I was really hoping they'd have died off forever after the last great freeze and snowfall, but, alas! They're back in full force! I have only seen one lone ladybug on patrol, so I know I need to get more to help her out. Besides that, it's really the nymphs that do all the work of destroying the aphids. In the meantime, guess this means it's time to make up a batch of my Murphy's Oil Soap, compost tea, and fish emulsion spray and get working on eliminating those nasty buggers!
Stephanie, Keep them up there ok, we don't need any down here... Someone once wrote that if you plant certain flowers in your garden then the ladybugs will stay there. I'm going to look into that this weekend, see if I can keep the aphid herd thin this year.
I hate those guys!!
Supposedly they flock to dandelions. I have tons of dandelions and don't see any of them there, just on my daylilies!
I had spider mites invade my greenhouse about a month ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the wet weather has killed lots of grasshoppers. They were like locusts last year.
I thought our "colder than usual" winter would've killed off just about everything .... but my patio is nightly full of slugs. Happily leaving their slime trails. Blah!
Carla
I haven't much noticed slugs, I have slews of snails. I guess for them damp trumped cold...
The paucity of insects is very noticeable, at a superficial level, before you even start getting your eyes right down into the plants to look. I'm sure they'll bounce back quick, with their little short life cycles.
