On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:22:57 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:


Marigolds are a member of the family which are the natural source of
pyrethrum, which was marketed as an effective insecticide. The pungent
smell-quotient in marigold leaves, is the pyrethrum, so ones with the
smelliest leaves, have the most insecticide.

In the UK, gardeners who grow tomatoes and basil in glasshouses,
often grow marigolds in there too, as a sacrifice plant to kill
whitefly.

Janet.

Wrong. C. coccineum is NO relation to Tagetes. You are also wrong
about it being the "leaves, is the pyrethrum." Pyrethrum come from a
Chrysanthamum coccineum plant and it is the crushed flowers where the
poison is, not the foliage.