I intermix flowers and vegies a lot but mostly stay with smaller, more compact vegies in the flower beds. Mostly I try to think in terms of the foliage and how it will blend. Carrots have nice feathery top growth, brocoli has that blueish cast that goes well in my blue and yellow flower area and I'm going to put in some red cabbage this year, just for the color and shape, among some geraniums and other annuals. I tried Bright Lights chard in with the flowers but it got too big for its spot. I'm also growing garlic with my roses this year cause that's a good companion planting.
Trudy
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abe Lincoln
Posts: 26 | Location: Z 6 SC Pennsylvania | Registered: October 21, 2003
Hi all , last year i planted parsley in my flower bed, it was really pretty, the butterflys love it and it looks really fancey at cookouts , also i am going to mix all my vegs and flowers this year, i plan to plant tomt. in the tall area of the bed. ect.. last year i had lots of marriglods left so when stuff was over or died like leaf lettus or the prenials were done i stuck in a marrigold. bye the end of the summer it was really great!! so thats my plan for this year, hopes it works as well when i mean to do it that way
Ok, for the cheapskates out there who don't want to spend booku bucks for cloth or nylon netting, there is a REALLY cheap solution. It also helps if your either a woman or got one on the side. Take worn out panty-hose, not just knee-highs, and sew the waistbands closed. Then cut open the crotch and tie the legs onto the support your using. Just slip the young melon through the crotch into the hose, and it will allow it to breath, grow and will help keep off pests. It is a great, and cheap, way of supporting any vining melon off the ground. But I can't take credit for this one, I saw it in a letter sent to OG magazine.
There is a great watermelon variety called Yellow Doll that I managed to grow last year (in the beds in the greenhouse) - still pretty good for Montana. They were on very petite vines and the fruits were about the size of large honeydew melons you see in the store. You could sling them quite easily if you went vertical.
Someone mentioned Minnesota Midget, and that is actually a muskmelon. I have grown them for the last two years with great success. The first year we had so many we were making melon juice and giving them away. The vines are VERY compact, and the fruit is very petite too, but delicious! It would be a great choice to grow among flowers. You can find seeds for them at irish-eyes.com under the Garden City Seeds brand. I would send you some if I had extra, but mine are all spoken for.
As far as nutrient needs, you could just side dress the cucurbits and that would help keep the application more localized.
Sounds like you have great, creative plans. Have fun!
The only seeds that have volunteered from my compost are melon seeds, and I've had them come up in a couple of flower beds. They did great the last two years! In fact, they produced better than the melon plants I planted--in the flower beds since the volunteers had done so well the first year. The best producers came up in a bed that is surrounded by the cement patio, and those melons loved sunbathing on the hot cement--nice ripening!
Oh what a GREAT idea and good recycling of panty hose! Thanks for sharing!! For those of us who have limited space, growing "up" seems like a good option. I'm planning on putting trellis' along my fence--probably 4-5 of them, and then will grow pole beans, cucumbers & melons now that I know how to support them, and--other ideas?
Eggplant does great and I've used purple kale, bush tomatoes, thai hot peppers are great and decorative with the red peppers pointing up, many herbs especially rosemary.
, also i am going to mix all my vegs and flowers this year, i plan to plant tomt. in the tall area of the bed. ect.. last year i had lots of marriglods left so when stuff was over or died like leaf lettus or the prenials were done i stuck in a marrigold. bye the end of the summer it was really great!! 
Take worn out panty-hose, not just knee-highs, and sew the waistbands closed. Then cut open the crotch and tie the legs onto the support your using. Just slip the young melon through the crotch into the hose, and it will allow it to breath, grow and will help keep off pests. It is a great, and cheap, way of supporting any vining melon off the ground. But I can't take credit for this one, I saw it in a letter sent to OG magazine.
