom throughout the season provide pollinators with a steady source of food, helping prevent “flower drought”, or periods when many blooming flowers stop producing nectar, leading to bees no longer visiting your garden. Sunflowers (Helianthus annus) and cosmos bicornis are excellent vegetables to attract pollinators as both grow quickly with minimal care needs – regular watering should be sufficient but avoid overwatering them! Sunflowers may require staking as some may topple over in strong winds!
Flowers of various colors, shapes and scents are key to drawing pollinators into your vegetable garden. Choose varieties tailored specifically to your climate and growing conditions: for instance hummingbirds prefer plants with tubular blossoms while bees favor round ones; butterflies often favor flat-topped blooms. Consider choosing both single-flowered as well as double-flowered varieties – flowers with too many petals may make pollination harder for some pollinators; select those with an open center instead.
Vegetables such as squash, cucumbers and melons require pollinators in order to produce fruit. Each flower in these vegetables has male and female flowers with bees visiting both to move pollen from male flowers onto female ones – this ensures fertilization occurs and fruits develop on these vegetables.
If you’re growing zucchini or squash, plant flowers that bloom simultaneously so bees can move freely from flower to flower. Sweet peas, cosmos and zinnias are some popular bee magnets; other options include sweet peas, cosmos and zinnias. Don’t forget herbs – mint family plants (like oregano and thyme) also attract bees while adding value as companion plants for vegetable crops.
Many flowers can effectively deter or even kill certain vegetable pests, making them an excellent addition to a vegetable garden. Weeds also possess natural insect-repelling qualities. Integrating flowers and companion plants into your vegetable garden not only adds beauty but also reduces pesticide use.
Make a Bee Bath
As you plan your garden, keep pollinators in mind when selecting plants to bloom at different times so they always have access to food sources nearby. If all the sun-loving vegetables in your garden start flowering simultaneously, bees won’t have anything nearby that they could visit for sustenance. Choose flowers that bloom throughout spring through fall – choose long-blooming varieties like chives which provide pollen from early to late summer for optimal vegetable gardens as their flowers attract pollinators-feeders while their very presence deters pests from making their home among your plants – bees love them while protecting their veggies from insects as a great pest protection measure!
As part of your vegetable garden design, it’s advisable to include many native and wildflower plants. Since pollinators have evolved alongside these native flowers in their natural environment, they tend to attract pollinators more effectively than non-native species. Not only are native flowers beautiful and bring pollinators in, they will also add needed nutrients and moisture into your soil – great examples being butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), blazing star (Liatris) and culver’s root (Veronicastrum).
An effective way to increase bee activity in your garden is by creating a bee bath. Bees are thirsty creatures, so providing them with easy access to drinking will increase their likelihood of pollinating vegetable crops and flowers in your garden. A bee bath should resemble a bird bath in size but feature rocks or other objects for them to perch on as they drink from it – be sure to place it near flowers and vegetables so it receives optimal sunlight!
While commercial bee baths may be easier, creating your own is a straightforward project for kids to help with. Simply fill a saucer or small bowl with fresh water and place it out in your garden; add rocks, pebbles or any other items bees can use to perch as they drink, before refilling the saucer with more water as a place for weary bees to rest from their long journey between flowers they pollinate and their hives.
Build a Bee Hotel
Honeybees and bumblebees may live in colonies, but solitary bees prefer nesting alone in tunnels, hollow stems or old beetle holes. While these elusive insects may be harder to attract than their more social cousins, you can give them an assist by creating a bee hotel.
Bee hotels are easy and effective ways to attract native species of bees into your vegetable garden. A bee hotel can be made out of bamboo, reeds or sticks; just make sure it contains nesting material inspected and approved by solitary bees before proceeding with its construction.
Bee hotels can be bought premade from bamboo or reeds, but making one is relatively straightforward. All it requires is creating a frame with closed back and roof to prevent rainwater from inundating nesting materials (Figure 2). Fill this frame with canes, bamboo lengths or hollow stems as nesting material (Figure 3).
Bee hotels should use nesting material made up of old, dried twigs or branches with open ends that have no bark; although some solitary bees might prefer pinecones or soft materials like moss as nests as these materials may harbor parasites and fungal infections that could compromise their wellbeing.
Once you have assembled all your materials, begin drilling holes in the frame that correspond to the sizes of solitary bee tunnels. A variety of hole sizes is ideal as this will attract more bee species to use the hotel. Also try keeping its size modest as blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) prefer structures with less than 100 nesting tunnels (Artz et al. 2014).
Establish your bee hotel in a sunny spot away from highly trafficked areas. If possible, face the front of your bee house south so it warms earlier in spring and stays warmer into autumn.
Once your bee hotel is up and running, it is imperative that it remains clean. Solitary bees who nest within will come and go frequently, leaving behind droppings that could build up and lead to diseases threatening bee health. Regular cleaning helps avoid these droppings from becoming an eyesore causing harm to bees.