6 Insect-Repelling Plants Best for Springtime

by Kevin Smith Author

Spring is the perfect time to go back out again and spend some time in your garden. After the cold winter season, it is now the perfect time for flowers and plants to bloom and be in season. Aside from a fragrant and beautiful garden, did you know that some flowers and plants can also repel insects and pests naturally? This might be season for pests to come back from winter hibernation but nature has its way to prevent them from coming to your turf with these plants listed below:

1. Citronella grass

While mostly being used as an ingredient to mosquito repellents, Citronella grass can courteously unwelcome mosquitoes and other flying insects. Only if the oil is being extracted from the grass, that you can use in repelling mosquitoes and not the grass itself. SImilarly looking like a lemongrass, the citronella is actually their cousin or basically below to the same genus.

Although citronella oil doest kill the mosquitoes exactly, it gives us some kind of “scent invisibility cloak” from the mosquitoes as the citronella blocks the lactic acid and carbon dioxide scents that mosquitoes sense in our blood.

2. Chrysanthemums

On the other hand, Chrysanthemums or also known as ‘mums’ are hardy perennial plants that are not going to bloom on springtime, but instead, must be planted during this season and set to bloom in autumn. Since they are considered as annual plants, they are set to seed, germinate, flower and die all in one season.

Aside from beautifying your autumn season with wreaths, mums are revered as an effective insect repellent that some bug sprays are using this flower as an ingredient due to its effectiveness. Here are some insects that can’t stand this flower:

● Ants

● Bed bugs

● Harlequin bugs

● Japanese beetles

● Lice

● Roaches

● Silverfish

● Spider mites

● Ticks

3. Petunias

Petunias can be eye catchers and spotlight stealers in your yard as they bloom three to four inches of flowers that double blooms in late Spring and summertime. With flashy and large flowers, they make a good appearance in your windows, garden beds, and even just hanging in your patio. They are best to plant beside your produce like tomatoes and squash as they deter the worms that usually infest them.

Not only that, beauty comes substance as these pretty licorice-like scented blossoms appear to be off-putting to many insects like the following:

● Leafhoppers

● Squash bugs

● Asparagus beetles

● Tomato hornworms

● Various kinds of aphids

4. Lavender

While most folks find the scent of Lavender to be soothing and relaxing, some insects tend to disagree in this motion as they steer clear to the scent of these purple buds. Bees, on the other hand, will have to agree to disagree with other insects as they also love lavender. This plant can drive away the following:

● Flies

● Fleas

● Gnats

● Mosquitoes

● Moths

Life hacks: You can hang dried lavender inside your closet to drive away moths from infesting and contaminating our clothes. Plus, the lavender scent adds the charm. You may also place lavenders beside your window sills or doors to let these pests know they are unwelcome.

5. Hyacinths

Hyacinths bloom once every year and that is during Spring season. Due to the toxic substance of their flowers, bulbs, and foliage—rodents won't bother them. These beautiful and fragrant perennial flowers although need to be planted in the Fall for them to bloom in Spring while their flowers will also last for weeks. If you get to take care of them properly, they ought to bloom again on the next springtime.

6. Basil

Not only is it handy to use for kitchen purposes, basil truly belongs with food because all it takes is a basil in a pot or creeping from your garden to repel flies, mosquitos, moths, and other flying insects. Infact, since it can grow generously at home, you can make more use of it by making an insect repellant out of it.

Below are the steps on how you can make Basil insect repellent:

Boil four ounces of water.
Pour boiled water on at least a cup of basil leaves and stems.
Steep for several hours.
Separate and dispose leaves and stems from the extract.
Find the cheapest vodka you can get and add four ounces to the mixture.
Viola! Spurt it into an atomizer and you can spray all the way especially when outdoors.
Also, reminder to test a small amount on skin first before going all the way to make sure of any adverse reaction.

Don’t panic, it’s organic.

Not only are these plants insect-repellent but being both fragrant and beautiful add to the charm. They can greatly help as a natural pest control of the bug population at home and the yard without having to use possibly toxic chemical pesticides.