You need to look in an ethnic grocery store in the produce department for lemon grass it does not put on seeds but does well in the hot weather. But in your area once you get good clumps come cold weather you need to remove enough stalks to keep thru your winter months. It needs to be trimmed back for storage in your refrigerator until you get warmer weather without frost. It will keep for months in your crisper. Even if it looks rough as long as it still has enough green it should once placed in soil do fine as the weather heats up.

I don't know of a plant by that common name, and neither does Google. I understand that there are some plants that are decent mosquito repellents, but most that are mentioned are from research that says their *components* can be used to make repellents. I don't know if just planting the plants around the patio will do much. One example: Catnip. Research says that the 'essential oils' from catnip are excellent mosquito repellents. We might end up with really good bug sprays from this research. But on the web, there are many mentions of catnip as something to plant to repel mosquitoes.... Don't think this would be of much use. If anyone *does* know of plants that can be grown around a seating area that will even *reduce* the number of mosquitoes bothering the people sitting there, I would really love to know of it....

Many people have tried and most have failed. I grow a lot of catnip, both for our cats and I allow some of it to flower because that attracts beneficial insects. I still get bit by mosquitoes while working in the garden, including when I am working right next to a big patch of catnip. I've tried pulling the leaves off the plant, crushing the leaves to release the oil, and rubbing my arms with the catnip. I still get bit by mosquitoes. You could try some of these supposed repellents, and your mileage may very, but in my opinion, they do not repel mosquitoes well. The problem is that some things that work in lab conditions just don't work in the real world. A hungry mosquito is going to go to the nearest food source most of the time no matter what plants are growing near that food source. Because I like to garden organically, it pains me to say this, but nothing organic I've ever tried--including purchased organic mosquito repellents and plants grown in my own garden--has worked nearly as well as any repellent with DEET in it. If catnip were that effective, there would be a whole slew of commercial products on the market that are made from catnip.

I am looking for the following: Lemon grass, citronella, catnip, rosemary, thyme, geranium, mint and lavender. I will trade. I have lots of different seeds. Please e-mail me at: ahrobdog@tds.net