Herb of the Month: Scented Geranium (aka Citronella)

This lovely herb adds great color, texture, shape and form to any garden or container! Though, it’s lemony fragrance is why most individuals purchase this plant. Lemon-scented plants are known for their natural ability to help deter pesky critters, such as mosquitoes. Read on to learn more...

Just for Fun
- The annual, scented geranium is called citronella because it has the same scent.

- While many people think citronella is from the geranium family, it is actually a grass.; the grass is very similar to lemon grass.

Growth Habit & Maintenance
The scented geranium is known for it’s foliage and fragrance, unlike a traditional geranium which is known for it’s striking flowers. Though, the scented geranium is not always flower-free! Small lavender blooms appear periodically throughout the summer. A great benefit of this plant, besides it’s fragrance, is that it is drought tolerant, once established. In addition, it is deer and rabbit resistant. It prefers full to partial shade and reaches 24 inches to 48 inches in height.

Popular Uses
Of course, most people purchase a scented geranium to repel mosquitoes. Unfortunately, simply planting a scented geranium in your flower bed or in a pot on your deck will not discourage those pesky mosquitoes! In order to repel mosquitoes, you must rub or crush the leaves and then rub your skin with the oil the leaves extract. The oils have a lemony scent which mosquitoes do not like. Technically, any herb that has a lemony fragrance (when broken) is considered a bug deterrent. Another great way to rid your yard of mosquitoes is to kill them before they hatch (while still in egg form) by using mosquito dunks wherever there is standing water. Unfortunately, if these two techniques don’t do the trick, you may have to turn to a bug spray that contains DEET.

Happy Herb Gardening!
Pegi R.
Fairview Greenhouses & Garden Center