The Flowering Solution To Keep Garden Pests Away From Zinnias

Zinnias are such a delight to have in your yard with their gorgeous array of colorful blooms that brighten your day. They can also provide you with bunches of flowers to bring indoors. These beautiful plants are certainly the stars of any flower garden, but did you know that there's an equally vibrant flowering species you should be planting with your zinnias? Not only can this provide you with more glorious color and stunning radiancy, but it's also the perfect flowering solution to keep garden pests away from your zinnias. We're talking about pot marigolds, also known as calendula. These showy annuals have been a popular addition to vegetable gardens for centuries, but they can also do wonders for your zinnias as an excellent companion plant.

Calendulas appreciate similar growing conditions as zinnias and have highly attractive daisy-like flowers in bright and cheerful colors such as yellow and orange. Aside from that, they are known to repel certain pests while attracting beneficial predatory insects such as hoverflies and parasitic wasps. Calendulas are often used as trap plants because they tend to attract common garden pests like aphids, thus keeping these sap-sucking insects away from your precious zinnias. This can have additional benefits if ladybirds happen to find your brightly colored calendula blooms — the ladybird nymphs feed on aphids and this helps to keep their numbers under control. You'll also find that this edible flower will attract bees and pollinators to your garden, which is an added bonus. 

It's super easy to add some calendulas to your flower patch alongside your zinnias. They can be grown from seed directly in the garden in early spring. Don't worry if there's still a few light frosts predicted because these plants can thrive in cool weather. Or, you can start them indoors in late winter, if you prefer. Another benefit of growing these little stunners in your yard is that they'll readily reseed themselves, so you could have them coming up for years. You'll be pleased to know that these fast-growing spring flowers will give you a colorful garden in no time, because they bloom prolifically, making them a very welcome addition to any flower patch. You may find that they hold back their flowers in hot weather, but as the heat dissipates a little, they'll once again put on their striking floral display.

Once they're growing happily in your yard, water your calendulas just the same as the zinnias, making sure to avoid getting the leaves wet. This should help to prevent fungal diseases from taking hold. You'll also find that these helpful pruning tips to get the most blooms out of your zinnias will apply to your calendulas, as the results will be the same — you'll be delighted with the masses of blooms they'll produce.