Puny butterfly bush!

Tell me the name today, and i will still have to ask tomorrow....grin

I hope you didn't think that I knew that off the top of my head. I had to look it up!!!! But I have it in my file now.

Hey Venice, I don't know the name of anything. If you like plant it. If it tastes good eat it. I blame everything on being a red neck. What's your out?

Venice I'm going to try to be more organized & make a garden file!

Right now my "file" consists of only one Word document! So I have nothing to organize for now!

PLEASE HELP!!! I have both plants dug up and need some help.

1) Wilty has bugs!!! They are too tiny to take a photo with my camera! I remember seeing some bigger ones in the house a couple of times. Can't see legs. Not mealy bugs, not an Indian meal moth larvae, doesn't look like a centipede. They are the color of a worm, maybe just a touch over 1/16 inch. Does that help? Make any suggestion and I will look it up. I couldn't find any thing on the Internet and need a name to look up. Please.

2) Also, that butterfly bush -- There was white mold in the b;acl mulch on the top of the soil that was left from the mulch I had last year. Should I do anything with it? I tried to remove as much as I could. Should I spray it with fungicide?

You can spray venice, but I almost think just about everyone gets that moldy stuff under the mulch, doesn't seem to hurt anythin. Neem oil is wonderful as a pesticide or fungicide. there is a great product for your wormy things, and very enviromentally safe, I cannot spell it, so I will have to go to the garage with a pencil and paper, lol
Both products are inexpensive and can be found at Lowes.

Diatomaceous Earth

Great! I just have Daconil Fungicide and Sevin for the bugs. I trimmed Wilty. It has hair roots at the top. This is the best photo I could get.

Venice, the time has come to take advantage of your Cooperative Extension Service/ County agent They will know what is a pest and what is beneficial in your area. Knowing the proper growing conditions, plants, pests, diseases and remedies is what they are trained for and paid to do. They should be listed under County agencies....they can be a gardener's best friend.

I had to look it up to find out if it was safe around pets. Boy, that stuff is a miracle cure for a lot of things. Why am I using all this chemical stuff!!! I have lots of spray bottles on top of my fridge of it. I guess I need to take all of it south of downtown to the chemical disposal place. I sure hope it comes in a small bag. It said something like 2 pound would cover an acre and the smallest I saw was a 10 pound bag! Shoot, Lowe's just has it in a 25 pound bag! I guess I will call around to see if I can find one smaller.

Crash! You sure have made my day! Thanks so much!!!!!!!

Thanks Moon. Will make a note of that.

I don't know what all they effect but sounds like what I have read on other threads, sounds like root maggots. Just a guess.

I have looked at several photos on the Internet and they aren't root maggots. Any other ideas?

What I have are colored like a worm and they are shorter than a root magot. Also they have a taper at the front and back.

No idea.

I am not sure Diatomaceous Earth is what I need. The things (bugs) Wilty had were more worm like. I am not sure they had legs and DE says it is for crawling insects. Also, they say to put it on top of the ground so the worms can do their work. Then they talked about using it in the liter box. Good idea but I am afraid that dust will get in the air and I have asthma. Also, the DE does not take care of mold in the soil. I am confused. I am afraid this has become a big deal and they are only 2 small plants, if that. I am just going to do something and get them back in the ground!!!

Go to Lowe's and buy some spectricide and spray the H out of them. Soak the ground where you took them up.

Oh venice..... I know some chickens that would take care of those worms for you......

Not all crawling wormy-looking things you find in the soil are bad--I'd second the reco to head over to your county extension office and let them have a look at things. If they happen to be something beneficial it would be a shame to kill them off, or even if they're not beneficial they may not be the source of your problem.

Diatomaceous Earthis really good for slugs, rose slugs and all kinds of wormy things.

Kassy can I borrow your chicken?!!!

I can't find any of those critters! I will keep digging.

It is getting pretty hot out there!!!

Oh venice, we have a few that are real good diggers. They even dug me a new flower bed one year. Dry summer, grass want brown, and the chickens went to town on it. Instead of reseeding it, I asked my BF if I could have a flower bed there.

This is what is in the flower bed that they dug me, or part of what is in it. I call it Daisies gone wild. I had to tame them some ^_^
My small butterfly bush is on the right front in the picture. It had not blossomed yet at this time.

Looks really nice. See, all I need is a chicken!!!!

Oh and if you have been on the slug thead.....I told them to get Chickens!!!
A chicken will eat anything that won't eat it.......now I'm not saying it's not going to help itself to some of the greens in the garden too while it is at it ^_^

Yes, I remember. It doesn't eat flowers?

No, but our older ones, especially the leghorns thought they could help me weed the flower beds all the time......fences went around the flower beds then. We no longer have the leghorns, and the girls we do have are not let out all day, or they would probably get into more. They have a big run, and they are let out towards evening..... and trust me, our garden is fenced in.

But they did have to try one of my flowers out this year. They didn't eat it, just picked some of the buds off it.......LOL
I shouldn't be laughing, but the plant did look kind of strange.......LOL