Lemon Verbena

[Bunniesnotbullies]

Is it possible to grow lemon verbena without it attracting greenfly? I bought it from the nursery, put it straight into a room with no other plants or open windows and hung a strip of fly paper beside it to catch the sciarid flies. I watered it only from the bottom.

That was all going well until the bloody greenfly appeared out of nowhere, perhaps they came in on my hair or something. The bastards.

I took the plant outside, took it out of the pot, rinsed the roots with some vigour in a bucket of clean water then did the same with the top half of the plant. Then I repotted into a newly opened houseplant compost, so that should be clean of bugs. Hopefully.

It's not really surprising after all that sheep dip business that the poor wee plant is looking very miserable, despite me trying to nurture it. The leaves shrivel and fall off. This is the first time I've done all the cleaning thing but I have the same shrivelling leaf issue every year. Should I just grow it outside?

Yes.

😄 Thank you, @UpMyself

I'd put it outside in the summer. I've never succeeded in growing it.
According to websites you can grow it indoors.

I have a number of lemon verbena bushes outside in the garden. They’re a few years old now and v big, I love them. Never had greenfly, though that could be just because the roses offer a more tempting treat…

Edited to add that the leaves do fall off every winter, they’re deciduous at least in this climate. And I prune them every spring to keep them bushy as they can get a bit straggly otherwise.

I'm very envious of your bushes @Alltheyellowbirds - respect!

I always thought it would be too cold here, that's why I've kept it inside. I'll put it outside and see what happens. Thank you both🙂

Depends on the conditions in your gardens I suppose, I live in Scotland so it’s def not tropical here, but I’m in a city centre so it’s quite sheltered. I don’t think it’d do so well on a windy exposed hillside. Good luck! There is nothing like the scent of Lemon Verbena leaves is there.

I'm in Scotland too @Alltheyellowbirds , it's windy here but I have a couple of reasonably sheltered spots where I could try.

Lemon verbena is the best, the young leaves are lovely in a salad and the older ones fab in almost anything cooked. Not that I get the older ones very often, maybe this year 🌿

Give it the sunniest, most sheltered spot you have, and maybe bring it in when snow or hard frost is forecast.

I don’t bring mine in because theyre too big but I did used to take a couple of cuttings every year as insurance and I’d keep those in during the worst of winter. The insurance was never needed though and that’s why I now have lots 😂

I have one that's been horribly neglected outside for about three years and it's doing amazingly, they can definitely handle being outdoors, even mild frost and snow, in my experience.

Thank you both. I am now at last switching MN off and taking myself and my wee plant outside; one of us will potter, the other will bask in the sunshine that has just appeared and flourish!

You may have "killed it with kindness", if indeed it was kindness.

What you did sounds a bit OTT for a few aphids.

Next time, try a little bit of washing up liquid diluted with water. Apply to the affected areas of plant. Rub off the aphids with your fingers (or a rubber gloved hand if squeamish).

Repeat this if they come back.

I fear the scrubbing of the roots may have finished it off. 😬

Best grown outside. I do know that ants hate lemon, and that is the one thing to get rid of them, so plant the plants where there are ants nests. Keep it in pots to move around.

If you want it indoors, put it by a spider web. The spider will eat them and anything else it attracts. Spiders have magnifying eyes. They see what we cannot see. I keep them. Haven't had a fly in years in the house, except the fruit flies.

We have to give and take with nature. Fruit flies are attracted to port wine, which is a very good cough medicine to keep by the bed if you have dry cough at night. I was surprised the first time I found this out. Hardly had I put it on the cabinet than fruit flies were all over it. Where did they come from? I changed to white port and cover it.

Ants are farmers. They cultivate green and black fly for food, and destroy some very lovely plants. Lemon verbena might be enough to protect your roses and dahlias perhaps?

Slugs love marigolds. Hedgehogs love slugs. Try to get along with the marigolds being eaten, because hedgehogs know when a plant is half eaten they will find a slug close by. At this time of year the garden centre shelves are loaded with slug pellets.

Broken eggshells will protect the marigolds etc to some extent and not kill the hedgehogs.

We had loads of green fly which was killing off lovely plants (mostly beans). so I bought some ladybird larvae from Greengardener. Ladybirds LOVE (eating) greenfly so are a natural and amazing pest control. BUT there’s a trick to stopping the ants from eating the larva before it hatches (Vaseline on the stems of plants) as ants don’t want the ladybirds from eating their food source. Nature is amazing but complicated! But when it works, greenfly problems sorted.

(this is my favourite type of Mumsnet post)

Thank you for this.

Vaseline on plant stems. What a good idea. Never heard of it.

I like the vaseline on stems idea.

Washing the roots isn't going to do anything for aphids. They happen. Squish them, keep an eye, move on

Washing the roots was for the scriarid flies @Harrysmummy246 , to get the compost off them and use new stuff.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply.