So you can tell by looking at the plant whether you have thrips or not? You didn't see any evidence of them in my photos, yorkrose? Yes, I have had winter moths for the past four years. It is really a pain, but I keep observing to see how it changes from year to year. This year they were late, but they did show up. They weren't as bad as previous years. One year my two Maples had very visible holes all over the tree. This year I can't see a lot at all. It's even more annoying when they drop down onto plants in the yard. But on the other hand, there are lots of birds that have started camping out for the abundance of food. I see starlings especially like them and are in the trees hunting and pecking. I've seen sparrows eating them and this year I've been amazed to see Orioles hopping around in the trees eating them. So I've held off on using the BT. Right now I think with the few roses I have, hand picking and close observation may keep things manageable. I hope! [g] Kate, are there bugs that eat the sawfly larvae? York Rose, thanks for that link. I see they are supposed to feed until mid June. I've already seen a noticeable dropoff in activity.

Do you have mealy bugs in Egypt? I'm also wondering why the roots are exposed and the plant partly out of the ground. Is it newly planted? It looks very dry.

I'm just giving my 0.02 and it's worth what you paid. :) Is the fungus on the North side of the wall / house? If so then it never gets any sunlight or heat (perhaps) and so fungus will grow. Chlorine is a sure fire killer of fungus. Do you have any photos you can show? Below is a place to put a link. You can put photos on a photo hosting site then put a link where we can look at it. Your message says that it appears the effect of wetness has permiated the wall. So I would look at the window sill to see if it's plumb - exactly horizontal. If so then any damage inside the wall is not so severe as to cause a structural failure yet. I would next hammer on the area where the structural beams are located. The frame of the window , under the window. If it's a solid sound then again you probably don't have a severe problem. I'd ask myself if theres a coincidence that the inside water and outside fungus are there for different reasons. Maybe a shower on the inside and a North wall on the outside. Thus two causes for two indicatons of moisture. Unrelated thus no reason to think water got into the structure. There ya go. $0.10 worth. Good luck. Andre

That is a flatfooted leaf bug. Here is a good link http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74168.html