Thanks all for your compliments. I meant to go back out every few minutes to get some good pics of the dragonfly nymph, but you know how it is when you get old(er). You go in the house with good intentions to come back out but you see a lamp that needs to be dusted. While you're dusting the lamp you see the bottle of Resolve you left on the end table. You put the Resolve back under the sink and take the cleanser to clean the sink. When you put the cleanser back you find the plant food you've been looking for for weeks. You mix it up and water the plants and find the scissors you have been looking for in the sunroom. You put the scissors back in the drawer where you keep the extra batteries for the camera............the camera, the dragon fly nymph, you fly out the door. There is no nymph, no dragon fly, no exoskeleton. Darn, I missed it, oh well maybe next year. I could have just sat out on the swing and waited, but it was 90º+ outside. Here's one more pic I shot last night. Jenny

Thanks Jeri. Yes, I agree about using other methods IF THEY WORK. HOWEVER, I tried everything on this hedge, Jeri, for YEARS. Beneficials included. I started with water jets, and went on to beneficials then safer soap. NOthing was working. The problem was SEVERE and intolerable--- as in a 30 foot long by 12 foot tall hedge almost completely covered in white fuzzy stuff with honeydew dripping. YUK. Tried diazinon--yuk-- as we were desperate---and no, they came back with a vengeance. The Bayer product was a godsend (and much less harmful than diazinon)IMHO!!! No spraying for almost one full year now! Once a year on the hedge in spring to never have the problem again is worth it IMO! Wayne, I agree with Jeri on trying non-poisonous product first. If those work for you great. If you find the need for more, check on the Bayer link above. There are some products there specifically for whiteflies on edibles. Becky

Since ants "farm" aphids, controlling the ants will go a long way toward controlling the aphids. Since IÂm highly allergic to ant bites, IÂve tried lots of different methods to get rid of them. I think the most effective of the pet-safe methods is homemade bait traps. Get some boric acid powder (I find it at Ace hardware). Take an empty jar and poke a couple of holes in the lid. Put in a little jam and/or something greasy (like canned dog food). DonÂt put any boric acid in it yet. Put the lid on and set it on its side near the ant trail. Watch it for two or three days, until you see the ants really going for it. If they donÂt like jam, try honey or corn syrup with a little fat added. I know it sounds like youÂre feeding the ants, not killing them, but you want them to take the bait back to the nest and feed it to everyone, which they may not do until theyÂve established itÂs safe. After theyÂve been feeding for a day or so, renew the bait, and this time add boric acid powder. Use about 1/4 teaspoon boric acid to 2 tablespoons jam. Boric acid is essentially benign to pets, but poisonous to ants and roaches. One of the advantages of this approach is that it doesnÂt kill off the beneficial insects that feed on aphids, such as ladybugs, hover flies, and lacewings. You can buy these online and release them in the garden. Making your garden attractive to birds can help, too. Bushtits and hummingbirds, for instance, eat aphids. When our roses first had buds this year, they were covered with aphids. Killing the ants and releasing a batch of ladybugs has killed almost all the aphids.

I am on Day 20 of the Giant Whiteflies War. Untold numbers of Giant Whiteflies have died under my thumb. I have removed infected leaves by hand, folding them in half, literally grinding them to powder. I have a stool and sit, like a dark samurai in a Kurosawa film, looking up at the leaves of my hibiscus. This plant lives under our lemon tree, outside. I was reluctant to use some sort of spray. I was very close in the early days. Initial tactics included blasting colonies with water from the hose. After this, I removed the egregious areas, trimming back nearly all leaves on half the bush. And still they came, but slower. For 6 straight days I sat on my stool, removing leaves. Hiding leaves in the trash. Blasting with water the trash daily, as adults swarmed around it, threatening their next victim. I began to fear I was aiding the Giant Whiteflies, selectively breeding Whiteflies with quicker resources. Whiteflies that escaped before their execution. Surely they would breed, surely I would loose more leaves. I adapted my hunt. I called on the Lemon Tree for help. Lemon Tree would donate a sturdy leaf to the fight. Using this leaf, I would first CRUSH the Giant Whitefly colony in its place. Only then, in the wake of the white powdered mess, would I remove the leaf. Only the best escaped. And I hunted their children. In a few short days, I was down to only a few leaves of war as I hunted in the evening. I began to think like a Giant Whitefly. Northern California evenings are cool, slowing my prey. Every leaf was suspect of harboring rebel factions. If a colony turned up, it had neighbors. Sometimes I killed children. Mere teenagers, and younger, died. Spotted leaves have returned green. Blossoms have unfurled. The Hibiscus claims victory. Even the Meyer has bloomed, heralding sweeter days before the Giant Whiteflies came. And still I hunt. Today, it was only four. Some days it's none. I don't think I will ever stop hunting.