ramazz, no it wasn't yours but that one is sure pretty, very unusual. It was a photo by the side of a house with two large patches of PS and some other flower. They weren't exactly like my photo either as to double. Kind of a double decker effect except the top part was the same size as the bottom. That's how I remember it anyway, and often my memory plays tricks on me. If I can find that thread again, I'll link to it, too far back now. token, one person's trash is another's treasure. I know photos can only show us so much, but I find yours rather interesting, not that I'd run right out and grow it. Expecting something different may skew your perception of it, but I'd let it grow another year and see what it is like. I think it's kind of pretty actually, certainly different. Nice assortment of flowers and plants in your photo. But if you have your heart set on a nice cherry brandy, I'd hope to get some seeds from posters who have the prettiest ones or just try something else. But before you shovel prune it, maybe somebody on freecycle would want it or gasp, somebody here might want some seeds from it. Or a plant hybridizer. Look at what you've got, something truly unique even though not to your liking. If it were crossed with other ones, it could lead to some stunning new Rudbeckia. A grower might even be interested in it. I don't know if white has even shown up in Rudbeckias before or not, and the potential for crosses, good bad and ugly are endless.

Sarah Looks like a big eyed bug to me. There are several varieties and all that I have read about are supposed to be beneficials. I see them quite often in my garden. I have never seen them do anyting more than fly around, so I cannot confirm if they are in fact beneficial. On the other hand I have also never seen them doing damage so the jury is still out. Matt

I've never had ambush bugs in my garden, but have the related bee assassin bugs (Apiomerus crassipes) and I deal with them merely by watching for them and snipping them in half with my garden scissors when I see them. As with any predatory insect, each individual gardener must make their choices based on their goals for their garden's ecosystem. One of my goals as a gardener is to be welcoming to bees and other pollinators. While assassin bugs and other predatory insects generally are welcome in my garden, I don't tolerate the presence of bee assassin bugs and wouldn't tolerate the ambush bugs either. While both will feed on other insects and not solely on bees, I like having the bees in the garden so tend to kill pests that prey on them. There is no pesticide you could use to kill the ambush bugs that would not harm other desirable insects including the bees.

I don't see whitefly but lots of fat aphids and their discarded exoskeletons (molts). I'm wondering if the winged insects are winged aphids and if the lone black critter might be a parasitic wasp. They can really help control the aphids.