laceyvail - 'He knew I had just cleared a place for them, but he was trimming a part of the garden that is being re-landscaped as I find the time' As I mentioned they were planted in the garden bed 20'w x 30'l , not in the middle of the lawn. Until I get to it, the area I am replanting gets weeds which neither of us like so he keeps it very short. We were going to cultivate it, but they were calling for rain, which we are really getting over the last few days, and it would have made a muddy mess for the dog to run through. The butterfly bushes are going to be treated as a group planting in an open area. They will be that area's focal point hopefully. My butterfly bushes never reach more than 8', if that. I keep them trimmed to allow for more blooms (on side shoots). Has anyone else ever kept them trimmed to allow for side shoots? Thank you. Jane

Boy do I feel dumb. My husband & I have been watching this monarch eat our butterfly bush & didn't realize that we have a milkweed growing with our butterfly bush. I didn't plant it there! They are both in the same container. Of course the monarch is eating the milkweed, not the butterfly bush. Thanks everyone for responding to my post, I do feel dumb! Becky I had to use a different forum to post my pictures: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gardgal/msg081609166930.html http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gardgal/msg081612448292.html

Yes, I'm going to try that. It's just damp newspapers rolled up and left about the garden near where you find them. Then you collect them in the morning and they should be in there and you throw them away. Supposedly they enjoy part shade and lots of mulch, which I have a lot of. Sunny exposed gardens have fewer earwigs. Your garden seems a bit like mine in that regard, Terrene, part sun and mulched. I've had a couple of years with a ton of earwigs eating everything. This year is not as bad for some reason. I did look them up last night and evidently mid June is when you would expect to first start seeing them. They are a little early like everything else this year.

Ok thanks. I saw one of these nymphs on my elephant ear (which is just starting out) and I caught him easily and threw him over the fence. I was super mad...I wonder if there will come a time when I will kill them...not sure but he was easily caught. I see them from time to time but there doesn't seem to be too many. They camouflage well though.