Flowers in My Back Yard: Why grow them?

This is the first post in our next weekly series, "Flowers in My Back Yard," devoted to everything that blooms.

More than once, when I'm working in my community garden plot, another gardener will walk by and comment, "You like flowers?" Or "Are you only growing flowers?" But more often I hear the exclamation "Beautiful!" as they stroll by.

Yes, I love flowers. And I do grow other plants. But that last reaction is one reason why I fit a variety of flowers into my plot, between the tomatoes and next to the peppers, as well as in my front and back yards.

Flowers make people smile, giving them a moment of joy, and during these times we need all the joy we can get. It makes the day a little better.

But there certainly are other, more practical reasons to grow flowers:

-- Flowers entice pollinators, who then stick around. And other pollinators follow. All it takes is a bee or two to discover a pollen-rich patch of flowers, and you'll have plenty of bees in the garden. My fellow community gardeners benefit from my poppies, cosmos and yarrow, whether they realize it or not.

-- Flowers create food with the assistance of those bees, or with the help of birds, moths or even the wind. And homegrown food is the best way to guarantee unadulterated food.

-- Flowering native plants provide food and shelter for any number of native insects and birds. Those fascinating California pipevine plants, with the pipe-shaped blooms, are host plants for pipevine swallowtail butterflies, enabling them to reproduce.

-- Flowers can be fancy or plain, and in our climate something can be found blooming year-round, in one form or another.  The manzanita in my back yard right now is covered with tiny white flowers, while the little narcissus out front have been up and blooming for a month.

-- Some flowers are food themselves! Squash flowers, nasturtiums, roses and chive flowers come to mind, but there are many others. Seeds from sunflowers, poppies and coriander flowers are important foods. Other flowers can be used for tea.

During the next year, Debbie and I will delve into all aspects of flowers, from blossoms on fruit trees to pests on milkweed, from seeding to fertilizing and harvesting. We'll dive into dividing flowering plants, how to save seeds, and look at why some flowers don't ever attract pollinators.

Debbie is a master rosarian, so expect her to have plenty to say about roses (which are hardier than most people realize).

Finally, we're hoping to guide gardeners who are reluctant to plant flowers, reluctant to give up space to something that might seem frivolous. It only takes a few blooms -- in a patio pot or on a windowsill or between the strawberries -- to produce those wonderful moments of joy. Let's spread some joy together.