'Tis the season!
Mosquitoes congregate at our front door and latch on to our dog as we let him out and back in, bringing unwanted, blood-sucking guests into the house to later terrorize us.
When I saw this amazing container plant idea for Mosquito Control, I was extremely excited to try it out. I visited multiple greenhouses in the area to be able to collect all the plants needed. After each purchase, the excitement grew. Each greenhouse worker was familiar with each plant, and all mentioned "mosquito plants" as the descriptor. This just added to the excitement! As I collected the plants needed to make this amazing force-field, I envisioned parking the finished container right next to the front door and having a mosquito-free environment. All the mosquitoes would swarm elsewhere because of the aroma this miracle container would emit. How wonderful it would be to not have the wall of mosquitoes lurking.
Well, long story short. Don't bother. I think the plants in this container must actually attract mosquitoes.
May I just say..... EPIC FAIL! Thank you, container artist guy, for sucking me into this idea. One greenhouse stated, "people buy these plants and put them around their deck." "Oh, wow! Awesome!" I thought.
Now, perhaps I am jumping the gun here. I just planted this container, and in all fairness, we did get a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year. Perhaps when this container grows to epic proportions will it finally produce a stench worthy of warding off these annoying insects, but for now, I am not amused.
I feel like this rates right up there with buying cleaning products that claim to remove rust, lime, and scale. Yah, right. That doesn't exist either. I do find the directions to be appropriate, "repeat as needed." Yes, like 1,000 times with 5-grit sandpaper.
Perhaps I just need to add 5-grit sandpaper and some rust/lime/scum remover to this container plant! I should have known... I have NEVER had citronella (anything) ward off any of the mosquitoes that hang around here. What was I thinking?
For those wondering what plants are in this container:
- Citronella geranium (x1)
- Marigold "Gem" (x 2)
- Lemon grass (x 1)
- Ageratum "Artist Purple" (x 4)
Original plant plan called for (in addition to the above):
- Catnip (x 2)
- Lemon thyme (x6)
I find it hard to believe the additional catnip and thyme would make a difference. The marigolds alone would send me packin'. But that's just me.
