I have lived in my current home for almost 2 years now and never had any pest issues, however, lately we have had unseasonably high amounts of rain and this particular plant/bush in front of my home has been attracting hordes of flies to my front door. It is almost to the point that I have to go out the back way to leave! Can anyone identify this shrubbery and also point me in the direction of what I need to do to eradicate this fly problem? Thanks all!
Ardgarden, I am not going to identify your plant. There are several amazingly knowledgable people on this forum. The picture shows the plant in flower. There's the likelihood that your plant is pollinated by whatever the flies are. Currently I have a Savory plant (Carrot family thing about 8 feet tall) which is irrestible to the kind of beetles & flies normally seen on the cow-pats in our local dairy farmers' fields! Nice shrub like that, perhaps you could move it elswhere & replace with something that is for sure pollinated by bees, butterflies or hummingbirds. I don't mind having these kinds of plants - I get a weird & wonderful variety of bugs in my yard - but I had to move those stinky daisies we have to the back of the bed. Smell like dog-poo...I wonder what's pollinating them. I think I'll go look (holding my nose). gb.
We have a bad fly problem here in the late spring usually. This year we bought some Rescue Fly Traps (available at your local Home Depot, hardware store or possibly Wal-Mart). They work great but if you decide to go that route be very aware that the traps attract the flies because the bait inside stinks like something died! Hang it well away from places that you use frequently, they work over a large area so you shouldn't have a problem with them attracting your flies. Here's what we have, from Lowes web site: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=46767-000002226-NFT-D
I have the same plant along the side house walk. When in flower there are numerous flies. At first I was concerned, but noticed that the flies stay around the plant, and never go onto the deck which is only a few feet distant. Now after about ten days the flowers have faded, aand there is nary a fly in sight, therefore I consider the flies as harmless.
There are SO many kinds of flies. The ones we notice around plants are not necessarily house fliues - one of the main type we need to be concerned about food. gb.
