Well just wait and see you may not need to do anything! I've found with a healthy organic garden you are pestered by very few pests and diseases! (mother nature has a way of equaling things out! In our favor too if nice veggies or flowers etc. are our desire!).... You're growing: Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, squash, cantelope, strawberries, and raspberries. Tomatos luckily are bothered by few pests.... most bugs (and animals) don't like them (except a dog I once had.... loved tomatos.... picked them once they were ripe.... very "gingerly" (a retriever type dog.... English Springer Spaniel) off the vine!) Tomatos sometimes get diseases but not usually..... I have with most seedlings though.... tomatos included its good to put a "wrapper" like of aluminum foil on the bottom half of the plant (in the soil) to ward off cut worms..... I've heard this same procedure can help ward off squash vine borer (on cucumbers and melon which you are growing).... Strawberries are usually bothered by birds... use floating row covers to prevent them eating them..... Companion planting is good and not planting the wrong plants together is good (i.e. tomatos and potatos) as per herbs chives are good in any vegetable garden to ward off pests and basil "loves" tomatos..... Don't know much about raspberries and the like but my guess is birds would like to nibble them too.... (row covers! :) ) Cedar mulch also keep away pests and some animals and helps block out weeds.... a "living" mulch is good to block out weeds (shallow rooted so it wont' interfere with other plant roots) and attractive enough so you like it! I like sedum subtarmentosum for this. (It also as all mulches retains inthe soil water)..... Interspersing veggies/herb and flower etc. beds with cover crops.... attractive or other wise helps to enrich soil.... crimson clover looks nice in any bed! :) Herbs and veggies generally in my opinion should be grown together as they help one another grow.... but herbs are welcom in any garden (mainly to keep away) pests..... Alliums decorative or otherwise are always a good choice! :)

You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior. My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it. The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show. The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him. I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was! Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne! Marcia

Joanne, i actually happened upon that grid thing by accident, at value village - it looked the right size for my plant tray, so i spent a whole dollar on it ;-p it's 1/5" thick and about 1" short of filling the tray on either side, but works like a charm... there is no brand name on it, even though it came packaged. I was debating checking the hydroponics store, there are a few things i am putting on a list to buy from there, that way, if they don't have something, i am still not entirely wasting their time. i've checked and the grids everybody else appears to be using are available at places like lowes etc. they are named something different in each store, egg crate, light grid, etc. the ones i found are made by plaskolite and come in 2x4' sheets. online typically in the ceiling panel section, and $15CAD, so probably about ten USD. There are various versions, so you need to read the descriptions to find the ones that actually are a grid. I have yet to find it in store though - i have strolled through on numerous occasions, but never come prepared with product # (or money - i leave my wallet in the car so i have to think twice before buying stuff i don't actually need). I'll post some pics of the show last weekend - i took lots of pictures of the dish gardens and designs. never noticed them last year....

wow, they're looking so much happier! Congratulations. We had some really awful nasty baking hot weather here too right at the time of your first posts, so its great to see how well your roses recovered. I'm sure they will look magnificent next spring.