Hi all --
I just ran into this little fun fact at Fedco Seeds. www.fedcoseeds.com If it's true, it would be wonderful for me! I have heard the same thing about Jewelweed -- a kind of wild, self sowing impatiens that grows in the shade here.
"Catnip a top-notch mosquite repellant? That’s what researchers at Iowa
State University claim. They suggest crushing and rubbing catnip
leaves on the skin is several times more effective than using Deet.
Zones 3-8."
Suzy
Herbal Remedies
Suzy
If you start rubbing catnip into your skin you will have every cat in town chasing after you!!!!
Mark
Mark~ I think you're right. I have a neighbor whose catmint garden borders near mine. Cats visit their yard daily, nightly and yep they traipse through my gardens , my yard to get there. Fenced yards for both, the cats could care less. I care about the little presents of half gnawned mice and birds, the rest spots they denude and the organic remnants of their dinners they leave in my garden.... the boy pumpkin urges me to" get a baby lion to keep them OUT! " LOL!
Huh... I've thought about growing it for the furbabies, now I just might have to.
Had someone send me Jewelweed seeds about a month ago, while I was trying to get rid of a horrendous case of Poison Ivy (is there such a thing as a non-horrendous case?) - I guess it's used to treat it by boiling down the leaves (don't quote me on that, I'd have to look it up again). Are they pretty?
Oh, Mark -- are you talking Elton John's Honkeycats? Or real live kitty cats? LOL!
I was going to buy Catmint from Renee's -- very Cottagey -- and have lots of hunting cats out and on the prowl...speaking of which, G6, what's worse? Cats lounging on your plants or chipmunks and voles burrowing?
PC Jewelweed is a weed. It is horribly invasive, but easy to pull seedlings. One of the first trades I made was jewelweed seed for common orange Cosmos. I got the better deal!
Suzy
Suzy~ when it's put THAT way.....I am grateful that they keep the voles and mice away... I dare say even the squirrels...but the pumpkins don't do morturary clean up and I do so detest that chore! Now if I could teach the neighbors cats to lounge elsewhere, I would be inclined to give them fresh tuna for a job well done! LOL!
This message was edited Dec 17, 2006 10:46 PM
I've tried fresh tuna, but it doesn't call to them the way catmint must. The ants find it first, then the cats turn their noses up at it. :( I'm gonna trycatmint form seed and see if I can get one or two plants going. The worst that can happen is I have to rip it out.
'
Unless Mark comes up with some horrible story, that is LOL!
Suzy
Catnip -- "if you sow it, they won't know it -- if you seat it, they will eat it." Something on it needs to be bruised or broken before it sends out the cat vibe, and transplanting bruises it. I had a pot growing for a long time and Maggie, Lulu, and Angus paid no attention. When we moved, a stem must have gotten twisted or something. You ever see a 12 pound cat in an 8 inch pot? Wish I'd had my camera!
Mark, shouldn't that be SIR Crocosmia?
I grow catnip in hanging baskets. Keeps it out of reach to my cat and the strays, and I give my cat some leaves all summer.
Jewelweed (also called touch-me-not) is affective against poison ivy by using the juice in the hollow stems just rubbed on. Works best if you catch the outbreak in the early stages.
Darius,
Is catnip pretty in a basket? Or do you grow it FOR the cats and the basket is just an efficient way of doing it?
G6,
I am happy to do mortuary duty on something small enough to fit on my shovel -- MORE than happy!
Suzy
Marigold borders around the patio and garden benches is supposed to keep the mosquitoes at bay, but our mosquitos will hide in them to attack you at night...A friend vouches for having planters of rosemary to repel the mosquitoes, but I have received a few bites on her deck as well.
Jewelweed is reportedly good for the itching of athlete's feet... Darius, have you had success in growing them in your garden?
Suzy, mortuary duty! By the time I call you to hire out, the girly pumpkins will have screamed murder to kingdom come, especially if one of the gnawned voles is near the playset. LOL!
Some time ago, someone mentioned growing catnip in a birdcage -- kept the plant whole, but the kitties could nibble the edges.
A birdcage is a nice decorative touch... and yes, you can just set it on the ground on top of the plant, and the kitties can eat whatever grows out the sides withough destroying the crown of the plant in their enthusiasm. I have plenty of little volunteer catnip seedlings every year, and I don't really have a problem with cats destroying the plant... but I'm keeping an eye out for an old birdcage anyway, just because I like the idea!
Suzy, I grow it for the cats and usually put 2 more (and different) plants in the hanging baskets.
Garden6, jewelweed grows along all the creeks here, usually next to a patch of poison ivy. Never had any need to plant it in my yard.
Darius~ that figures!... DH is an athletic sort, marathon running etc, hence I thought it would be a good pitch to sliver another gardening bed out of the Emerald Isle yard for the athlete's feet.LOL!
Crushed lavender leaves in a warm bath is a soothing muscle relaxant. They say it also soothes headaches.