Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

Sunday - January 18, 2009

From: North Miami Beach, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives, Pests
Title: Mosquito repellant plant?
Answered by: Barbara Medford and Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Is there such a thing as mosquito repellent plants? If so, what are they?

ANSWER:

Your best bet for ridding your garden of mosquitoes is to consider one of their breeding requirements—availability of water in which to lay their eggs—and follow the recommendations for ridding your garden of mosquito breeding sites in About Mosquito Control from Miami-Dade County Public Works.

We found some websites that listed some mosquito repellent plants, and will give you their web addresses. We have no proof one way or the other that any of these work. Our impression is that usually they don't. And we saw no plants native to North America suggested, so they would not be in our Native Plant Database.

Gomestic Gardening Five Plants That Repel Mosquitoes

Iowa State University Extension Horticulture and Home Pest News