Plants have evolved to emit different chemical substances to either repel or attract specific insects. What if you could use this knowledge to ward off those pesky insects that you hate so much? Below is a list of herbs and flowers that do just that. Be advised that this does not ensure your garden /home will insect free. But hey, why not give it a try?
Herbs
- Basil: Repels house flies and mosquitoes
- Dill: Repels aphids, cabbage loopers, squash bugs, spider mites, and tomato hornworms
- Fennel: Repels aphids, slugs and snails
- Lavender: Repels fleas, flies, mosquitoes, and moths
- Lemongrass: Repels moquitoes
- Lemon thyme: Repels mosquitoes
- Mint: Repels mosquitoes
- Parsley: Repels asparagus beetles
- Rosemary: Repels mosquitoes, and a variety of insects harmful to vegetable plants
- Thyme: Repels cabbage loopers, cabbage maggots, corn earworms, whiteflies, tomato hornworms and small whites
Flowers
- Alliums: Repels cabbage worms, carrot flies
- Ageratum: Repels mosquitoes
- Chrysanthemum: Repels ants, bedbugs, Japanese beetles, fleas, lice, roaches, root-knot nematodes, silverfish, and ticks
- Marigold: Repels aphids, mosquitoes, and nematodes (and rabbits)
- Nasturtiums: Repels cabbage loopers, squash bugs, whiteflies, beetles, and aphids
- Petunia: Repels asparagus beetles, leafhoppers, tomato hornworms, and squash bugs
