Neem

Last I wrote I was talking about the aphids in my tomato plants. I visited several nurseries with no luck in finding ladybugs. One person helpfully said a person could order them online (which is only helpful if you are willing to wait however long it takes to ship the critters). So I bought neem and a spray bottle and a few pots of small flowers because they were lovely as well as being at a discount since it was getting near the end of the 'bedding plants' season.

Once home I read the instructions on the neem and it was full of dire caution about not spraying when the honeybees were out because it would kill them off. Yikes! I decided I would have to go out after sundown and then just never got around to it.

This weekend was "rearrange pots in greenhouse" and as I was tying up the tomato plants with twine (simpler than cages in a greenhouse especially when you put off doing it so long that the plants are huge) I noticed that there were hardly any aphids. Curious indeed. I had put some diatomaceous earth out to combat the severity of the ant situation which did not eliminate the ants but seems to have decreased their numbers. I'm not sure if it was the lack of enough ants to farm them or if it was predatory insects, but yay!

I have seen hornets, wasps, hover flies, lacewings and ladybugs in there.

Lesson learned- have patience. Not everything requires an Immediate Fix.

Bugs

Not a very inspired title, but I couldn't think of anything clever. I'm hoping the beneficial bugs (aka praying mantis) hatch soon. We bought a thing that looks like a cocoon or something made out of crystalized honey sorta, which purports to be a praying mantis egg sack. In theory, after temperatures rise above 75F then in approximately two weeks hundreds of baby mantis spring forth into the world and commence dining upon the banquet the home gardener has so kindly prepared for them. Well, the package didn't say that exactly, but the stinkin' ants have been farming aphids in my greenhouse tomato plants!!!

I may go buy a batch of ladybugs if I can find anyone who still has some. I know they just end up flying away back to wherever they hatched from, but if I let them loose in the greenhouse they can fatten up on my bug banquet first.

As if the bug issue in the greenhouse weren't excitement enough- this evening it finally cooled down enough to be pleasant garden weeding weather. And that's when all the mosquitos that are lurking in the beans decided to come out for a bit of Human Snack.

I decided it's just as easy to put on a hat and weed when it's warmer out, and am now indoors sipping tea and reading Tolkien. Just after I post this that is.

Rainy Days

We have had a cool and rainy spring this year. The summer so far looks to be more of the same. A couple of nice warm days but the forecast is for cooler temperatures (even lows in the 40sF at night, eep!)

This is great weather for transplanting as the baby plants don't have to face the shock of hot dry weather while they're stretching out new roots in all directions. The flip side is that many of them seem to be waiting for the warm sunny weather to really start putting on growth.

At least the columbines I started from seed last year survived the winter and are blooming prolifically!

This is the kind of weather where a person can leave all their windows open day and night, bake pies with abandon, curl up with a good book and a mug of hot tea, and be pleasantly comfortable the entire time. (Not having a need to run either the furnace or the air-conditioning is another advantage to mild weather.)

I'm contemplating whether to take some time for myself and read, or stitch, or start a new knitting or crochet project; or whether to tackle the start of doing an inventory on the bits and bobs I have in my pantry and linen closet and such.

Such terrible decisions, hah!