Since ants "farm" aphids, controlling the ants will go a long way toward controlling the aphids. Since IÂm highly allergic to ant bites, IÂve tried lots of different methods to get rid of them. I think the most effective of the pet-safe methods is homemade bait traps. Get some boric acid powder (I find it at Ace hardware). Take an empty jar and poke a couple of holes in the lid. Put in a little jam and/or something greasy (like canned dog food). DonÂt put any boric acid in it yet. Put the lid on and set it on its side near the ant trail. Watch it for two or three days, until you see the ants really going for it. If they donÂt like jam, try honey or corn syrup with a little fat added. I know it sounds like youÂre feeding the ants, not killing them, but you want them to take the bait back to the nest and feed it to everyone, which they may not do until theyÂve established itÂs safe. After theyÂve been feeding for a day or so, renew the bait, and this time add boric acid powder. Use about 1/4 teaspoon boric acid to 2 tablespoons jam. Boric acid is essentially benign to pets, but poisonous to ants and roaches. One of the advantages of this approach is that it doesnÂt kill off the beneficial insects that feed on aphids, such as ladybugs, hover flies, and lacewings. You can buy these online and release them in the garden. Making your garden attractive to birds can help, too. Bushtits and hummingbirds, for instance, eat aphids. When our roses first had buds this year, they were covered with aphids. Killing the ants and releasing a batch of ladybugs has killed almost all the aphids.

The lily beetle is alive and kicking in the Calgary area. I was already battling them last year, and this year they are again proving to be very destructive. In my experience the beetles do not go all the way to the top of the plant without chewing up the leaves from the bottom up first. So I don't think your problem is the lily beetle. Since the lily beetle is alive in Manitoba and Alberta I don't see how it would have skipped Saskatchewan. I think that some areas have more trouble than others though. In my garden only one of my lily areas have the lily beetle and not the other. Go figure? I have been dilligently picking and drowning both the adults when they first appeared and now the disgusting slug looking young ones. I hope you never get them.

Don't do a blessed thing. Over reactions are common when it comes to 'prized plants' but if you have a healthy garden (and honestly, I don't know if ants will spread aphids), lady bugs and lightening bugs (

Eek I see meallybugs! Get some rubbing alcohol and q-tips. Douse the meallies in the rubbing alcohol with the q-tip. Keep this cactus away from other plants. Do the whole rubbing alcohol/q-tip thing until they're gone. I would check the cactus every five days or so. They're all at different life stages so you may miss some the first try. You could even spray the cactus with rubbing alcohol. Some people dilute the rubbing alcohol with water, but I don't and I've noticed nothing happens to the plant. The meallybugs produce this sweet nectar that the ants eat. Sometimes ants will even farm these bugs just for this nectar. Gross;).