The Voice: October  2025

In life nothing happens when it is wanted, especially with local authorities who often take a long time to deal with issues that need their attention. As a result it is a hard battle to achieve what you want.

Over five years ago The East London Garden Society introduced to Tower Hamlets Council an alternative more positive way for food waste recycling but we were told to go away many times. However, after a lot of perseverance we achieved a pyrrhic victory.

Tower Hamlets has now conceded that money can be saved with the aerobic method of organic waste recycling. The Council has made no contact with The East London Garden Society about their decision to use this new method despite our previous recommendation.

Having achieved what we wanted, The East London Garden Society wishes Tower Hamlets Council every success in their new food waste recycling system. It’s now up to us to support them and follow their instructions for the disposal of our food waste.

If you value having someone campaign on your behalf to protect the environment and having access to useful articles about gardening and local environmental matters, please make a donation to help us with the cost of maintaining The East London Garden Society.

If you’ve ever poured your energy into growing vegetables only to watch them wilt, weaken, or fall prey to pests, you’re not alone. The missing piece in many struggling gardens isn’t fertilizer, more watering, or better tools – it’s flowers. Not for looks, but for function. 

Flowers are the most underused tool in the gardener’s toolkit, and the science is catching up to what experienced growers have known all along: your vegetables thrive when they’re surrounded by the right blooms.

Most people treat flowers and vegetables like they belong in separate worlds – one for beauty, the other for food. But that separation is costing you time, yield, and resilience. When you rely on synthetic pest control or isolated rows of crops, you’re working against nature’s built-in systems. You’re left doing more of the labour yourself – spraying, weeding, watering, and battling burnout.

Instead, think of your garden as a living, layered system. One that works better when flowers pull in pollinators, when their roots break up compacted soil, and when their scent and shape bring balance to the chaos above and below ground. You don’t need a massive plot or perfect conditions. You need strategic choices – flowers that multitask, protect, and support your veggies from seed to harvest. Here’s how to bring that strategy to life.

Instead of relying on pesticides, Modern Farmer highlights how planting wildflowers at the edges of your beds brings in natural predators that keep pest outbreaks in check. They attract insects that feed on destructive bugs before they cause damage. Wildflowers also reinforce soil health and promote nutrient cycling, which helps your garden stay productive and resilient long term.

• Yarrow, fennel, and goldenrod attract the insects that eat your garden’s worst pests.
  These flowers act like magnets for lady beetles, parasitic wasps, hoverflies, and lacewings – the insect world's clean up crew. These natural allies target and kill aphids, thrips, spider mites, caterpillars, and beetles, preventing them from wiping out your greens, tomatoes, or cucumbers.
  According to the article, ‘The most important benefit is how wildflowers attract predatory insects,’ shifting the focus from reaction to prevention.
• Their umbrella-shaped blooms are designed to support predator insects.
  Fennel and yarrow have umbrella-like clusters of flowers, called umbels, that make it easy for short-tongued insects to access nectar. This helps keep tiny beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and hoverflies energized and active in your garden. Many of them lay eggs directly into pests like hornworms, where their larvae hatch and devour the pest from the inside out.
• These same flowers strengthen your soil while protecting it from erosion.
  If you’re dealing with bare patches, runoff, or compacted dirt, these flowers do double duty. Yarrow fills gaps fast, holding topsoil in place and limiting erosion. Goldenrod thrives in sloped or erosion-prone areas, anchoring the soil during heavy rain. For gardeners in areas with heavy clay or sandy beds, these plants offer a low-effort fix that improves structure over time.
• Some wildflowers even earn their keep as crops or useful herbs.
  Fennel isn’t just a pest magnet – its bulbs and seeds are edible and marketable. Bee balm (Monarda) offers leaves for tea with a minty, peppery flavour, and milkweed attracts monarch butterflies while supporting pollinator diversity. With the right mix, you’re not just growing flowers; you’re adding revenue streams and apothecary tools to your backyard.
• Wildflower roots support a thriving underground microbial network.
  These wildflowers aren’t just feeding bees above ground –they’re feeding beneficial microbes below it. Their roots support fungi and bacteria that help your vegetables absorb key nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. The result? Stronger root systems, faster growth, and better crop health, without synthetic fertilizers.
• More insects mean fewer diseases.
  Pests don’t just chew holes – they spread viruses and bacteria. Wildflower-attracted insects interrupt these cycles by keeping vector populations low. This means fewer sick plants, stronger defences, and less need for chemical sprays.
• Each season, your garden gets smarter and stronger.
  Many of these flowers reseed on their own or spread through underground roots. That means the longer you use them, the stronger their benefits become. You’ll spend less time replanting, less money on inputs, and see more life, and harvest, in your garden year after year.
• The right flowers make your entire garden work smarter, not harder.
  Pairing specific blooms with your vegetables makes your space more productive. When you surround your crops with the right flowers, you attract natural pest controllers, boost pollination, improve soil health, and reduce the need for pesticides or fertilizer.
• Best flowers for pest control and pollination?
  Start with marigolds, alyssum, and nasturtiums. Marigolds do double duty by repelling root-damaging nematodes and attracting lacewings and ladybugs that feed on aphids. Sweet alyssum draws in hoverflies and predatory wasps, keeping caterpillars and aphids in check. Nasturtiums are the garden’s decoy – they lure pests away from your veggies and act as living trap crops.
• Borage and sunflowers pull their weight by boosting vegetable yields.
  Borage lifts minerals from deep in the soil where most vegetable roots can’t reach, feeding nearby crops like tomatoes, squash, and strawberries. Sunflowers act as pollinator magnets and natural trellises for beans and cucumbers, helping you maximize space and support climbing plants without needing extra structures.
• Zinnias, lavender, and calendula directly improve soil health and root strength.
  These flowers aren’t just beneficial above ground – they work below the surface, too. Zinnias and lavender reduce erosion and bring in pest-fighting insects. Calendula improves soil aeration, helps beneficial insects like lacewings thrive, and feeds the earth as it breaks down after blooming. The result? Looser soil, better drainage, and stronger roots.
• Some flowers even boost flavour and resilience.
  Basil planted near tomatoes or peppers doesn’t just keep mosquitoes and flies away – it actually improves their flavour and growth rate. Lavender pulls pollinators into your plot while keeping deer and moths at bay.
  A detailed guide from Gardenary breaks down why every kitchen garden should include flowers as essential components of soil health, pest control, and biodiversity.
  It outlines four key reasons: attracting pollinators and predators, improving soil, offering edible blooms, and enhancing the beauty of your space, all of which benefit vegetable production.
• Choose flowers based on the pests you’re battling.
  If aphids or squash bugs are tearing up your crops, Gardenary suggests planting marigolds to repel nematodes and attract helpful insects like ladybugs. Catmint, sage, and lavender all use strong fragrances to confuse and deter destructive insects like Japanese beetles and cabbage worms. Nasturtiums lure pests away from high-value vegetables like broccoli and kale, sacrificing themselves to protect the rest of your crop.
• Flowers break up hard soil and pull nutrients to the surface.
  Plants like phacelia and clover act as living soil boosters. Their roots loosen compacted earth, help with drainage, and leave behind nutrient-rich organic matter as they die back. Comfrey and dandelion have long taproots that mine minerals like calcium and potassium from deep underground, delivering them where your vegetables can use them.
• Don’t have a big garden? No problem.
  Flowers work in containers, too. Even if you’re growing on a balcony, in a courtyard, or in a few raised beds, you can still make flower-based gardening work. Use hanging baskets or grow bags to add layers of pollinator-friendly plants throughout your space. Move them around to experiment with light, airflow, or pest pressure without committing to fixed beds. This makes gardening more forgiving and more fun.
• Choose flowers that fix the biggest problem in your garden.
  If you’re fighting off aphids or squash bugs, start with marigolds and nasturtiums. If you’re noticing low yields or misshapen fruit, focus on flowers that attract more bees and butterflies, like zinnias, borage, or cosmos. For compacted soil or poor drainage, calendula, clover, and phacelia are the go-to picks because they naturally improve soil structure as they grow and break down.
• Pair the right flower with the right vegetable.
  Match based on sun, size, and season. For example, tuck marigolds around your tomato or pepper plants. Place borage near squash or strawberries to help pull up nutrients. Grow cosmos behind zucchini or melons to shade the soil and attract hoverflies. Avoid pairing sunflowers with potatoes – sunflowers release compounds that stunt certain root vegetables.
• Build your garden to evolve and improve each year.
  Perennials like yarrow, lavender, and Joe Pye weed come back every season and expand your flower coverage over time. Let self-seeding annuals like calendula and borage do some of the work for you. Once they’re established, you’ll spend less time replanting and more time harvesting. Your garden will start managing itself.

Helios was loved by Clytia but he spurned her for the love of Leucothoe, Clytia told Leucothoe's father, who buried Leucothoe in a ditch where she died. Afterwards Helios refused to look at Clytia and she turned into a sunflower.

Sunflowers originated in North America, where Native Americans cultivated them for food, oil, and dyes over 4,500 years ago. Spanish explorers introduced the plant to Europe around 1510, and by the 18th century, Russia had become a major centre for sunflower oil production, partly due to religious restrictions on other oils during Lent. 

The flower gained popularity as a decorative item in Europe and became a beloved subject for artists like Van Gogh. Today, sunflowers are grown globally for their seeds, oil, and decorative beauty.

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are native to North America. Native American cultures cultivated sunflowers for thousands of years, with domestication occurring around 3000 BC to 4500 years ago. 

They used sunflowers for various purposes, including: 

• Food: Grinding seeds into flour for bread and cakes, eating them as a snack, and extracting oil for cooking. 
• Dyes: Creating purple dyes for textiles and body painting. 
• Construction: Using the sturdy stalks as a building material. 
• Medicine: Employing parts of the plant for medicinal purposes and as skin ointments. 

Spanish explorers brought sunflower seeds to Europe around the early 1500s. The flower was initially appreciated for its ornamental beauty and beauty.

Peter the Great promoted sunflower cultivation in Russia in the 18th century. The Russian Orthodox Church's ban on many oil-containing foods during Lent made sunflower oil permissible, boosting the plant's popularity. By the 19th century, Russia was a major producer of sunflower oil on a commercial scale. 

Sunflowers became a popular subject for Impressionist artists in the late 19th century, with figures like Van Gogh painting their iconic versions. The flower was also embraced by French royalty, with Louis XIV claiming the sunflower as his symbol. Today, the sunflower is a globally recognized flower, admired for its beauty and cultivated in over 70 countries.

Laws are now in place for food waste recycling, so food waste must be digested by the anaerobic or the aerobic method with local composting, for example at a community garden. No landfill of food waste is now allowed.

The anaerobic method digests the majority of food waste leaving gasses to be burnt off or utilised in another way. The aerobic method takes all organic waste converting it within a 24 hour period into a nutrient rich soil, readily usable for gardens etc. The aerobic method is relatively new, and saves carbon entering into the atmosphere.

Over the past few years, The East London Garden Society has had numerous meetings with Tower Hamlets Council during which Geoff Juden, the Chairman, informed the Council of the aerobic method and its benefits.

Aerobic digestion is a process in sewage treatment designed to reduce the volume of sewage sludge and make it suitable for subsequent use. More recently, technology has been developed that allows the treatment and reduction of other organic waste, such as food, cardboard and horticultural waste. 

It is a bacterial process occurring in the presence of oxygen. Bacteria rapidly consume organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide, water and a range of lower molecular weight organic compounds. As there is no new supply of organic material from sewage, the activated sludge biota begin to die and are used as food by saprotrophic bacteria. This stage of the process is known as endogenous respiration and it is a process that reduces the solid concentration in the sludge.

As with all methods of food waste recycling the public must participate and follow the requirements of the scheme. It is in their interests to do so since they will gain the benefits in the long-term by improving the environment.

Tower Hamlets Council like many other local authorities chose to place food waste bins on streets for the public to use. However, the public frequently place material in the bins which contaminate the process, making it unworkable.

However, The London Borough of Tower Hamlets have now chosen the aerobic method of organic waste recycling, so congratulations to them. Although many organisations are using this as the preferred method, local authorities have been slow to adopt it.

Watch the video to see how such a system works.

The East London Garden Society is working hard to produce a walking route from Bishopsgate to Purfleet. 

Up to now we have been concentrating on the present impasse for a bridge across The Lower Roding River. So, in 2026 we hope to develop a walk from the RSPB sanctuary at Purfleet walking westward along the banks of the River Thames, securing the end of The Great Eastern Parks Route.

We are also committed to producing an app for the route, which we hope will materialise in the next six months with the assistance of AI and a forest on top of arches of the Bishopsgate goods yard.

We are working with others on trying to provide a viable programme of events throughout east London. As some of you may be aware we had a dry run with our boat trip this year, on which we wish to capitalise.

There are many groups throughout east London. Should you wish to be involved at any level, contact us and we will point you in the right direction.