"In my book this is an unneeded spray for any but the worst of fungal diseases." Could be. But the ARS consulting rosarian who came to my house suggested it for the smothering effect of the horticultural oil on overwintering insect eggs. "I would start spraying with milk every 2 weeks. Get the bottoms and tops of the leaves. Milk develops and feeds the microbes living outside the plant which repel (and help the plant to repel) invaders." I did a 'net search on this. Everything I've read says milk is a fungicide, like baking soda; it acts by creating an acidic environment where the spores of blackspot and powdery mildew canÂt thrive. DidnÂt find any mention of any insect control properties at all. "I'm not trying to be a smart a## on this but it sounds like it. " Correct. "Tea is not a fertilizer. It is a source of microbes. Aged manure is really called compost. Once it smells fantastic, it is compost, a totally different material from the original manure. " You're right; perhaps I should have used the word supplement with regards to the tea. But IÂve read great things about its properties on the rose forum. Thanks for the grammar lesson on manure/compost. I canÂt tell if you approve of using it or just want to be argumentative. "Epsom salts is magnesium sulfate. That is a chemical. I supposed it is allowed by the organic standards, but I would not use it." According to that definition, table salt - sodium chloride - would be a chemical. Not that IÂd add that to roses, mind you. "Do you know you have a low pH? " Yes. Very. "You're a rose guy, right? Don't you prune back 2/3 every spring? " No I'm not a rose guy. First, I'm female. I donÂt consider myself an experienced rose grower at all. So I had an ARS rosarian come to my house for a consultation, and he kindly gave me most of the steps above. And, I havenÂt been routinely doing pruning as IÂve tried to grow roses that require only minimal pruning (no hybrid teas here) and I wasnÂt sure what to do. I put that in as another of the things recommended to me. Perhaps the "helpful advice" forum is somewhere else. I've been gardening organically for 20+ years, but responses like this make me want to go grab the Diazinon.

Thank you Fetters. Really good post. Quite timely for us as DH has suggested putting in a garden pond. My first question was, "What about the mosquitoes?" I was intrigued by the mention of Lemon Eucalyptus. E maculata sounded somewhat familiar so I assumed we call it something else down here. I googled it and this is what I found. E maculata is known as Spotted Gum or Honey Gum (good for bees). E citriodora is known as Lemon-Scented Gum. And there is a hybrid E maculata citriodora. Recently these particular gums have been reclassified from Eucalyptus to Corymbia (useful to know in case the nurseries change the labels). I debated whether to mention the next bit. In some areas they are getting a reputation as an invasive weed. It's hard to know when such a reputation is truly warranted. (I have some birch trees, which are most definately not indigenous to my area, and I do get seedlings coming up, but after all these years my birches haven't taken over the nearby bushland. Or is that because they have no chance against the Patterson's Curse, which was once an introduced garden flower.) I suppose all I can say is do some research if you're thinking of planting one. Perhaps conditions in the areas of the US where they are grown are such that they are happy enough to grow okay but not so happy that they get out of control. And the good news is if you change your mind after you've planted one, it apparently makes really good timber. Hello OzOrganic. Sorry to hear about your landlord issue. Don't get me started on that subject. Hope you find a solution soon.

Susan, A lot of the flowers that you have planted for butterflies are native in our pastures.....like partridge pea and cassia, for example, and they are in bloom and looking lovely. We have been cutting pathways through the pastures and not mowing the entire pastures themselves, so the wildflowers are huge and thick and lush, and we have tons of butterflies, moths and numerous other insects. It really is a jungle out there. Having had no rain for a couple of weeks, it was beginning to get pretty dry, but then we received an inch of rain overnight so that perked up the plants a bit. I hve four o'clocks in partial shade (morning sun, afternoon dappled shade) that have reached over 6 feet in height! They are gorgeous and are covered in flowers and, of course, the fragrance at night is heavenly. However, I know a good stiff wind will knock them down. I never collect the seeds, just let them fall and reseed. My cypress vine isn't blooming yet either and I think it is a little late this year, so I guess we have to blame the weather.....I bet we will have blooms soon though. I am not terribly surprised you have a yellow pear volunteer plant as yellow pear seems especially prone to volunteer. My volunteers usually come up in pathways and I have to move them, but I love seeing them come up. You never know what you will get....and some great tomatoes have been 'discovered' from either volunteer seedlings or crossed seed saved and planted the following year. I have volunteer pumpkin vines growing on the fence around the guinea pen. They seemed to come out of nowhere about 3 weeks ago (in almost full shade) and are growing like mad (trying to find sunlight?) and are already blooming. I don't know if they will make any pumpkins since they are in so much shade. I have volunteer sunflowers in the dog yard and around the compost pile, a volunteer tomato plant in another compost pile--I think the fruit look like Marianna's Peace--and tiny volunteer tomato plants in the veggie garden. There seem to be more volunteers than usual which I attribute to the weather. The Grandpa Ott's morning glories reseeded themselves from last year and are growing like crazy on the fence on the west side of the garden. The purple hyacinth beans climbing the porch posts are blooming. I am seeing both balck-chinned hummers and ruby-throated hummers, although not in huge numbers. The pond is full of frogs.....frogs, frogs, frogs everywhere. Between them and the tree frogs and the katydids, it is almost too loud at night to sleep! We are seeing quite a lot of non-venomous snakes and, for once, not seeing venomous ones. Yippee! I have virginia creeper everywhere, so thought I might see some virginia creeper sphinxes, but haven't. We have had quite a few clearwings. We have a billion dragonflies and (FINALLY) no mosquitoes. I am harvesting peppers and tomatoes like crazy, and the herbs are all huge monsters....well,except for the dill and parsley which are being devoured by the cats. I am starting to get a few large pumpkins here and there, but the melons are still quite small. Everything that has been blooming all summer continues to bloom: zinnias, cosmos, 4 o'clocks, verbena bonariensis, marigolds, salvias in red, orange, white, purple, coral and blue, veronica, black-eyed susan vine, daturas (several different ones), pentas, scarlet runner beans, Chaco Canyon runner beans, sedum, begonias, cannas, tansy, catmint, nasturtiums, mexican heather, hibiscus coccinus, swamp mallow, portulaca, honeysuckle, crossvine, yellow and orange-flowered trumpet creeper, and sunflowers. The pastures are full of blooms too, and I won't try to name them all, but all the usual summer prairie wildflowers are blooming, especially the partridge pea, black-eyed susans, Mexican hat, greenthread daisies and asters. The native goldenrods, autumn sage and blazing starts aren't blooming yet, but they are about to bloom. The milkweeds have all gone to seed as have a lot of the spring bloomers. Can you believe it is the end of July already? Dawn

Kimmsr, this is an insect that feeds in large communities in one localized area. The removal of one branch may result in getting rid of several hundred larvae in one fell swoop, without the use of any chemicals at all. The removal of one or two branches may result in the preservation of this season's foliage. Why on Earth do anything else? Please note that spraying with Bt should be a last resort practice, just as with any other pesticide. Resistance to Bt has shown up all over the world, largely due to agricultural use of Bt, but homeowners contribute to the problem, as well. There are millions of people in this country alone that foster butterfly and moth habitats, something worth thinking about. The indiscriminate use of Bt-kurstaki products isn't acceptable, especially if there are other measures available. Is Bt-k a valuable and useful product? Absolutely, when used with care. Right place, right reason, right product. In this particular situation, with these particular insects, Bt-k is not a good fit. Moccasinlanding, can I assume that you are talking about River Birch, since you live in the South? They are a pretty little tree, but 'can' be a real insect magnet. Even in a native setting, this is the case. Aphids love River Birch. Landscape planted R. Birch are probably more susceptible to problems as there might be excess fertilization, irrigation, compaction, or other factors that can contribute to a plant's susceptibility. You'll be lucky if you can keep the population at bay with strong sprays of water or insecticidal soap (you did say it was a young tree, right?). This winter, however, after the leaves have dropped, you can begin with some applications of dormant or other horticultural oil. Spray all along the branches and trunk, and try to get into the nooks and crannies where those eggs are hidden. I'd spray three or four times, up until the time of bud break. You'll go a long way in breaking the aphid cycle. Have you seen any scale insects on this plant? ;-) You might as well take a good look!