no question about it - Rabbits - cute but not welcomed in my gardens...

Carrie (PS ...And they are not even scared of me!)

Right now it's aphids on the guara. I hate that! I love my guara and it is just being devoured.

I've sprayed (blush...hate to do that) but it hasn't really gotten rid of 'em. Now what?

Just recently found out about the four-lined plant bug. I was mystified by the extensive damage to all the plants in the garden this year. I had not seen the type of marks on the leaves that this bug was leaving and I had never heard of this bug before, but I know it now!! :-(
they are hard to find as they drop as soon as you try to look into the leaves to see if you can see them.

Rabbits have just about devoured by asiatic lily plants.
Chipmunks are taking my portulaca out.
And just like every summer at this time, chamberbitter weed is taking over. I'm overwhelmed by this pest. :(

-Sharon

It wilts everything for the few hours it touches them. Bugs haven't been much of a problem. Slugs, I can live in harmony knowing what they're going to eat and not planting many. Even the chipmunk runs out of the perennial bed to forage on the corn I leave in the backyard. But the sun is unforgiving this time of year. My sunburn has sunburn.

One good thing that came of our unusually harsh winter is the lack of slugs and snails that have overwintered. I haven't got the damage on the Hostas we usually have by now. Mind you harsh winters don't do the eggs in, but it sure has put a dint in the population.
My Public Enemy #1 is and will always be Couch Grass. It's creeping rhizomes are wirelike they can pierce anything, they just keep on snaking around underground until they find a bulb or any kind of a plant then it raises it's ugly head right through or right in the middle of it's poor unsuspecting victim. The only way to get rid of it is to dig the plant, swish the roots in water so you can get all of it out. If you leave even a smidgen it's off and running again.

Annette

No. 1 is Bermuda Grass!

No. 2 at the moment are Japanese Beetles.

Slugs! I will pick them off by hand and stomp them at this point. They are everywhere eating everything.

Slugs haven't been much of a problem here, we had a very long harsh winter too. I use a mixture of half ammonia and half water in a spray bottle and carry it with me when I get a chance to get into the garden and just blast them. The mixture disolves them which is very satisfying.
Right now my biggest problem is rain, rain and more rain. I don't garden well in downpours and that's all it has been. My 2nd enemy is weeds....which seem to thrive in the rain. Grrr....

Japanese beetles!

My KO roses are EATEN up, even with the deadheading that I did. I've not been feeling well the last week (bp was 87/54 which means dizzy -- no blonde jokes, please). So, I didn't get the Neem oil on the roses in time to repel the beetles.

Bunnies
They are more of a problem than the deer. I'm getting along just fine with the deer, but rabbits will often eat plants that the deer don't eat -- and, the bunnies can go under my cottage garden fence.

Cameron

A little OT, Cameron I think you said awhile back you were having trouble with your eyes and now this wonky BP. Please take care and don't overdo, I hope you're having this checked out if you haven't already done so.

(((Hugs)))
Annette

After finding a number of these amaranthus yanked out of the ground on Saturday, I'll say number one on my _hit list is deer. I've covered the two rows of amaranthus using stakes and plastic netting, so now they'll move on to something else, no doubt. I have deer fencing around what I call my south garden, but not my north garden. A very close number two this year would be rabbits.

Bugs aren't too much of a problem yet, but I know they'll be all over my potatoes soon. Thank God we have no slugs here in the north. There's something to be said for long cold winters, though usually it is profane. :-)

My soil looks like moon dust in this picture. It's not as bad as it looks, though it could be a lot better.

ThinMan

Deer, deer, deer. Hate them, hate them, hate them.

Cameron, no wonder you aren't feeling well. I hope you are seeing a doctor for that low BP.

Neem is not helping me with the beetle situation. I see them daily; maybe new ones show up overnight. I have sprayed 3 times now, but have to be careful I do it before it gets too hot or it fried the leaves.

I am throwing in the towel and heading in later today to get some Bayer product for the roses.

Whatever it is that's eating the petals of my coneflowers --- that is my current Public Enemy #1. I'm so annoyed.

RODENTS! ARGH!! Woodchucks, chipmunks, gray squirrels, red squirrels, voles, moles. They are all having a glorious time in my garden this year! They drive me batty!

Mine is the cucumber beetle. It makes lace out of the leaves of my plants. Needless to say, I have overcome the resistance to squish bugs in my fingers. I hunt gophers every day, and so far have killed 3 in my yard. The fourth one was in my neighbor's yard (also my sister in law) I had to kill it because I saw him poking his head out. No gopher even looks at me and survives!

Without a doubt, slugs. I haven't had any luck with the diatomacious earth. I sprinkled it all through the flower beds, and it seems to have had no effect at all. I've tried using dishes of beer, which caught lots of them. By the way, speaking of the beer, I have to watch my dog very closely when I've put out the dishes of beer... she will drink it! Anyway, they always hatch out more very quickly. Now, I just grab a pebble and squish them or if I find a lot of them under a pot, I'll go get the salt shaker. It is very satisfying to salt those nasty varmints!
Vicki

Earwigs! Hands down, no question. I used to have a problem with slugs and a few years ago it seemed they were diminished in number. But my hosta were still being eaten and their were no slug trails. Then I found earwigs in the leaf stalks of the hosta. I also learned that the earwigs eat the slugs. Not a good trade off.

I never had slugs until I started using pine straw. The bales are loaded with the creepy things.

I can't believe no one else has this problem. I set traps out at night and catch up to 50 in each cup (and a few slugs, daddy long legs and others.

I don't spray; I just plant more bug food....

The scrub jay! He's e-v-i-l . . . pure evil. He ate one of my monarchs within minutes after I released it. Sat up in the tree and taunted me with the butterfly in is mouth. I raised that thing, lovingly, from an egg.

Now he's eating my cherries and leaving the pits in my roses.

I can hear him outside right at this moment.

Oh, dear......I'm so sorry about your butterfly. As much as I love nature, some of its aspects can be hard to take.

Japanese beetles, which actually haven't been a huge problem this year so far...

BIRDS who ate ALL but ONE larkspur seedling (out of 3 packs of larkspur) and also ate my shasta daisy seedlings, hollyhock seedlings, and bachelor button seedlings...

Fat little bunnies who knock over any plant standing in their way to get to the pansies...

DEER, who ate ALL of the peonies! Apparently they didn't like the sweet pea flowers because one plant was nibbled and they were trampled a bit but haven't been touched since. LOL* Or else there were just too many tastey things in the yard to eat first...

My neighbors fugative morning glory.. he loves it,but doesnt contain it. I hate it,i fight it.

time to build an iron curtain, painted with roundup.

I agree with Token - sun, by far! Handwatering helps little. A hint of rain we had yesterday just teased the plants. They are THIRSTY!
It's amazing how garden can go from lush and happy to blah and in need of Prozac and therapy.
C'mon rain! We are so ready!

Mosquitos and rain.

Blondie, it's the finches. They pull the petals off to make the seeds ripen faster. Or so they think. ;)

About six years ago, I bought Tagetes minuta. I had a TERRIBLE Nimatode problem. Just terrible! Tagetes minuta is the ONLY Marigold that will actually kill Nimatodes and other bugs. Well, it worked great planting them near my tomatoes. They kill all kinds of things besides nematodes, including wire worms, cut worms, intestinal worms in the ground, insects, fungi and more. It worked great! No more knotted & deformed roots!

So what's her beef, you may ask?

Well, I discovered that it is the most invasive plant I have ever seen! The plants start out tiny, but grow into monster plants. At any size will they begin to make flowers - very small, pale yellow, stinky flowers that even wards off animals and people. These minute flowers make seeds that are very minute (hence the name). The seeds have little fuzzy parasols that are easily carried on the slightest breeze, similar to dandelions, but tinier. I was vigilant, kept pruning the plants back when I saw the first flower, but they KNEW what I was doing and sped up their action and started really putting on the flowers and going to seed twice daily. I stayed vigilant and removed all flowers and seeds (I thought) and disposed of them (by fire). Wen they got to be too much, I just pulled them all out and burned them. Well, apparently, some managed to escape my surveillance anyway, and dropped seeds and they began to spread through the herb garden.

They took over the herb garden and one by one my herbs began to die out, all except the Oregano and garlic chives which also has gotten rampant, especially the Garlic chives. Anyway, I am still trying to get rid of the Tagetes minuta and every day new ones spring forth. There are tens of thousands of them . I pull them and more take their place and I mean EVERY DAY!

Even when I've burned them, some apparently flew out of the fire and today I found some growing around the burn pile, for gosh sakes.

On top of that, research on the web revealed that they should not be planted near any kind of legume (including legume type trees, like Redbuds or Mimosas) as they kill them or hinder their growth.

They stink, hence their common name, Stinking John.

And I also discovered that they are on a state by state NOXIOUS WEED list and are forbidden to be planted in many states. You can be fined for doing so.

The "lady" who sold them to me said nothing of the negative aspects about them or about their being in the Noxious Weed list. She and her husband own and operate a small "organic herb farm" and sell their plants and produce in the Tulsa area Farmers Markets and at the spring herb festivals in the same region every year. Undoubtedly, she digs all those horrid little plants out of her garden every spring, pots them up, and sells them to unsuspecting suckers, like me. Anything to make a buck! Blast her!

This is my number one enemy all year round. They are easy to pull up when small, so that helps, but all it takes is one plant that you missed and the battle can start all over. But each plant can produce thousands upon thousands of seeds that lie dormant and only emerge when they feel like bugging the hell out of me!

Today, I pulled four dozen tiny seedlings that weren't there yesterday. Seriously, overnight they had sprouted and had grown and inch tall! Tomorrow there will, no doubt, be that many or more to pull out. I have to daily walk around the whole two acres looking for other plants that escaped the herb garden perims. Good grief!

Don't EVER buy or take Tagetes minuta in a trade or as a FREEBIE! Stick to good old French and African Marigolds.

I read that there is a pesticide product being marketed now made from Tagetes minuta, but research it thoroughly before you try it.

~Annie

Token - Thank you - I didn't know that the finches would eat the petals. I guess I don't mind that as much as bugs eating them. I guess - no, I'm still annoyed - but informed.

The guy who was supposed to bring my load of mulch like a week ago and isn't answering my messages!

Deer and rabbits!

The other day, I came outside and a rabbot was sitting in the middle of my lawn, nose twitching, not moving. I finally crossed my arms and told it, "I can see you, you know." My poor Centurea montana has been eaten right to the ground.

I am three blocks away from the county park, so even when the deer don't eat anything (and they do!), they walk right through my garden, leaving hoofprints in their wake.

RACCOONS

And since Ontario has gone pesticide free, I've seen an elevated no. of insect infestations.

flea beetles are chewing my tomatoes

caterpillars on my roses

something is chewing my butterfly bush

my dahlia's leaves looks polkadotted (what insect chews the underside only of leaves looking like tiny crop circles all over the area)

Slugs are everywhere but at least I have slug pellets.