June 9, 2025
It’s Not Too Late to Plant Your Vegetable Garden!
Still Plenty of Time to Grow
While early spring might be ideal for cool-season crops like peas, broccoli, and lettuce, June is prime time for planting summer vegetables. Warm-season favorites like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, beans, and eggplant thrive in the longer days and warmer soil of early summer. Many of these vegetables grow quickly from starts, so you can still enjoy a fruitful garden this season—even if you’re just getting started.
And for gardeners working with smaller spaces—think raised beds, patios, or even large pots—many compact or container-friendly varieties are available now, perfect for squeezing in a garden wherever you can.
Why You Should Plant Flowers With Your Veggies
A vegetable garden doesn’t have to be all work and no whimsy. Incorporating flowers among your vegetables brings more than just charm—it brings pollinators. And when it comes to growing food, pollinators are essential.
Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even certain beetles and flies are responsible for helping many fruiting crops set seed and produce food. Without these beneficial visitors, you may end up with a garden full of leafy green plants and not much to harvest.
By planting nectar-rich flowers like zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums, or calendula in and around your veggie beds, you’ll create a vibrant, inviting space for pollinators. Even a small patch of blooms can make a difference. Try lining your beds with low-growing flowers or tucking them between rows of vegetables for a pop of color and a boost of biodiversity.
Pollinators = Bigger, Better Harvests
So why exactly are pollinators so important to your vegetable garden’s success?
Plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons, and squash all rely on pollination to produce fruit. In most cases, that means a pollinator has to physically move pollen from one flower to another for the plant to successfully bear fruit. If that doesn’t happen—or doesn’t happen consistently—you’ll see fewer veggies, or ones that are misshapen, undersized, or fail to mature at all.
Pollinators increase both the quantity and quality of your harvest. More pollinators means more successful pollination, which results in more fruits, better-shaped produce, and a more consistent yield over the season.
Bonus: A Healthier Garden Ecosystem
Beyond just boosting your veggie yield, planting for pollinators encourages a more balanced, resilient garden. Many flowering plants also attract beneficial insects that help keep pest populations in check. For example, ladybugs and lacewings feed on aphids, while hoverflies and parasitic wasps can help control caterpillars and other leaf-chewing pests.
In short, flowers are more than just garden eye candy—they’re part of a healthy, thriving ecosystem.
Ready to Get Growing? We Can Help!
Don’t let the calendar fool you—it’s not too late to grow a beautiful, productive vegetable garden. Whether you’re starting from scratch or adding to an existing space, our garden centers are stocked with healthy veggie starts, flowering annuals, pollinator-friendly perennials, and all the soil, fertilizer, and support you need.
Stop by your local Mahoney’s today and let our team help you plant a garden that’s as beautiful as it is bountiful!