Plant Doctor

Totally. They squick me out so bad, when I run across them in the beds I always go "EWW!" out loud and do the spazzy squick dance. Just can't help it.

Sounds like the time the cat brought a live mouse into the house and let it go. I was in barefeet and t-shirt, half awake at 2 in the morning. I was eeking and laughing while I was running around catching the poor little guy. Putting socks on helped . . .

One mousie?! I get about 3 a night from Little Jack. He especially loves the bouncy mousies. When I'm sitting crosslegged on the floor, he drops them in my lap.

Rodents don't freak me out at all. I even had a pet mouse when I was a kid.

Does ammonia water do any good against earwigs? I keep forgetting to go buy ammonia and a spray bottle. Duh.

They don't really freak me out at all, either. That was the point - that was why I was simultaneously laughing. But half awake and barefoot while he was running around the room was startling . . .

They're quick little buggers too- hard to catch once they're loose in the house. Not something I enjoy even when I'm wide awake. heh.

Heheh, that reminds me… A few months ago, every night at about 3 in the morning our cat Stars herded a little whiskered present into our bedroom… she was quite proud... We were puzzled, because she’s never been much of a hunter - rather she’s more of the princess-of-the-house sort of kitty. After a week of disrupted sleep and a whole lot of experience in the diversity of mouse personalities (they are quite unique) we caught one in the act of risking everything for a meal in the lion’s den, so to speak, aka, Stars’ litter box…. So that was where she was finding them! Like catching fish in a barrel…

I had just gone with my SIL to adopt two kittens from Meow Cat Rescue (which I highly recommend, they love their cats) and while we were there they suggested the deodorant litter I’d been using might be causing her occasional sniffles. They recommended a litter which is made of a corn by-product… All I can say is it should come with a warning in BIG RED LETTERS!!! So we switched to a non-deodorant sand-based litter – no more sniffles and no more tempted mice!!!

I used corn litter when I had newborn kittens because they are messy and tend to ingest more litter as they are learning to groom. After a month or two of that, I couldn't stand the smell anymore. Some people swear by that corn litter.

Your experience is certainly a reason NOT to go with it. :-)

Pony - I was in a room with three dogs and five cats and do you think one of them could be bothered to help me? Not at all. I finally had to get one of the dogs up because the stunned and exhausted mouse had taken refuge behind his bed. I was able finally to get him in a jar and back outside.

ROFL! They were being polite, they didn't want to horn in on Mama's toy! ;D

Yeah, sure - you give them too much credit. They had given up the nocturnal life and were just too sleepy to be bothered. Too bad I didn't have Gemini then - she's always game.

She's made peace with the cats on the bedroom end of the house and has taken to sleeping with me now - on my pillow. Imagine the feeling when someone starts grooming the hair on the top of your head in the middle of the night . . . it's odd to say the least. :-)

Henry does that to me all the time. I think he's actually trying to eat my spicy brains. ;)

:-)

I’m a little devastated this morning… What could have only been a mouse took out 80% of my Echinacea seedlings last night in the garage… Time to get serious about the traps again…

Oh no... that totally sucks. :(

Pony, another theory is that a small slug got to the bud of your Outrageous. We definitely have more slug damage to daylilies than earwigs and the slugs are devestating this year. The earwigs tend to go for the dahlias.

On the mouse subject, I think I have grieved on another thread that they got my planted corn seeds even before they germinated, twice! I have to start my corn in the greenhouses rather than the ground because of all of the varmints in the fields around the veggie garden. I am having a war with the mice this year. My pantry has tiny areas of access from the service part of the basement (furnace, etc.) and I am catching at least one a night these days. I also set traps in the greenhouses and get two or more a night there. Steve says this is a cyclical thing. Julie lost lots of her seedlings to the little creatures, too. VERY disappointing.

Sharon, vole populations in the PNW USED TO BE cyclical, but that last few years have not experienced the regular cyclical population decline (probably because we've destroyed habitat for their natural predators and provided food for them). It would be bad if this same thing happened/had happened to mouse populations, as well.

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the critters getting your corn and Julie's seedlings. :(

I guess that's one good thing about all the homeless cats around here- I rarely see any mice.

Steve has offered me a couple of "seasoned" cats from Alaska to have in my barn. I am hoping this will happen as I know what a good mice control they can be. I do need "street smart" cats as the Shorthairs are bad for cats that do not know how to hold their ground. We shall see how this evolves.

Sharon - that's a great idea. There are so many ferals who would love a nice barn out of the elements!

If he isn't able to swing it, I could probably catch a couple of ours for you. There was another litter not long ago, so we have more than ever running around. I'd love to see some of them get jobs as barn cats. I could just swap the bait in the coon trap to something cats like.

Good thought, Pony. I have tried some of Julie's young ones and even sometimes they just show up at the barn as I leave an opened bag of cat food there, but they never seem to stick around, probably because of the shorthairs. Steve assures me that the tomcats he has in mind are very capable of taking care of themselves. We shall see what happens.

After you catch them, there's a low cost spay neuter clinic ($15) up here. They may know of a program down there. If you want, they also include vaccinations (Rabies and Distemper) and ear tip (so the cat doesn't keep getting captured).

http://www.feralcatproject.org/

Steve says that is all taken care of.

Yes, I'm sure that Steve would handle that. I was just thinking about that in the event that you were to get a cat from Pony . . .

OK. I will bookmark that site in case things would go that direction. Thanks.

Good Grief! Now the mildew has arrived. I was walking this morning and horrified to see that my Jackmani clematis, which is still just in bud, has a heavy coat of mildew. Hope it is not too late for some spray.

My paprika yarrow was very sparse this year. Not as thick and not as tall. No particular bugs or disease that I can see. I wonder if it is one of those plants that 'loses vigor' after a couple years. It was planted in 06. I've been reluctant to plant yarrow in general because I find it weedy and am not taken with the more common varieties, but the vibrant color of this one convinced me otherwise, and up to this year it has really held its own with the weeds. Any ideas? Here's a pic of it from last year, it really is pretty, but even the flower heads this year are skimpy.

Perhaps it needs to be divided? I got my yarrow last year as a mature clump and the flowers seem paler and more sparse this year.... it seems to be trying to 'crawl' away from itself, probably a sign it wants to be divided... I've read they should be divided every year or two to maintain vigor.

I'll give that a try this fall and see if that plumps it up a bit. It did crawl into its neighbor, the pasque flowers, and crowded them out a bit than I'd like. I'll cut it back hard, dig it all up, and replant/respace to see what comes next summer. If that works, I'll put it on a 2 or 3 year rotation for major maintenance. And, yes, the color this year is definitely paler than the photo above - more insipid.

My bush beans are getting eaten alive.in my new raised bed garden. Remember this is the one that I started way to early and had to learn about cloches?

The beans are getting shriveled as if there was no water, I water nightly. The leaves are also distorted and appear to be starved for moisture.

My edible pod peas and regular pod peas appear to be done. Leaves are dying off, a few of pods are left. Should I harvest whats left and pull these plants?

Are there aphids or mites on the beans?
I vote to harvest the peas and plant something else. Maybe you can do a second pea crop?

Check out this resource:

Specific to cutworms on beans (click on previous menu to get to the horticultural menu)

http://pep.wsu.edu/Hortsense/

Specific to pests

http://pep.wsu.edu/pestsense/

What is wrong with this picture? This is a honeysuckle I have had for years. It generally has no problems whatsoever. This year, it was attacked hard and all the growth has died from the main stems up about a foot. The new growth comes in healthy, but then whatever this disease/bug is, it creeps up. I was going to just hack it all back to nubs, but then thought opening up all those open wounds may only make it worse. Fungus? Bugs? Disease? It is still producing flowers which still smell lovely in the evening...

Here's a healthier looking end, but you can see the problem creeping up the plant.

Have you thought about a magnesium deficiency? That's what it looks like to me. You can use epsom salts to supply minerals . . .

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=magnesium+deficiency+in+plants&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=6shJTNPBJIy8sQP8qIRJ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCwQsAQwAw&biw=840&bih=601

Wow. The magnesium deficiency picture for raspberry looks exactly like some of my raspberry plants. I have been remiss in mulching them with compost sufficiently in the last few years. Out I will go today with the epsom salts to see if that will help. Thanks for the tip!

I think it's pretty common for plants. I know my neighbors had that same issue with their raspberries . . .

Interesting article about aphids:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38540429/ns/technology_and_science-science/

I have seen slugs travel several feet up the stalks of Joe Pye weeds then chew through the stalks bringing it down. I have also seen them chew on a stalk which folded down on the slug and killing it....aint is great when the plants fight back?