Haint Blue Paint

Ever heard of Haint Blue Paint???? I hadn't either. This morning, I received a newsletter email from Howard Garrett. Sometimes I read these and sometimes, when I'm not in the mood, I just delete them. They keep coming, I mean, he doesn't know which ones I read & which ones I trash. right?!?!?! Anyway, I read this one. It wasn't about plants, the weather, gardening or any of the usual stuff. Nope, today was all about haint blue paint. Pretty interesting stuff. Apparently, Mr Garrett painted his patio ceiling haint blue and there aren't any bugs hanging around - and this is a year later. Is it true? Could it be? No spider webs, no wasps, and no june bugs????? Now, he didn't say it kept bugs from flying about, he just mention the lack of bug 'stuff' around his ceiling.

I don't know about you but, my patio and front porch ceilings and walls have attracted all sorts of bug 'stuff'. I am forever cleaning little spider webs from the corners. Maybe we just have lots of bugs at our house but, I'm wondering if this haint blue really works!

So, I've read many articles this morning about the haint blue. Seems that 'back in the day' it was milk paint mixed with lime & perhaps the lime helped with the bug population. Sounds convincing. But wait! Mr. Garrett's paint didn't have any lime in the mix. So, moving on, there is another theory.......it goes like this, the haint blue fools the bugs. Yep, that's right, a bit like the bag of water that fools the flies. The bugs see haint blue and think it's the never ending sky. So, if it's the sky, there is no place to roost. See where this is going??

Of course, there are more thoughts on haint blue. Perhaps, it was to keep the spirits, stuck in this world, from crossing in. Haint blue closely resembles water & spirits can't cross water. Tell me how that works though? Are spirits stuck between rivers and streams. Are they limited to where they passed and the location of water? What if they drown??? Okay, okay, okay, I know, I'm getting way to technical and totally off topic. So, let's just go with it. I mean, if it potentially keeps bug and spirits away, why not use it? Looks like I know the next color for my outdoor ceilings!