A bunch of fresh flowers on the table and a few houseplants by the window are some of the easiest ways to make a home feel alive. They are also some of the easiest ways to bring small pests inside. Most of these insects are harmless to people, but they are annoying, they spread from plant to plant, and in one case the flowers themselves are a bigger risk to your pets than any bug. Here is what tends to ride in with flowers and plants, how to keep it out, and a few ways to get the floral look with less upkeep.
Thrips: tiny hitchhikers that hide inside blooms
Thrips are slender insects about two millimeters long or less, shaped like a grain of rice and usually yellow, brown or black. University of Maryland Extension notes that thrips that feed on pollen and nectar can congregate in blooms, which is exactly why they are easy to miss in a full bouquet. Once indoors they can move onto houseplants, where, according to University of Minnesota Extension, damaged leaves develop irregular silvery streaks or splotches and flowers become streaked or distorted.
How to keep them out: before cut flowers come inside, give each stem a gentle shake outdoors and look into the center of the open blooms. Remove any flowers with insects tucked inside, and keep a new bouquet away from your houseplants for the first few days.
Fungus gnats: the little flies that live in potting soil
If small dark flies drift around your plants or the kitchen window, they are often fungus gnats. The University of California’s Integrated Pest Management program explains that females lay tiny eggs in moist organic debris or potting soil, and the larvae feed on fungi and organic matter in the soil. The adults do not bite people or damage plants. They are a nuisance, but a stubborn one, because every overwatered pot is a new nursery.
How to keep them out: University of Minnesota Extension recommends letting the surface soil dry as much as possible between waterings without letting the plants wilt, and using yellow sticky cards to catch the adults. Empty saucers that hold standing water, and repot into fresh, well-draining mix when a plant has had gnats for a while.
Aphids, honeydew and the ants that follow
Aphids are soft-bodied, pear-shaped insects, often green and only 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long, that cluster on stems, buds and the undersides of leaves. They leave behind a sticky residue called honeydew, which can turn black with sooty mold. Ants love honeydew, so a sudden line of ants marching toward a vase or a plant on the windowsill is often a sign that aphids came in with it. Wipe or rinse affected stems, and check under the leaves of anything new before it joins the rest of your plants.
If you have a cat, leave the lilies out
Some flowers are a bigger problem than any insect. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that lilies in the true lily and daylily families are very dangerous for cats. The entire plant is toxic, including the pollen and even the water in the vase, and eating a small amount of a leaf or petal can cause fatal kidney failure in less than three days. Easter, Asiatic, stargazer and tiger lilies all show up in mixed bouquets, so if you share your home with a cat, ask the florist to leave them out or skip them altogether.
Getting the floral look with less upkeep
None of this means giving up flowers. But if you are tired of shaking out bouquets and chasing gnats, it helps to mix in decor that brings the same softness without soil, standing water or pollen. Good silk or dried stems work in a vase, botanical prints can fill a wall, and a flower-shaped lamp can stand in for a bouquet on a nightstand or a console table.
GODONLIF’s flower lamps are one example: glass tulip and rose shades, a camellia on a wood base and a pink lily-of-the-valley bell. Each one is built around a bulb that gently melts the top of a jar candle, so you can add a floral scent to the room without lighting a wick. As with any lamp that warms wax, the bulb and shade get hot, so set it where pets and children cannot reach it or knock it over.
A quick checklist
- Shake and inspect cut flowers outdoors before you bring them in.
- Keep new bouquets away from houseplants, and isolate newly bought plants for one to two weeks, as University of Minnesota Extension suggests.
- Let the surface of the potting soil dry between waterings and empty standing water from saucers.
- Use yellow sticky cards to catch adult fungus gnats.
- Follow ant trails back to their source; they often lead to aphids.
- Keep true lilies and daylilies out of any home with a cat.
