Flowers, and bugs

10 years ago

Getting hot here. And no rain. They said a chance of thunderstorm.
I only saw one faraway lightning.

Some of today's flowers:

Barbara Mitchell FFO
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I was so looking forward to Prediction as it is one of my favorite brights, here's what I got for first flowers :s
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Russian Ragtime was quite pretty today. I can't get close to this one
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Nan's First Blush - FFO. I believe that lower petal is sticking out because of the buds, at least I hope so :)
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Lots of bunnies this year (excuse the red eyes lol)
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Shores of Time - FFO. And opened well and looked good, that's promising

Soul On Fire - I love this red, close ups look better but I always post individuals, so here's a sort of a clump
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Night Beacon FFO. Big plant but just a few scapes
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Sugar Cookie FFO
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Look how double Eyes On The Prize is today :)

So bugs.. Cicadas are here for about a week or so. And, those who used to have tons of earwigs, have you noticed that there are not as many out there this year? Could it be that drought decreased their population? If so I guess I just found one good thing about a drought :) So now I am dreading those awful Japanese beetles, haven't seen any yet.
And rant: Gnats. Millions of them! It's just terrible. They want to get into your eyes, nose, ears, mouth... One bastage finally got me yesterday, right near the eye, it still stings once in a while, and was a bump right after it bit me. Hate them. It's SO not a pleasure now to go out to take pictures in the morning. Go out in the yard at all. And yesterday I was watering and reminded myself of a cow on a pasture. Except instead of a tail I used my arms and was shaking head like crazy. Quite a sight for neighbors :) I tried a vanilla trick, but didn't seem to help much. Hmmm, I'd like to change my username, bad associations IYKWIM ;)
We will not use any insecticides 'cause my DH barely allows weed killers (of which we need gallons and gallons) :) End rant.

Thanks for looking!

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Comments (14)

jeanerz13
10 years ago
Since you brought up bugs... I've noticed a fair number of ants crawling around on my daylilies. Is that normal?
maximus7116
10 years ago
The daylilies are looking great! Nan's First Blush is beautiful, and Shores of Time gave you a great FFO.

I haven't seen as many earwigs this year, but have seen a lot more deerflies and black flies. The buggers bit me behind the ears and gave quite a swelling. I'm not sure what the bugs are that like to nestle in each daylily and eat the pollen, but there's a lot more of them this year, too.
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I cannot tell exactly but this appears to be an insect in the order Hemiptera, the triangular shaped scutellum on the back where the wings connect is a sure sign. This order is primarily piercing and sucking insects that cause damage to plants. There is the chance that this insect is feeding on pollen or nectar and is beneficial. True bugs, stink bugs, etc, are in this order. In Texas where I live they cause untold millions in damage to food crops each year. Send this picture to your local extension agent. They will have one of two responses; 1- tell you what it is, or 2- send someone to get one because it is new to the area. My bet is that it would be the former. They can also tell you whether to get a glass of tea and watch the critter, or get 50 friends with 50 magnifying glasses and Zap them ASAP! Beetles, order Coleoptera, are less likely to be an issue on the flower. The damage they cause is often inside the tree or underground. Many of them are saprophages and only eat dead organic matter. The often have hard outer wings, and an absence of the triangular scutellum on the back. I don't think this is a beetle. If you are bored, and not creeped out easily, check out this website... http://www.texasento.net/prob.htm it's Texas stuff, but often they are the same or similar in Florida. I'd like to close by saying, Mango! Mango! Mango!
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shive
10 years ago
You have some pretty ones blooming today, especially Russian Ragtime and Shores of Time. Bugs are the bane of a gardener's existence, I guess.

Debra
organic_kitten
10 years ago
I really like Russian Ragtime, but Hearts on Fire is my favorite. I think I lost mine, and I had a nice clump, but the drought can get anything. One thing you can do about gnats is go to the drugstore and get a bottle of Oil of Peppermint. A couple of drops around your face makes them leave your face alone. I put it on my hat and it works. Be careful since it might be hot on your skin. My bottle has barely dropped level at all and I've had it four years, but it cost $15 when I got it.

kay
newyorkrita
10 years ago
Bunnies are cute but I am glad I don't have them as the eat too many flowers. My favorite is the clump of Soul On Fire.
lalalandwi
10 years ago
LOL! You had me laughing so hard my dog was wondering what the excitement is! I love the fact your husband is against all that :) It all comes round eventually.

Shores Of Time! Why do I still not have that 1?
nat4b
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks everybody!

Jeanerz, I believe it was Kay who said to pour some detergent around a daylily. To repell ants.
Chris, I need to google those flies, after I put vanilla on my skin I became an 'attraction' for some new flies I haven't seen before, pale orange with black transparent wings.
Thanks Kay for Oil of Peppermint tip! I looked for it in Walmart but couldn't find, they told me to look at the baking aisle ;) People are complaining here about gnats, we didn't have those before! I heard a suggestion to put dryer sheets in your hair :)
My Soul on Fire was one of the best performers last year and increased well as you can see in the pic. If you lost yours and want it again I can share.
Bunnies have been behaving so far, knock on wood.
Lalaland :) :)
Get Shores of Time it is pretty! Though certainly not among my best budded and doesn't increase rapidly (which is actually a plus for me).
mantis__oh
10 years ago
What a gorgeous Shores of Time! I've had my problems with it here.
jeanerz13
10 years ago
nat4b -- what kind of detergent? Like dishwasher detergent? or laundry soap? I use the liquid kind for laundry...

I've used peppermint oil to keep ants out of the kitchen. I don't remember the ratio, but mixed a little peppermint oil with water in a spray bottle. Screws up their trail. Wonder if that would be safe for the plants and work outside too...
nat4b
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh sorry powder laundry detergent, that's what I sprinkled last year near couple daylilies.
Julia WV (6b)
10 years ago
Your Prediction looks like what happened to a couple of blooms here but I did have one open perfectly and more yet to open.

Shores Of Time opened perfectly with all those ruffles. Makes you wonder why one opens so great and others seem to have a hard time.

Julia
celeste/NH
10 years ago
Oh gosh Nat, I wish I could send you some of this RAIN. All it does is rain, day after day....and heavy too. It destroyed my rose flush so I never got to enjoy the old roses at all, and now the japanese beetles are eating what roses are left. It seems it's either too much rain or too little for all of us around the country.
My daylilies are finally starting up this week and I am finding lots of slug and thrip damage but the clumps look great from the rain!
I have never seen Eyes on the Prize double before (or at least mine never has) but that looks cool. And your Shores of Time looks WONDERFUL. Mine is budded but still a ways from blooming. I also grow Night Beacon and mine is a stingy bloomer too. Cute bunny!

Celeste
nat4b
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, Mantis, Julia, Celeste!

Prediction: same thing today, four flowers and all like this. It's not even not fully open like Chance Encounter, it's not open at all. It's very crowded there though, Could this be a problem? I don't know. But for 2 years it almost always had pretty much perfect blooms.

Celeste, yeah I can see how too much rain can be a problem. Poor roses. Btw, we got a little rain this morning.
Eyes on the Prize doubles a little quite often, but that's the first almost real double. I prefer single of course.
Oh, thanks for your comment on Night Beacon. I was wondering maybe it's too big and needs dividing and that's why just 4 scapes.
deangreen
10 years ago
Barbara Mitchell such a classic! :)

Flowers, and bugs

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