French marigolds are amazing in planters, ornamental beds, or hanging baskets, but they also look amazing in veggie gardens.
They’re in fact one of the best flowers to plant near your veggie garden. These marigolds aren’t Calendula or the African marigold. These are French marigolds and can do a lot of good for your veggie garden.
Putting flowers in veggie gardens boosts the diversity of wildlife and plants, promotes resilience, keeps the soil safe, and helps the garden thrive.
If you still have doubts why French marigolds are a must for your veggie garden, check out the 10 best reasons to plant them starting today!
10 Perfect Reasons to Grow Marigolds in Veggie Gardens
- Edible plants
Marigolds are edible flowers and aren’t just there for decorating and pollinating purposes. You can make delicious salads using their petals or add them to cupcakes and cakes for a new culinary experience.
- Easy to grow
Marigolds can grow in different types of soils and conditions. They only need a lot of sunlight. They’re practically worry-free plants if they’re planted where there’s full sun exposure.
- Attract bees and other pollinators
Marigolds’ blooms are a wonderful source for bees and pollinators in the growing season.
- They attract predatory insects
French marigolds can help you pull in insects that will better organic pest management. They will attract lacewings, hoverflies, ladybugs, mini-wasps, and other insects that consume aphids and other crop-damaging pests.
- A good trap crop
Marigolds may be a beneficial trap crop for some pest species. This crop lures pests to prevent them from attacking other, more important crops.
That is, slugs like marigolds so planting some marigolds around the edges may help keep the crops safe.
If you notice there are too many, remove the slugs from the marigolds so that they don’t become a bigger issue for the other plants in the garden.
- Pest-repellent properties
Marigold is claimed to repel pests when it’s planted in veggie gardens. They’re said to repel rabbits or deer, but this isn’t founded.
Still, there’s some success in their repelling of pests like Mexican bean beetles and cabbage moths.
- They will bring butterflies to the garden
Marigolds are awesome if you want more butterflies in your garden.
- Used for essential oils
The scented French marigolds are awesome since they can provide an essential oil yield.
The whole plant is distilled and the essential oil is frequently used in perfumery and combined with sandalwood oil to make attar genda perfume.
- They help with nematodes
Marigolds will help their neighbors by killing nematodes which can be a nightmare for your veggie crops!
These roundworms are tiny organisms from the phylum Nematoda. Marigolds may help by secreting a chemical that repels nematodes and contribute to a lower nematode population.
- Can be used as a natural dye for fabric
The petals have a strong pigment which may be used as a natural fabric dye. You can dye cotton, silk, hemp, wool, and so many other fabrics with marigold.
The yellow tones and easy to extract and don’t require using mordant like alum so that the color sticks.
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