CP: Plant onions to repel aphids

I'm rather new to gardening. I started flower gardening in late spring. I planted Butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in a flower bed because I wanted the orange blooms as part of the color scheme. When they got ready to bloom aphids covered the stems and I only got one small bloom on eight plants. I tried scraping them off with fingernails and hand spraying with soapy water from a bottle but there were gazillions of them. I didn't spray with a hose because the bed is 100 yards from the nearest faucet and my water pressure here in the country isn't very high.

I read that planting varieties from the onion family will repel aphids. I don't really want onions in my flower bed and purple Alliums don't go well with the color scheme I see in my mind. The flower bed celebrates the orange and blue colors of my favorite football teams, the Fighting Illini and Chicago Bears.

Any suggestions for me to try next spring would be helpful.
Thanks,
Gary

The aphids that you find on milkweeds are a particular kind that only like milkweeds, and they're very persistent so I'd be surprised if planting onions around the milkweeds would repel them. Someone posted on another thread that if you smush the milkweed aphids by hand and leave them on the plant that'll keep new ones from coming along. Never tried it myself, but it worked for her.

Hi Gary,
First, if your A. tuberosa was just planted this year, it wouldn't have gotten a lot of blooms. As your plants get more age and size, they will produce more blooms. When they get to be a few years old, your plants will have expanded from the roots and will be loaded with blooms.
Second, I put on a pair of garden gloves (or disposable latex gloves) and run my fingers gently down the stems to crush all the aphids. Leave the yellow goo there and it will act as a natural repellent for a while. I prefer not to spray with any chemicals since Monarch butterflies use these plants to lay eggs on. I had the fun of raising some last summer and my grandkids were so excited when we got to release one while they were here. BTW, I have dwarf Mexican petunias planted with mine (they are blue) and they do make a real pretty contrast. These plants are part of a butterfly garden I created around my patio.

I kept hoping two or three would chime in with "my grandma used to plant some of the onion family among her butterfly weed and never had any aphids."

I guess there's no substitute for doing things the right way.

Thanks for your help.

Have you considered any of the white alliums?

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0125
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0134
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0128
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0113
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0114

Or even the blue Allium caeruleum?

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=03-0102

Thank you PuddlePirate. I wasn't aware of white alliums. I'll get some and plant them in the fall. I have blue and purple in other beds.

Gary

Maybe a pot of chives would help?

You're welcome! White goes with everything, doesn't it?