Juli Lawrence - Rakish Gardening

If these eggs aren’t the coolest thing ever, I don’t know. These are green lacewing eggs, and they hang on the little threads to keep them from eating one another when they hatch.

Lacewing larvae look like funny little alligators, then turn into pretty green lacewings. The larvae are also called aphid lions, because they devour aphids. I am still amazed that one day, my butterfly weed was just covered in oleander aphids, the next day…gone. The lacewings and ladybugs had an end-of-summer feast.

Here’s a creepy grasshopper that wouldn’t stop looking at me while I photographed the eggs. I probably should have killed him, but I didn’t have the heart for it.

Am I the only person in the world who now LIKES the aphids? Instead of pests, I’ve begun to view these guys as food for my friends.

These red aphids moved in as I was taking pictures, and then a few ladybug larvae marched on in and ate them.

• First monarch!
• The Monarch Murder
• Companion Planting for beneficials - homage to Sally Jean Cunningham part 2
• Aphids at the nursery!
• Ladybug eating the oleander aphids