Vegetable Crop and Companion Plant Planner

for Portland, Oregon

Making a Garden Buzz

When I first started growing vegetables, I planted in rows and blocks and added sunflowers and marigolds to attract pollinators and deter pests, and one narrow row of wildflowers. My garden still had pests. Not a lot, but aphids were problematic enough that I stopped growing brassicas in warm months and embraced overwintering broccoli, cabbage, and kale.

Eight years ago, I began shifting my focus, adding fruit trees, shrubs, herbs, and flowers to the garden, and reducing the effort and space devoted to growing annual summer vegetables. Within a few years, the diversity of colorful and aromatic plants attracted vastly more insects, so that the garden buzzed and hummed with their visits. Walking through it was unsettling at first, like happening upon a beehive or wasp nest. And while the garden has more insects, there's far less pest damage.

As I studied the pest-deterring qualities of plants, I also teased out the differences between plants that deter pests, attract pollinators, and provide habitat for native predatory insects. As I had already developed a simple spreadsheet version of the Portland Nursery Vegetable Calendar, I used it as the basis for a map of relationships among vegetables, herbs, garden flowers, and native insectary plants. You can download the latest version here.

This is a reference and a journal. You can use the Crops tab to schedule sowings and estimate yields, and record what you planted when and where, survival rates, and actual yields. 

Spreadsheets are useful for spotting trends and connections. For example, sort the Companions tab by Category and notice how cucumbers, gourds, melons, pumpkins, and squash share companions.

Quick Start

The Tabs

This planner is organized into five tabs. Start with the Crops tab, and review the next three tabs for details about plants that support vegetable crops, and then use the Companions tab to plan your garden beds.

🌱 Crops

This is the core of the planner. Each row is a crop for a specific season. It shows:

• when to sow

• how to start it (direct sow, warm start, indoor, winter sow)

• when to transplant (if needed)

• when to expect harvest

• when to sow again for continuous harvest

For each row, you can record sowing date, location, start method, transplant date, and seeds sown. Based on standard seed germination rates and your input for transplant survival, the sheet calculates expected harvest time and yield.

🐞 Pest Management Plants

These are plants you add near your crops to reduce pest pressure. They work by:

• feeding beneficial insects (like hoverflies and parasitic wasps)

• attracting pests away from your crops (trap crops)

• producing compounds that deter pests

These are mostly annual flowers and herbs that you intentionally place within or next to your vegetable beds.

🐝 Pollinator Plants

These plants support bees, hoverflies, and other pollinators that are needed for fruiting crops like tomatoes, squash, and beans. Most are perennial shrubs and native flowers that:

• bloom early to support emerging pollinators

• provide nectar throughout the season

• increase fruit set and yields

They are usually planted at the edges of the garden and improve over time.

🌿 Native Insectary Plants

These are Pacific Northwest native plants that support beneficial insects throughout the season. Unlike general pest management plants, these are:

• co-evolved with native insects

• reliable sources of nectar and habitat

• planted as permanent parts of the garden

They help maintain populations of predators that control pests naturally.

🌸 Companions

This tab brings everything together. Each row is a crop, with columns showing:

• vegetables that grow well with it

• herbs and flowers that support it

• plants to avoid

• pollinator plants to include nearby

• native insectary plants that strengthen the system

You can use this to design planting layouts:

• what goes in the same bed

• what goes on the edges

• what should be kept separate

Start with a crop you wish to grow and pick suggested plant companions in its row.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/em-9363-native-plant-picks-bees

East Portland Plant Buying Club

Native plants, vegetable seeds and starts, soil amendments, and open garden visits

eastpdxplantclub.com • Open Garden: Second Saturdays, 11am–4pm