Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

July 7th, 2008

Wow, I’d never even seen one until last year. Each day I’m going out to the back garden and finding more, mostly on the butterfly weed and hibiscus (that’s in a huge pot).

Today I got two more into the can of soapy water, but one flew away, and one couple was doing it and I only got one. Boo hoo, you’re a widow now. However, I found another one on the butterfly BUSH, but missed it. These are a little more frisky than the one last year. Either that or they’ve gotten the word out: if you see the yellow gloved hand coming your way, fly for your lives.

All I can do is hand pick them every day, because I don’t even want to use soapy water on any of these plants. They’re for the butterflies, and soapy water will destroy the eggs. At least the ladybugs are feasting on the aphids. That’s a nice sight.

But I’m not happy about these Japanese beetles. Obviously the tansy doesn’t work.

• Ladybug eating the oleander aphids
• Japanese beetle frenzy!

Tags: pests
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