Zinnias are some of the most beautiful, productive annual flowers available to gardeners. They tend to grow from seed readily, they bring a wealth of color to the garden from early summer through to fall, and they're helpful companion plants for the most popular garden vegetables.
Zinnias might not have the pest-deterring qualities of other companion flowers like marigolds and calendula but thankfully, there's no reason you can't grow both-- especially when they're easily sown directly from a $3 packet of seed.
This guide covers the benefits of companion planting with zinnias, what vegetables grow well with them, and what plants tend not to. Whether you're growing zinnias in pots or raised beds, you can incorporate them into your vegetable garden in a way that not only lifts the spirits but may actually increase vegetable yields.
Skip Ahead: Benefits of companion planting • Best companion plants for zinnias • What not to plant with zinnias
Benefits of companion planting with zinnias
Zinnias aren't the most popular flowers for vegetable gardens, but they do offer a few benefits for nearby veg and herbs. Beyond the beauty they bring and their long bloom time-- from early summer until the frosts-- here are a few reasons you might want to plant zinnias in your vegetable garden:
- Providing shade: Tall zinnia varieties can provide shade for part-sun companions as summer temperatures climb.
- Covering soil: Dwarf zinnias can fill the space between vegetables, acting as a living mulch that improves the soil condition and keeps the soil cool.
- Attracting pests: Zinnias are a favorite of cucumber beetles, so they can be planted as a sacrificial trap crop to lure the beetles away from nearby cucurbits.
- Attracting pollinators: Bees and butterflies love zinnias. Planted near fruiting veg like tomatoes and peppers, this can help improve pollination rates and yields.
The best zinnia companion plants
Zinnias do best in rich, well draining soil and full sun. All of their best companions share these conditions, with a few caveats. But by and large, zinnias are companionable, unfussy flowers that bring beauty and pollinators wherever they're planted.
Here are a few zinnia companions to try this year:
Get 9 Free Companion Planting Charts
All of the companion planting on Make it Seasonal, consolidated into handy PDFs that you can save to your phone.
Click through to access the whole collection
1. Cucumbers
Cucumbers and zinnias both love rich, well draining soil, regular watering, and full sun. Tall zinnias will grow well next to cucumbers climbing a trellis, but they're also a useful trap crop for cucumber beetles. Cucumber beetles seem to prefer zinnias to any else, so a few sacrificial flowers might help keep your cucumber plants healthy.
If you struggle with cucumber beetles, try growing cucumbers a short distance from zinnias and planting them after the zinnias become established.
Read More: The 15 Best Companion Plants for Cucumbers
2. Watermelons
Watermelons, being in the same family as cucumbers, will similarly benefit from being planted near zinnias. Keeping a short distance between these crops is ideal; it'll help your odds of distracting cucumber beetles away from your watermelons, but it will also allow you to feed the watermelons as needed without compromising the blooms on your zinnias.
3. Squash
Squash plants, including zucchini, pumpkins, and other gourds, grow well in the same conditions as zinnias. Keeping them near a row of flowers can also attract pollinators and improve yields, if pollination is a struggle in your garden.
As cucurbits, squashes are another plant that's prey to cucumber beetles. For that reason, it's advisable to not interplant zinnias amongst your squash plants but to keep them a short distance away, instead.
4. Tomatoes
Companion planting tomatoes with zinnias can improve pollination by attracting masses of bees. Zinnias, especially dwarf varieties, will also help to cover the soil between tomato plants, improving water retention and keeping the soil a bit cooler in peak summer.
It's worth noting that zinnias and tomatoes both need full sun, and this could become a messy planting if the tomatoes aren't regularly pruned. If you're growing tomatoes with a vining habit (indeterminate), either space them a few feet apart or train them so that each plant only has three leader stems, at most.
5. Peppers
Peppers need full sun and rich soil with consistent moisture. Zinnias do well in these conditions, and they'll also help with pepper pollination and yields. If you grow these plants together, try planting the taller zinnias behind the peppers; they'll quickly grow to reach the sun without shading the peppers out.
Read More: The 13 Best Companion Plants for Peppers
6. Basil
Basil and zinnias grow in the same conditions and they both make excellent companion plants for tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fruiting vegetables. As with other full sun zinnia companions, make sure not to crowd the basil or shade it out, as both will make it more susceptible to fungal diseases.
When watering basil and zinnias, watering the soil directly can help prevent downy mildew and basil downy mildew.
Read More: The 12 Best Basil Companion Plants
7. Parsley
Tomatoes, basil, and peppers are all good companion plants for parsley and zinnias, which tend to grow together well in very rich, moist soil. Zinnias can also provide partial shade for parsley, which can have a tendency to bolt in midsummer.
Parsley is a biennial that flowers in its second year, though very hot weather or dry soil can cause it to flower in its first. At this point the leaves become tough and unappetizing, but the flowers are worth keeping, as they support a host of beneficial predatory insects.
8. Marigolds
A popular bedding plant, marigolds also make a useful companion plant for vegetables. In fact, they might be the single most useful companion flower; they can reduce damage from brassica pests, aphids, whiteflies, and tomato hornworms, just for a start.
Planting marigolds with zinnias creates a pollinator haven and a beautiful border around a vegetable patch. Marigolds come in varieties ranging from six inches to three feet tall, and shorter cultivars are perfect for underplanting zinnias.
Read More: The 16 Best Companion Plants for Marigolds
9. Calendula
Calendula, or pot marigolds, are another lower-growing full sun flower that would grow very well underplanting zinnias in full sun. They're also a useful companion flower for veg; calendula can deter the most common cabbage pests, repel green peach aphids, and attract parasitic insects that prey on aphids.
Calendula's bright orange and yellow flowers can also be infused into a useful homemade calendula oil or used for natural dyeing.
What not to plant with zinnias
Zinnias like fertile, well drained soil. They're prone to rot when watered too frequently, but they can also dry out in soil that is too poor. As companionable, easy-to-grow flowers, there are only a few plants that zinnias don't tend to grow well with:
As natives of the Mediterranean, rosemary, lavender, oregano, and thyme are partial to fairly poor soil with sharp drainage. They tend to do best in soil that's heavy on drainage, whether that's sand or vermiculite.
Rosemary and lavender in particular will struggle in rich soil that's more moisture retentive. And while oregano and thyme can grow in richer soil, their flavors will suffer for it.
Mint would grow very well with zinnias, but it would quickly spread to dominate the soil and deprive nearby flowers of needed nutrients. Mint can be a useful companion for vegetable gardens, but it does best in its own container.
Read More: The 13 Best Companion Plants for Mint
CristianCockerham
Thanks you for you ideas
Dylan
Thank you for reading, Cristian!
Jane
Ty
Dylan
You're very welcome, I hope it helps!