Edible Gardening

Companion Plants in the Garden + My Favorite Annuals



How I use companion plants in the garden + my favorite annual flowers! Use my code GROWFULLY and the link https://shakerandspoon.com/growfully to get $20 off your first Shaker & Spoon box!

I’m often asked if I use companion plants in the garden. In a way I do, but not in the way you might think. My tactic more closely resembles what I like to call interplanting and crop confusion. In this video I share the benefits of mixing it up in the vegetable garden- whether you call it companion planting or interplanting– as well as some of my all time favorite annual flowers & flowering herbs.

00:00 Do I Use Companion Plants in the Vegetable Garden?
01:15 Some of the Benefits of Companion Plants or Interplanting
04:19 My Favorite Companion Plants- Annual Flowers & Flowering Herbs (plus benefits)
11:07 Enjoying a Shaker & Spoon Cocktail

For more information on marigold for nematode control, check out this University of Florida extension article: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ng045

This video was sponsored by Shaker & Spoon
#shakerandspoon

41 Comments

  1. Just came in from bringing in my luffas, 21 to be exact, will try several different methods to cure green luffas.
    I completely agree with companion planting. The 1st year (3years ago) I had a tomato bed, potato bed, celery bed and onion bed with very little planted in between, it was so boring. I really changed it up last year and this year, my have gone overboard, a little too much shading for my strawberries.
    One thing that worked extremely well in my opinion is starting perennial cover crops of thyme and oregano. Did not have to mulch those beds and so far have not found the asian jumping worms in them.
    Planted some butterfly bush I started from seed last winter and the are tremendous for bringing in not only butterflies, but the hummers enjoy them as well.
    As always, enjoy your videos.

  2. Truly the best gardening show on the tube. Production is very high and I even enjoyed the commercial. 😀

  3. I’m going to have to watch this one a few times, and keep a notebook handy.
    I absolutely LOVE your videos. Can’t help but share them with gardening gun family and friends.

  4. We are planting a lot of native perennial wildflowers. Pollinators love them and you can help the Monarch butterflies if you plant milkweed species. Thanks for a great list of annuals! I'll include some of those as well.

  5. Really great and informative video, Jenna. Thank you
    This is the first time I am seeing someone use this kind of sponsor 😂👏 It makes you more relatable in a sense. You (I) seem to forget that gardeners have cocktails too. I don't know why 😂

  6. I knew you would go for the Creole drink lol! I learned a whole lot about flowers today Dr. Jen!!!! Thanks

  7. Great video. I like your perspective on interplanting, seems practical and sensible and anti-woo. Have you read Plant Partners by Jessica Walliser yet? It’s good, not great, mostly it clarifies and dispels myths about companion planting. It does offer some practical suggestions for sure, but nothing I was dying to act on myself.

  8. Great info. In an ornamental application, I’ve heard Sarah Raven say that she uses salvias around roses because it releases some sort of sulphuric compound that keeps down pest and disease 🤷‍♀️ not sure but worth a mention

    I think, from what I’ve heard, and like you brought out, the blooms of herbs and other annuals bring in more beneficial/predatory insects and that seems to be what does the trick.

  9. I had Nasturtiums sprawling all over the place this year (and I do love them). Next year I am going to plant 'Alaska' Nasturtiums in hopes that they will remain a little more contained and I may look for the dwarf 'Sulpher' Cosmos seeds as well. Thanks for the tips!

  10. Thanks Jenna. This is exactly what I needed to help me next year with my goal of incorporating more flowers in my garden. I took notes.

    I purchased a green stalk for next year and wanted to ask you if you can suggest a good strawberry variety that would work well in a vertical garden such as a green stalk. Also can you suggest any particular potting mix to use in a green stalk or just for potted vegetable starts in doors? I heard happy frog was good?? I want to try a potting mix other than what I've been get from the big box stores to see if I have better luck both inside and outside next year. Thanks again and enjoy your cocktail 🙂

  11. Is your garden protected from deer, then? (From Western PA, same zone as u) I've had issues with the deer eating all my flowers, some of the ones you mentioned). I guess I need a dog or something, staked out there at night, during the growing season. Idk. I've tried every "deer repellant," fishing line, etc. They still get to my plants.

  12. Cutting the stems from my 24 bell peppers and no doubt passed 300 bells.
    I mulch heavy in fall 3 inches and added 2 compose in spring at seedlings plant time and you said hold back until weather man saw nothing below 50 s in forecast and I listened thanks for that.
    Also your worm casting and micorizomes the best of your seedlings mixture gave myself and the people I gifted with seedlings the best season ever yes 3 of them said I'm the Master Gardener.
    I'm glad you are training me and others
    Thanks Lady.
    Don't over do that drinking ( Yeah you don't seem to overindulge with it)

  13. Hi Jenna,
    I have a small space I planted Giant MARIGOLDS in-between tomato plants then the Margolds got bigger than tomato plants then the tomatoes took over. I rubbed the marigolds every day. I did not find any horned worms. Then on the other side of the patio I planted Sunflowers. How is your Lomi working out? I have one too.

  14. Very informative and enthused by the detailed flower and bug stuff..what about roses? Maybe I missed something lol

  15. I see that your channel is precious. I would love to repost your whole channel, without changing anything, on the nice platform named Ganjing World. If you agree with that, please let me know. Thanks!

  16. I’m a new viewer and love this information about beneficial plants presented in a way to understand it’s about the threats. Thank you! Do you mind sharing how big your planting space is? I tend to go overboard in the small space I have and would like to try this process in two areas of my property. 🪴🌼🌸💜💜

  17. Great video Jenna! I started using more flowers in my veg garden a few years ago and I agree it makes the garden more interesting and beautiful. Of course I love bringing in and helping the pollinators too. I really like calendula since it’s one of the last flowers to succumb to the cold and now I’ll have to try the Bachelor buttons for the early flowers. This was the first year I allowed a volunteer sunflower to grow but was puzzled because the other plantings I had nearby didn’t germinate or grow well. I finally did some research at the end of the season and learned that they are allelopathic. Next year I’ll have to set them in a space of their own.

  18. I would save those bottles that you got in the drink mix box. You could use those bottles for making herb tinctures and oils.

  19. This year I grew naturtiums, calendula, marigold and cosmos in my vegetable garden. While I can't prove it scientifically, I notices that the insect pressure on brassicas and summer squash was lower than I had experienced prior to intercropping these flowers. Also the number of native bees these flowers attract was phenomenal . The flowers add to the visual appeal and I love walking through the garden amid the colorful blooms and seeing all the pollinators hard at work.

  20. Loved the video but must admit the description of the ingredients from Shaker n Spoon did tease and tantalize my palate n senses and took it to a whole new level! Congratulations on mixing it up a bit! Aah pun unintended! 🤣

  21. I think mixing annuals in (something I have not delved into yet) is a visually excellent idea. Much of what I plant is….green. I miss the colors. I've not been a fan of annuals because I'm lazy, and I Ike things that come back every year. But, as I garden more, I'm willing to make the effort for the benefits of the visual rewards. I don't drink, but you almost convinced me to buy that kit. You're a good sales person. 🤗

  22. Wow Jenna! You grow a LOT of flowers. Perhaps in the future I will add more flowers to my garden, but until it is expanded significantly I will limit them. I do however grow marigolds in my garden. Why? They are pretty. lol
    Your knowledge and your vocabulary I find fascinating. I don't know how to explain it. Except that it's obvious that you have a sharp mind. Anytime I feel like getting a second opinion on something, or when there is an area that I am unsure of, you are who I come looking for.
    I do want to thank you for being there. It means a lot to me.

  23. OH I wanted to add, that I never grow cilantro but I do like to grow coriander. 😁😉

  24. Thank you so much for this insightful video, Jenna! I never know what flowering plant seeds to buy to benefit my garden (tried some lavender and milkweed this year, but they failed 😅), so I'm genuinely grateful for this video 💚

  25. Hey Jenna, quick question. I bought a razzmatazz grape per your recommendation. It's in a hanging basket also. Do I need to keep that in my garage during the winter? Can I leave it outside?

  26. I love zinnias and marigolds because they will grow in horrid conditions. I have been told but never have scientifically proved that the scent of marigolds are a deterrent to mosquitoes. I worked in a cotton IPM program that was in place to eradicate boll weevils in cotton when I was young. Beneficial insects can suppress pests to the point where you then only have to follow up limited pyrethroid synthetic based insecticides or pyrethum organic insecticides. I will have to add a garden drink to my to do lists. Great video Jenna

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