File this note under something I am thinking about and hope you will too… When I first started growing a garden, I figured that if I could not eat it, why would I grow it? As time has gone by, I have realized that may not have been the best approach, and besides, flowering plants feed my soul with their beauty.

Many of us have had problems with pest management on our fruiting plants this year. The heavy rains this past winter contributed to my own difficulty in getting out to do dormant spraying, and the aphids, mites, thrips, scales, bugs, and caterpillars have responded with enthusiasm. And so, I have been thinking more about what I might plant among my fruit trees to help with insect management. There are of course many steps to trying to manage the insects we don’t want, but here I am thinking about flowering plants.

Insectary plants can include annual or perennial flowering plants, and these will provide habitat and food sources for insect parasites and predators. Flowers will provide both nectar and pollen for the adult forms of beneficial insects. The juvenile forms of the parasitoid and predatory insects will hopefully help with control of the insects we do not want. I like the idea of perennial flowering plants, and having the flowers close to where they are needed as a source of food may be more helpful than those at a distance. These same plants can also attract the pollinators that we need for our fruit trees!

I started my search with Arboretum All Stars, which is a database of plants tested and recommended for California. I am looking for plants which might be happy in the partial shade under or between my trees. My goal is to have something flowering most of the year, in order to keep the friendly insects fed and protected. I am also partial to California native plants, and found the book “California Native Plants for the Garden” to be a great resource.

Looking about my garden, I realized that I already have some of these plants, so the next step may be propagation! The coming cooler weather of Autumn is a good time to be planting perennials, so the winter rain can help them become established.