Keep your pets flea free by growing flea repelling flowers in your landscape.
Being invaded by fleas, whether the fleas are on your pets or in your home, is unpleasant and it can be a lengthy ordeal to get rid of the pests. Commercial products are expensive and can be harsh and messy. There are several plants and flowers that naturally repel fleas because of offensive odors to fleas and many contain pyrethrin, an ingredient often found in commercial fleas repellent products. Does this Spark an idea?
Painted Daisy
A hardy perennial in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 9, painted daisy plants can grow in sun or partial shade as long as the soil is well draining. Painted daisies, also referred to as pyrethrum daisy, is in the asteraceae family, chrysanthemum genus. Easy to care for, the bright and colorful daisy-shaped flowers, in shades of pink, white, red and purple, contain the flea repelling chemical pyrethrin. Commercially, painted daisy flowers are harvested shortly after blooming and processed into flea repellent products. Plant painted daisies throughout your landscape to deter fleas, or crush dried flower heads to rub on the coats of flea infected pets.
Tansy
Bright yellow, button-shaped flowers with fern-like foliage describes the perennial herb, tansy. Like painted daisy plants, tansy belongs to the asteraceae family and contains flea repelling properties in its flowers and leaves. Tansy grows easily in a variety of conditions, but is known to become invasive and should be grown in containers to avoid the plant's rhizome spreading. Tansy has a strong aroma that repels a number of insects and pests, including fleas. Place the plant close to doorways and areas where pets run. Tansy flowers can be harvested, dried and ground, then rubbed into your pet's fur and combed out to repel fleas. Tansy can be toxic if ingested in large amounts, therefore, using the growing plant and its aroma to repel fleas is a safe alternative.
Lavender
Lavender has so many uses for the home and garden, flea and insect repellent being one of them. The strong, fragrant odor of the lavender flower is appealing to humans, but not fleas. Fresh and dried lavender flowers can be placed throughout your home, while lavender plants should be grown in your landscape to control fleas. Use dried and crushed lavender flowers as a flea powder for your pets by itself, or mix it with dried and crushed flowers of tansy or fleabane.
Pennyroyal
Pennyroyal is a perennial herb from the mint family that is often used as a ground cover for its growth habit of spreading horizontally. Pennyroyal has many uses -- medicinal, culinary and as an insect repellent. The leaves are often used, but during the summer, the plant will have an abundance of small pink flowers, which have the strongest scent for flea repellent. Vases containing fresh-cut pennyroyal throughout you home will deter fleas and other pests. Braided flowering pennyroyal stems around your dog's neck makes a natural flea collar. Cats may have a sensitivity to pennyroyal and, to be cautious, limit your cat's exposure to the herb.
Tags: flea repelling, painted daisy, repel fleas, your landscape, your pets, asteraceae family, daisy plants