At least 1 m²11 ft². If your bed is smaller, the planner grays this plant team out, says why, and offers the nearest adaptation that fits. It never swaps in something else without telling you.
What it looks like planted
2 × Yarrow
5 × Lacy phacelia
5 × Crocus
The real placement on an example 4 ft bed, the same layout the planner draws.
Between seasons
Living perennials stay in the bed between seasons, so only part of the ground gets rotated.
What it claims
Something in flower from early spring to late summer keeps pollinators and predatory insects fed and near the beds it borders
How it works: The flowers supply nectar and pollen that adult predators and parasitoids feed on, so a patch of them near a fruiting crop keeps those beneficial insects fed and close by to work the crop. The effect is real but not guaranteed. An insectary patch does not always suppress pests.
Evidence: checked against 1 source in the research-based literature.
Insectary plants are those grown to attract, feed, and shelter insect parasites (parasitoids) and predators to enhance biological pest control. Insectary plants provide nectar and pollen, which the adults of many natural enemy species need to consume.
What to keep in mind
The strip feeds insects; it doesn't summon them, and the planner can't see a bee. It exists for the arithmetic of bloom windows. Crocus opens early spring, yarrow carries late spring through late summer, phacelia backs yarrow up through midsummer. Swap a role and the cover can break; the plan says which season goes dark. Crocus corms are rodent food, so a strip in vole country wants the daffodils nearby. Anise hyssop, echinacea and summer savory can all take the summer bridge in phacelia's place. Mint would flower there too, but it runs on its own roots and a strip has nothing to hold it, so it is left off the swap list. Keep a mint in a pot beside the strip instead.
Who does what, and the swaps
Each job in this planting can be done by more than one plant. The usual choice comes first, and each swap says what it costs.
If you skip this, you lose real yield. The planner warns you.
How it works: Soilborne inoculum and overwintering pest stages disperse across the bed. A plant team dominated by one family forecloses that ground for that family's rotation interval.
Evidence: checked against 2 sources in the research-based literature.
Remedy
Rotate the whole bed the plant team occupied, including rows that family never grew in.
A new combination: UNH's and Illinois's early-spring bulbs plus Milpa's own summer forage, chosen so something is in flower from early spring to late summer. Not a documented traditional planting.
