Ice begonias are enjoying increasing popularity, but this does not extend to snails. While slugs can cause great damage to other plants, ice begonias are spared from them. Other pests also largely avoid these decorative perennial bloomers.
Do ice begonias protect against snails?
Ice begonias are an effective snail repellent because snails avoid these plants. You can plant ice begonias around beds to protect them from slugs. In addition, ice begonias are bee-friendly and their flowers are edible for humans.
Can I use ice begonias as a snail repellent?
Ice begonias can be used very well as a biological defense or barrier against snails. Harmful or unpleasant side effects are excluded. To do this, plant the ice begonias as a border around beds that you want to protect from snails. This is especially interesting if you have plants in your garden that are very popular with snails, such as marigolds.
Ice begonias are also often used as plants for graves, where snail infestation is not necessarily checked every day. Simple and uncomplicated care is of course at least as important for this use.
Are ice begonias useful for animals?
Ice begonias cannot exactly be described as direct crops or lush insect pastures. They produce too little pollen and nectar. Nevertheless, they are very useful for insects and bees because they bloom until the first frost. This means you can still provide nectar even when other summer flowers have already bloomed.
Are ice begonias edible or poisonous to humans?
The flowers of ice begonias are not poisonous but edible and even very tasty. The taste is a little reminiscent of lemon. This makes the flowers ideal for seasoning fresh salads or as an edible decoration for summer buffets. You can use the different flower colors in a targeted manner.
The most important things in brief:
- good defense against snails
- useful for bees
- Flowers edible for humans
- interesting as an edible decoration
Tip
Snails tend to avoid ice begonias rather than eat these attractive, permanent bloomers. Therefore, you can use ice begonias specifically to protect other plants from snail infestation.
