Eggs?!! Bugs? They are ready to bloom, UGH what to do?

Hi all,
While. Have had some real trials and tribulations this year especially with my orientals, I managed to get some to grow well enough, all things considered. ;)
But, I have posted some pics below, I just found these on my plants this morning. They look like EGGS to me, I cut off a few leaves that had them, but as I went on I found the entire container full of them. :-(

They are oriental poppies, and as you can see in the final pics, they are ready to bloom, already bowing their little heads, lol. In one pic the leaf with eggs/ bugs on it is already cut off, lying on the ground, bottom side up. If these are indeed eggs/ and or bugs, what should I do at this point? I tried a dish soap and veggie oil concoction last year on the same variety of plants and it turned them BLACK and they died :-(

I don't want to lose them, although they are packed into this large container, they are the ONLY ones left in my entire yard. All the others in flower beds died or bolted due to serious amounts of rain and fungus from the excess moisture. The ones that bolted bloomed as small as 2-3 inches! LoL can you believe it! All I can do is laugh at that. But again, I would really LOVE to be able to save these. They are only 12-18 inches tall as opposed to 3-5 feet tall, but I did this intentionally in the container. I was just looking for a full house, if you will, rather than height and size. But they seem to be ready to bloom with buds at a very good size.

Sorry for the long post, I just hate to lose them now... If anyone has any suggestions as to exactly what they are from, or how to safely get rid of them I would would be extremely grateful. Thanks in advance for any help,

Danny

These plants look wonderful! It's normal for some bugs to get on plants occasionally, they come and go. Gardening doesn't mean you're required to try to micro-manage every living thing that passes through. Having some pests is good since that means predator bugs will shop around your yard too, and help establish a balance of good vs. bad.

I can't tell from these pics if these are eggs or aphids. Aphids can be removed by rinsing with water and gently nudging with your hand. Unless there are enough to make a plant look ill, they're nothing to worry about.

If you are gardening for butterflies, know that their caterpillars do eat the host plants.

Thank you purpleinopp :) they are small, but doing well. Thanks for the feedback, it really puts my mind a ease. Last year I grew only 6 in the same container, and they drew to almost 3 feet, then some white bugs began invading the buds, and I lost a few buds, but no biggie. This year I was looking for "more show than grow" lol.
Anyway, I wiped most of it off with my fingers before I even Read your post, So I guess I'm not doing too bad after all! Lol...
It amazes me that of all places, the container is the only place the orientals took this year. They are notorious for Hating containers, so I figured if I just packed them in so they would only grow "dwarfed" they might be ok. Turns out they are the only ones left! Nature is as crazy as we humans are..... ;-)
Thanks again for your reply,
Danny

Well look what I woke up to this morning! :-)

It looks like we're doing fine so far! I can't wait to see the other colors. This is pure white, but there should be some lavender, reds, and so on. I can't wait to see what opens up!

It's like Christmas/ the Holidays lol, you have to wait to open your presents to see what's inside! :-)

Will post more pics when the rest open. Thanks for the reassurance purpleinopp :)
Danny

PS - please ignore the lumber in the pic, lol, obviously I have much work to be done around the house! Many projects going all at once... Ugh. Thank heavens for the simple pleasures of a surprise bloom :-)

one more

Oops - I need to clarify, these are NOT Orientals, they are P. Somniferam


This message was edited Jun 4, 2014 1:12 PM

Wow !!!!! Dannyboy, are you just top notch at the gardening eh, So pleased for you as it rerally does spur you on for many years to come when you get results like those in your updated pictures. get a mug of coffee in your hand and sit down and enjoy, these are beautiful results well done you.

The poppies, before I enlarged the picture looked so like a beautiful Clematis flower, and had I not enlarged the picture, That's what I would have identified it as.

The rest of the planting made me chuckle, I know I said to use garden canes to mark the spot where you had planted bulbs etc, but planks of wood, taking it a bit far eh !!!!! LOL. I also have occasionally had on display, areas like that when work was in progress, just keep up the gardening and the rest will maybe take care of it's self EEEEEEEH not a hope in Hells chance LOL.
Have a great season and many more happy moments to show us.
Kindest regards.
WeeNel.

Lol, yeah if only they would take care of the,selves WeeNel!
I had to laugh at the lumber also, what else can you do ;-) that planter is actually very BIG, it weighs 100 pounds easy. I have it on a furniture dolly now so I can move it around as needed haha! But every little bright spot counts :) especially when there's so much else going on. It's in my back yard on my patio, so that's just my little happy spot, lol.
I just came in from sitting out there and there are 3 more buds standing upright now, so tomorrow morning should be exciting...
Thanks for the reply WeeNel, have a great day tomorrow :-)
Danny

You shouldn't freak about bugs, (except wasps, killer bees, or fire ants :)

Bugs ca be friend or foe, those eggs could be the spt of butterflies.
Athough I cannot see clearly what it is....

Bur post close ups on the Bug ID forum, or go to the wildlife forum &
ask there.

Oh. No! I hope they weren't butterflies! Oh, I wiped most of the eggs off already... :-(
I have seen several Monarch butterflies in the area this week too! Aww I hope it wasn't them... I haven't seen on here in years til now.

But I think it was not them. I did see and remove several black bugs with and around the eggs, looked like small black beetles, but very small.

I'm not going to mess with any eggs I see from now on, I would love for butterflies to propagate here. They can have all the foliage they need! :-)

Thanks BajaBlue!
Danny

I have some new bloomers in there as well today, just as I expected! But they won't truly open since we are having rain showers all day. They are still blowing in the wind! :-)

Monarch only lay eggs on Asclepias plants, the only genus the caterpillars can eat. The monarchs ARE in serious trouble - from various factors like not enough milkweed plants out there, to pesticide use - especially on nectar plants, and winter habitat destruction. Planting clean (without any pesticides) milkweed plants for hosting caterpillars and clean nectar plants of many types is something a gardener can to to help. You can learn more at monarchwatch.org.

When you find eggs on a plant, it's usually fairly easy to find if they are butterflies or not. Most butterfly caterpillars are quite particular about what they eat, though not as particular as monarchs. So when you know what the plant is, you can find what butterflies might lay eggs on it. You can look at pics of those eggs to try to determine if they match those of a butterfly. If you can't tell, the caterpillars are usually easy to decide - butterfly or other, when they start to hatch. "Other" usually means moth, in which case they would be not welcome by many gardeners, depending on the plant they're eating, how many there are. Not all eggs hatch caterpillars though, some can be beneficial predator bugs of some type, so I do usually try to find out what eggs are before taking any kind of action against them.

I usually do a search like this: "poppy host plant," or "poppy butterfly" to start finding info and pics to compare.

Great post, thank you Purpleinopp! The keywords are really the best ones for me to,find the info I need, thanks. I have been,searching, but not getting specific results, so I will try that now. :-)

My neighbors can be annoying about "weeds", but I guess I can't blame them. I've had milkweed and ragweed growing and just let it go, and they freak out... Lol, whatever...
I understand the ragweed, as many have allergies to it, but my one neighbor in particular deems anything they do t like a weed. Well, who the heck are you? This particular neighbor was in the floral biz for 20+ years, you would think they would get it... Yet I've already had several questions about my flower garden that runs along part of their fence line. I'm on a corner lot, so they are behind me on the side street, so it is running along their driveway though, not like it's seen from their yard, etc, so I don't see the problem.
Ah well, no biggie. It's my party and I'll plant if I want to ;-)

Happy note, more blooms on the plants in question! Seems like a chain reaction! First I had one, then 4 yesterday. Now at least a dozen today! :-) hard to get good pics due to the wind though, but here's two...

Btw, am I over posting? I don't see nearly as many people posting in this area as I do. If so just let me know, I know I can get overly excited lol. I do enjoy sharing here though, especially when you guys have helped me to create it! :-)

Thanks,
Danny

no Danny, you are not overposting.
Your enthusiasm is infectious.

Try going to some other forums for
more conversations.

There's no such thing as too much learning, and I also love your unbridled enthusiasm! The only reason other people have answers to questions is because they asked someone before, either personally through a forum, or through various sources of educational reading material.

Your poppies look amazing!

IDK anything about ragweed and count my blessings when people are complaining about allergies that don't seem to bother me, so no info to share on that, one way or the other. (But I am lately sensitive to any plant that can make somebody itchy, so I think we're even!)

I wasn't sure if you were saying your neighbors are questioning the milkweed plants, though? I hope you can find an opportunity to work the monarch issue into conversation without sounding like you've stepped onto a soapbox (another perfect opportunity to exercise unbridled enthusiasm, it's hard to go wrong when speaking from the heart about something for which you have a passion.)

Having milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars is more about the foliage (as food) than the flowers (as nectar.) But absolutely, the flowers are great nectar plants for monarchs and other butterflies, when blooming. The blooms will not last for the entire time monarchs are in a given area, and it may take a number of plants to produce enough nectar to be a significant contribution in that area.

There are tons of short lists of nectar plants, but I never saw one that included enough plants for me to get excited. I want to like the plants too, right? Nectar plants don't need to be boring or weedy looking. So I started compiling a list of nectar plants from all over, not just traditional garden store perennials/annuals, in order by botanical epithet, followed by a common name if found.

Not all butterflies or hummingbirds can use the same plants, and I'm not one to plant large monocultures of anything, so I try to find as many of the plants that I would like to have as possible. No matter where someone is, or where they shop, this list should help recognize some of the not-usually-mentioned plants that butterflies (and hummingbirds) can use for nectar. Finding plants that bloom at different times, or for a very long time, is what I try for. Some plants might be utilized only by butterflies, some only by hummers. Both are welcome, and separating the list that way would be a huge amount of additional research with much overlapping, so I just made it one list.

Abutilon, flowering maple
Acanthus,
Achillea, yarrow
Aeschynanthus, lipstick plant
Agapanthus africanus,
Agastache,
Aguilegia formosa, western columbine
Alcea rosea, hollyhock
Aloe maculata,
Alstroemeria, Peruvian lily
Angelonia,
Antirrhinum, snapdragon
Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly weed
Asclepias, various, any = milkweed
Aster,
Begonia,
Bletilla,
Buddleia, butterfly bush
Calibrachoa, million bells
Callicarpa americana, beautyberry bush
Callistemon rigidus, stiff bottlebrush
Calotropis,
Campsis radicans, trumpet creeper
Cannas,
Catharanthus roseus, Madagascar periwinkle
Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey tea, CA lilac
Centranthus ruber, Jupiter's beard
Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbush
Chaenomeles Flowering Quince
Chrysothemis pulchella, sunset bells
Cleistocactus, monkey tail
Clematis heracleifolia,
Clematis virginiana, virgin bower
Cleome hassleriana, spider flower
Clerodendrum paniculatum, Pagoda
Coleus, (Solenostemon, yeah right, NO - nobody is going along with this renaming!) Anyway, both hummers and b'flies love the flowers on these!
Coreopsis,
Crocosmia, cardinal flower
Cuphea, cigar flower
Curcuma,
Dahlia,
Delphinium,
Delphinium, larkspur
Dianthus, pinks, sweet William
Dicentra spectabilis, bleeding heart
Digitalis, foxglove
Echinacea, coneflower
Echium candicans,
Eupatorium, Joe pye
Flaveria linearis,
Fuchsia,
Gladiolus,
Hamelia patens, firecracker shrub
Heliconia,
Heliotrope,
Hemerocallis, daylily
Hesperaloe parviflora, false yucca
Hesperis, dame's rocket
Heuchera sanguinea, coral bells
Hibiscus syriacus, rose of Sharon
Hosta,
Hoya,
Hyssop,
Impatiens balsamina, jewelweed
Impatiens capensis, jewelweed
Ipomoea coccinea, red morning glory
Ipomoea multifida, cardinal climber
Ipomoea purpurea, morning glory
Ipomoea quamoclit, cypress vine
Ipomopsis rubra Standing cypress, Texas plume, Red Texas star, Red gilia
Jasminum, Jasmine
Justicia brandegeeana, shrimp plant
Kniphofia, red hot poker
Kohleria,
Lantana,
Lavendula, lavender
Liatris,
Lilium, lilies
Lobelia cardinalis, cardinal flower
Lobelia siphilitica, blue lobelia
Lonicera sempervirens, honeysuckle
Lupine,
Lychnis, rose campion
Malva, rose mallow
Manzanita,
Maranta, prayer plant
Mentha, mint
Mimosa, invasive tree in parts of the world, but good to know it has this quality
Mirabilis jalapa, 4'o'clocks
Monarda, beebalm
Nepeta, catmint
Nicotania silvestris,
Nicotiana alata, flowering tobacco
Ocimum basilicum, Basil
Odontonema strictum, firespike
Passiflora,
Pelargonium, annual geraniums
Penstemon, beardstongue
Pentas,
Petunia, petunia
Phaseolus coccineus, scarlet runner bean
Phlox,
Phygelius, cape figwort
Physostegia, obedient plant
Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender',
Plumbago,
Rhipsalis,
Rhododendron, azalea
Ruellia, Mexican petunia
Salvia, sage
Saponaria, soapwort
Saponaria officinalis, bouncing bet
Scabiosa, pin cushion flower
Schlumbergera, Thanksgiving cacti, Christmas cacti
Senna bicapsularis, Christmas Senna, host for Cloudless Sulphur Caterpillar
Sidalcea, prairie mallow
Silene,
Spaghneticolia trilobata, creeping daisy
Streptocarpus saxorum, Streptocarpella
Trachelospermum jasminoides, Confederate jasmine
Tropaeolum majus, nasturtium
Tropaeolum peregrinum, canary creeper vine
Verbena,
Veronica,
Vitex, wild grape
Weigela,
Wisteria frutescens, American Wisteria
Zinnia,

I wrote something about weeds and neighbors a few years ago. Maybe you will find something meaningful or helpful in it.

"Last week I went out to remove last year's dead branches from the lantana along fenceline, then started cutting down the raspberry vines on my side, trying to keep things tidy and be a good neighbor. They're really tasty, btw, and I was eating the ripe ones as I worked. Until I let them go the past couple years, the fenceline was kept trimmed and tidy on both sides. The old lady who lived on that side was militant about "them weeds" but about the same time I lost control on my side of the fence, she became unable to get out and do any gardening, and when she was gone her grandson moved in.

Anyway, the grandson came out and was inspecting his veggie patch and we were talking for a few minutes, then he went inside. He came back out a few minutes later and handed me a pretty, big bottle of barbecue sauce. He said he had just made it and it had a lot of berries in it. I thanked him for the unexpected and very generous gift and took it inside, and sat down to take a break. And then it hit me - that was his gentle way of telling me it was OK to leave the raspberry vines to grow, and probably his preference.

I thought this was a great example of how gardening can teach us so much, so many parables are illustrated here. He could have said something about how he wouldn't mind if I just let the berries grow but it could have started a disagreement if I disagreed. We don't know each other hardly at all so although I wouldn't have disagreed, he had no way of knowing that and I just love the way he chose to make his point without the possibility of creating any dischord.

I could have spent the rest of the day getting scratched up and sore, removing more vines. But my neighbor, through his diplomacy, showed me it wasn't necessary. There's no reason not to let these tasty vines grow along the fence. Mowing keeps them from exploring into the lawn, not a flower bed nearby to worry about. So I ended up with a huge nasty chore that no longer needed to be done, we really do like the berries, and some got some seriously good sauce!

Sometimes we're beating ourselves up just because we think we should, or told we should by companies that make a product to kill our weeds, the ones they tell us are weeds. Many of these are native plants that have a valuable function in the ecosystem. Our focus can become so narrow that we miss the big picture, like attracting birds to our garden but killing one of their favorite foods. Now, I'm not saying everyone should stop pulling their weeds, but hey. If you sit back and think about it, maybe there's some lemonade to be made from whatever lemons you're dealing with. Even if all you can come up with is appreciating their contribution to your compost. If you have a native plant, and you like the way it looks or what it provides for the other critters that inhabit or visit your property, it's a shame to call it a weed."

If you're posting too MUCH, I may be posting too BIG, but you seem interested in these things!

Danny, good luck getting some butterflies to lay eggs on your plants! Help out those butterflies!!