Five Native Flowers to include in Southeastern Kitchen Gardens
I have a policy for plants on my property: “If it’s not edible, it’s native.” That’s why you won’t see most typical (but not native) flowering species in my kitchen garden like snapdragon or pansies. The only exception I have to this rule are marigolds, but that’s because I grow them as a pest-deterrent for my edible plants and not for any pollination benefit.
Why native flowers?
Native plants are especially effective in kitchen gardens because they are well-adapted to your local climate. They require less supplemental water and they can thrive off of minimal soil nutrients. More importantly, your native pollinating insects co-evolved with these plants, and native plants provide high-quality food sources to their pollinators that non-native plants simply cannot match. Native species also bloom at times that align naturally with the life cycles of local insects, ensuring there is food available throughout the growing season. This alignment supports a healthy garden environment that encourages balance and resilience, reducing the need for synthetic pesticides or excessive interventions.
When planted in close proximity to your vegetables, native flowers help attract these pollinators exactly where they’re needed most, increasing your chances of a more productive harvest. Plus, you get to feel great providing other animals in your local ecosystem with a food source - which many species need now more than ever. Rather than isolating native flowers just in parts of my landscaping, I also love getting them as close as possible to my fruiting plants to create this mutually beneficial ecosystem in a compact space.
However, not all native species are a perfect fit for the kitchen garden.
Some native flowers have aggressive spreading habits, either by root or prolific reseeding, and can overwhelm a limited garden space. When choosing native species for integration, it’s important to look for those with a more controlled growth habit. Avoid plants known for forming dense colonies unless you're prepared to contain them or manage them closely. Reading plant tags, consulting local extension resources, or visiting native plant nurseries can help you select species with the right temperament for your raised bed. A few native plants that I love for my landscape but not my kitchen garden are things like tropical sage (reseeds abundantly and can take over), west-coast dune sunflower (one plant can sprawl to a circumference of eight feet!) or any morning glory species (we have a number of native species - they are all beautiful but aggressive in their spread. Too much for a kitchen garden trellis).
Choosing the right native flowers for your kitchen garden:
One strategy is to choose a mix of clump-forming perennials and modest self-seeders. These plants will offer blooms throughout the growing season without taking over your vegetables' root space or crowding them out. You can also periodically deadhead flowers before they set seed or thin seedlings in early spring to control their spread. A little maintenance goes a long way in maintaining harmony between your pollinator plants and your crops.
While the flowering species mentioned below are not strictly native to every region in the Southeast, I include them in my recommendations for their well-mannered growth habits and proven benefits in kitchen gardens. These species are generally native to broader Southeastern U.S. ecosystems, making them more ecologically appropriate than ornamental plants from entirely different continents. Even if they aren't hyper-local to your specific county, their closer genetic relationship to your region’s flora often makes them far more beneficial to native pollinators than exotic or non-native varieties. When chosen thoughtfully, these regionally native plants can offer the perfect compromise between ecological responsibility and practical garden performance. However, if given a choice between a well-behave flowering plant that is native to your region and one that is not native to your region but is native to your state, always choose the one that is native to your specific region.
1. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
You’ll see this beloved species in many of my pictures. In addition to being just a quintessential wildflower, Black-eyed Susan native to all of the lower 48 U.S. states and just plays really well in a kitchen garden. For me here in central Florida, the plants bloom from early April to November and die back come winter. They also act more like a biennial rather than a perennial, meaning that I do replace them about every two years. In addition to being lovely for pollinators, they also make great cut flowers.
2. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Okay, for my Florida folks, Purple Coneflower (also known as Echinacea) is really only native to the very northern top of our state. The species is widespread across eastern North America and can be found even in Canada. Even though the species is not native to my region here in Tampa, I do still love to include it in my kitchen garden for its vibrant purple-pink blooms and medicinal benefits. Plus, multiple species of bees enjoy their flowers, and songbirds will eat their seeds later in the season. For folks north of Florida, Purple Coneflower will be a perennial. However, when planting south of its natural range (like central and south Florida) it grows like an annual and you will likely need to replant it each year if you’d like to keep it in your garden.
3. Lance-leaved Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata)
Tickseed is a nickname of our native Coreopsis flowers, of which 12 species are native to the state of Florida. Lance-leaved Tickseed is native to central and northern Florida as well as many eastern and central U.S. states. In my experience of multiple coreopsis species, Lance-leaved Tickseed does the best in a kitchen garden environment, as it loves average to dry soils, full sun, and doesn’t spread rapidly. The plant will die back in the winter but reseed and pop up in early spring. Even though they spread by seed, the species does not take over a raised bed and each individual adult plant stays in its one-square foot area - so it doesn’t sprawl aggressively like other wildflowers.
4. Beach Mistflower (Ageratum maritimum)
Alright for my south Florida folks, here is one that is better suited for you! Beach mistflower can also be called Seaside Ageratum and it is an endangered species typically found in the Florida Keys. While we do have a native Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) here for central Florida, it can get 3-6 feet tall and reseeds profusely - making it less ideal for a kitchen garden (but perfect for a damp wildflower meadow!). Beach Mistflower, on the other hand, keeps a low-profile at just 1-1.5 feet, stays in a beautiful mound that you can train to spill over the sides of your raised beds, and doesn’t reseed like crazy. Each Beach Mistflower can bloom fuzzy and numerous lavender flowers throughout the entire year. The species adds beauty to my kitchen garden (especially when transitioning the rest of my bed to a new season) and attracts bees and the skipper butterfly.
5. Tampa Verbena (Glandularia tampensis)
This another species that I love to plant on the edges of my raised beds and have them cascade down the sides. Tampa Verbena is native to central and southwest Florida. It provides nourishment to butterflies, bees, and hummingbird moths. It has dainty, pink flowers and a low profile of 1-1.5 feet tall. In the wild, it can be a perennial but has acted as an annual in my kitchen garden beds.
By integrating a thoughtful selection of native flowering plants directly into your kitchen garden raised beds, you create a thriving mini-ecosystem that benefits your vegetables, supports local pollinators, and brings a vibrant beauty to your garden. With a little planning and care, you can enjoy the best of both worlds — healthy food and flourishing flowers, growing side by side.