Flowers like chrysanthemums contain insect-repelling compounds.
Flowers add bursts of color to your yard, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Some flowers also have repellent properties. If you prefer to avoid using harsh chemicals to keep insects away from your home and your family, landscaping with repellent flowers can reduce your need for their use. Does this Spark an idea?
Repellent Flowers
Repellent flowers hold natural insect-repelling properties. Not only are they decorative, but they can deter insects from coming near your home if you use them correctly. Lavender is an all-purpose repellent flower, keeping away fleas and flies. Rose geranium blooms are traditionally used as mosquito repellents in South Africa. Chrysanthemum flowers can provide protection from wasps and other insects.
Uses
Planting repellent flowers around your home can repel insects. Blooming lavender in your garden will provide some protection. You can pluck repellent flowers and dry them, placing them inside pet bedding to drive away fleas. If you grow rose geraniums in your yard, pluck the flower petals and a few leaves and crush them, then rub them and their juices directly onto your skin for an all-natural mosquito repellent. The oil of chrysanthemum flowers repels wasps when sprayed at the insects or on the areas you wish to protect from them.
Limitations
While flowers are able to repel some insects, they are not 100 percent effective. Planting lavender around your home does not mean that no flies or fleas will get inside. While plant derivatives are often found in ingredient lists of chemical pesticides, they are not the most powerful active ingredients in the pesticide. While chrysanthemum flowers contain pyrethrum, in order for pyrethrum to be most effective it needs to be combined with other chemicals. With their help, pyrethrum can kill insects on contact. Without them, it is just a repellent.
Considerations
When using flowers as insect repellents, remember that they are only effective as long as their scent is strong. When using dried lavender flowers, you will need to replace them monthly so they continue to supply flea repellent protection. When using flowers like rose geraniums on your skin to deter insects, you need to reapply the juice from the flowers to your skin every few hours to keep the repellent power strong.
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