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Plants for holiday home.
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Posted by Sete (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 04 at 10:09
| What can I plant in my holiday home garden, in the south of France to keep biting insects, mosquitos etc. away? Also a small tree or shrub to provide shade and some easy care plants. We are near the sea. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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The lemon scented pelargonium are great to keep away mosquitos. They like warm and are drought resistant.In few years they can become rather big.
For nice shade I would suggest you a fig tree or silk tree (albizia). They have nice pink flowers during the summer. Also oleanders are my favorits, easy to grow with plenty of flowers. You can choose the red, pink, white, yellow or peach color. Have a great time! anna |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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- Posted by SeanO z9mediterranean (My Page) on
Mon, Jun 14, 04 at 13:36
| Hi Sete - Lemon scented plants are said to work, but some are dubious about their effectiveness (I love them regardless!). Perhaps the most effective method is to encourage bats, who eat thousands of mosquitos and other insects each night. In what part of France do you live? I started to research this more for you but need to know the locale more exactly. And during what time of year are you typically at this house? Regards,
Sean O'Hara |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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- Posted by Sete Ireland (My Page) on
Tue, Jun 15, 04 at 18:23
| Thank you for message Sean O'. We are in the Languedoc region, not too far from the Spanish border and are there during the summer months. |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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Sete
A lot of night-scented plants you usually find in Mediterranean patios are supposed to help keep mosquitos at bay, particularly jasmin and what we call here "galan de noche" (cestrum nocturnum) which has a very strong scent. Both would need some water to establish. With a simple trellis structure the jasmin would provide shade; you could add a grape vine, though the fruit does attract wasps, as do figs. Or a palm tree! Have a look what people are planting nearby: there is often a good reason for the choice. Lavender, thymes and rosemary are good drought resistant aromatics. Succulents can make fantastic pots and windowboxes with practically no water at all. Have fun and good luck Susan ps does anyone know how to attach a photo to messages? I'd like to show you our patio and what grows in some of the gardens of holiday houses around here. |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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| Hi Sete Plants that locally, grow wild often have the correct attributes which we were looking for. Recently, I have obtained a plant that is locally known as 'Curry'. This produces a strong scent which is very similar to curry and is said to deter insects away. It is also a very though plant, able to withstand dry and windy locations. It grows wild in Malta (although quite rare) so during summer, it can go without water for months!. If I can grap some seeds (although my plants have not yet done this), I will be very happy to send them to you. Here is a link I found on the net, showing a picture of what the plant looks like (it is a low growing evergreen shrub with grey/green leaves producing yellow flowers on longish stems from May-July - look for the picture with pots marked as 'Curry 4'). I agree with Susan's remark, that if you look closely to what people are growing in your area, you should find something suitable for your needs. Best regards
Frankie. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Curry Plant
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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- Posted by Sete Ireland (My Page) on
Thu, Jun 17, 04 at 17:31
| Thanks to Frankie and Susan for your advice and I hope to try out your recommendations. Maybe someone more technically minded than I might tell you, Susan, how to attach photos - it would be nice to see your garden. |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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| Hi Susan I think that this forum does not support HTML so I cannot think of an easy way to attach pictures. What you can do is find a site that enables you to create your own home page so that you can attach pictures over there. Then, post the link to your site so that we can all view your garden. If I find some more info on this, I will post them here. Best Regards
Frankie. |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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| Hie Sete Va voir la pépinière Filippi à Mèze très riche en informations et plantes pour nos situations. SHABDRement Eric |
RE: Plants for holiday home.
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- Posted by Sete Ireland (My Page) on
Wed, Feb 23, 05 at 15:59
| Dear SHABDR, thank you for your suggestion. I have their website already and will try to visit them this summer. |
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