Growing flowers and veggies together

[jonny]

Hi everyone, I am new here ( a seedling I believe) so a severe frost could kill me What I am after is advice. I am going to be looking after a large kitchen garden this year. It is an old fashioned walled garden and has superb soil and drainage. My employer is very keen on flowers for the house and is especially fond of sweet peas. I have to grow all the veggies and provide flowers to pick and look good in the garden. I want to try to grow flowers (and herbs) that will enhance the veggies next to them by discouraging aphids, butterflies etc. I have quite a few ideas, but would welcome lots more. I have been looking at Potager and whilst this seems to go some way in the right direction, I feel it is too decorative. The most important thing here is the veg.
I look forward to hearing any advice.

[Jaxom]

Over the years I have built up a garden with flowers in it all through the year. They tend to be perennials and I have little to do with them after planting. I have never thought about growing to keep cut flowers in the house. I tend only to take dahlias in after a heavy rain has broken their stems. I have heard that Sarah Raven has a book on growing flowers for cutting so I went and looked on amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...951932-7027063 It has rather mixed reviews though, so would recommend having a flick through before buying.
My main source of information is a book called perennials by the RHS that lists most plants first by size then by season and finally by colour. Its ISBN is 1-8718-5438-5 but I can't find it listed on Amazon. There however is one that looks similar. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...951932-7027063 called Hardy Perennials that might be the same but rebound?
Jax

[andrewo]

Sweet peas, tagetes, cosmos, cerinthe are companion plants to many vegetables, there is a companion plant thread on this site. You could check it out and see if it helps. A walled garden, lucky you.

Have you considered fruit, especially trees for the flowering season, step over apples are lovely. Audley End could also help you as they grow flowers.

Lavender is also a good companion plant and Sarah Raven's site the Cutting Garden is excellent.

[nick the grief]

If you want flowers for the house, you can't go wrong with Spray Chrysanths & Dahlia's. The Chry's will lats longer but the dahlia's flower their heads (or should that be Tubers) off.

Sarah Ravens book is OK but pricey I think, I got my copy from one of the cheapo bookshops for a Fiver.

If you want to have a look at what you could do with a walled Garden, the "Victorian Kitchen Garden" & "Victoriian Flower Garden" are good Video's and I guess they'll have a book to go with them somewhere.

I think one of the National Trust place have restored a Kitchen garden and I would have thought they may have info somewhere.

[jonny]

Thanks for this and sorry I didn't pick up the earlier thread. I now have a mountain of advice to try and pick through:-)

[nick the grief]

Thats the trouble Jonny, we're all to damn helpful

[andrewo]

glad to be of help