Noticed the powdery white bugs on a minirose in a planter here yesterday. We call them leafhoppers but don't recall which one as there are many types. The larger mobile ones hop quickly & can fly short distances at certain stages.They tend their brood in the white stuff. Agree with simply wiping them off with fingers, gloved or not (which catches the hoppers off guard), followed by the cold water hose to remove the remainder of white stuff (which is slightly sticky). Find a preliminary treatment with the hose watering wand set to "mist" weighs down the hoppers so they don't jump away. Follow that up with a medium-strong spray, not so strong that you beat the leaves up. The cold water stuns as well as removes them.They seem to only show up in the heat here. Never needed to do more than repeat this daily for a few days till they disappear entirely. Very effective & harmless to all but the target. Some of the scariest-looking bugs are actually the most beneficial & eat the harmful ones for supper.Tend to treat them all as friends & neighbors unless proven otherwise - definitely a "mini-ecosystem" going on here achieving balance on its own. The hornworm spied on the tomato yesterday will become a hummingbird moth & we'll still have tomatoes to feed us, too. The caterpillars that munch the passionflower leaves turn into butterflies floating amongst the flowers while the aphids feed the ladybugs. Without the rich web of life the plants would never be a garden & we wouldn't even enjoy the plants themselves without the pollinators. All have their place in the dance. When I sit on the porch steps as day turns to twilight, the porch frog wakes to sit beside me & the enormous praying mantis we've known since she was tiny climbs down the passionflower vine for a lower perch to join us. We watch as the daytimers settle down & the nightlife starts to play. Silly as it may seem, we enjoy each other's company. I consider them "people", but then I do that with everyone. So much richer for knowing them. Curious to find out what those eggs become - please let us know. And remember, the garden is also for savoring. This post was edited by vasue on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 7:58

I have known wisteria to kill anything in its path. I planted some at my mothers house a couple of years ago. I planted it on a fence she had surrounding her back yard. It has covered the fence and it has climbed up in many of the trees and has caused a big mess. I would think twice before planting it near a tree that I wanted. If you do not cut it back regularly it will overtake the tree. Its amazing how fast it grows! As for the bittersweet, I don't know anything about that. Sorry.

well im voting for oriental bittersweet, TONS of seeds and very high germination rates, Kudzu few if any seeds germinate, Oriental bittersweet STRANGLES kudzu merly covers but doesn't strangle (i think) If kudzu becomes wiped out then there is not hardly near the seed bank that OB has, anyway just a few of my thoughts,, I want more opinions on this what is yours.

Don't feed it. They grow in the woods and are a "wild" vine. Are you sure its an American Bittersweet? If so, its an endangered species (plant). I'll post the url for the article when I can copy and paste it. The native plant isn't invasive and won't strangle trees they grow on. Where did you buy or get the plant? I want one for the backyard.Good memories.