I would be interested in everything (except the Praying Mantis), but don't think I have anything you wnat. Below is my list of what I do have - any trade possibilities? Amaryllis - Bulb �I know one is red, but can not guarantee anything Amaryllis Seed Amaryllis � Naked Lady Aloe Vera Hollyhock � Niger Hollyhock � Niger Seed Sego Palms Elephant Ear (Wandering Jew � large leaf)) Johnnie JumpUps Lily Asiatic Hostas- some small, some verigated.. Red Hot Poker Blackberries � thornless semi erect

Hey Brenda! I hope your mouth is feeling much better:) That 3rd pic is a toad trying to eat that worm in the 2nd toad pic. It's blurred because the little buggers move so fast. Or do you mean is there another in the pic? Possibly, they blend in with the bark so well:) I have to move really slow, I still have some that are only about a 1/4" big out there. I've been killing grasshoppers too, babies, tan ones and green ones. And some really huge ones tan ones that I swear are like 4" big! Gross me out. I killed 5 hoppers day before and just two yesterday, one was a giant one. I flush them out with water and then kind of drill them with the water and hammer them on the ground while they're stunned from the water with the shower head on the hose. It's kind of a major ick factor, but I'm tired of them eatting on the roses and the canes. I don't see too much damage on the daylilies but they leave like spit all over the lavender and the mums. I keep washing that off. Sometimes I miss hammering them and have to do it again. Works best for me. Otherwise I'm chasing them all over the yard with a flyswatter which doesn't work but I'm sure it affords the neighbors with a lot of entertainment, LOL* I'm on at least my 3rd generation of hoppers since spring. They aren't flying off somewhere else here. That's what I get for not spraying the ground in the early spring, they've been multiplying since the few I had early last year. Because I know the toads will show up in May, I don't want the ground sprayed. OTOH, I'm seeing an upswing in good bugs. All my hollyhocks are being eaten, the foliage is by I assume the grasshoppers and other pests, but I have blooms. These are the oddest looks plants, they're on the short side, but I have very pretty blooms, thank you:) I have pink and mauve blooms, my favorite colors.

A friend of mine restored and maintains a prairie. Last night he did a presentation at a natural history meeting about Monarch butterflies, at which he showed a whole tray of recently dismembered butterfly wings due to Chinese mantis predation, mainly Monarchs. Monarchs have to migrate thousands of miles and along the way face numerous perils. With Monarchs and other butterflies in steep decline, my friend strongly feels import and sales of Chinese mantises should be banned. These mantises are not part of nature any more than your cat or dog. Chinese mantises are invasive non-native insects that not only kill butterflies, but also our smaller, less aggressive native mantises, and hummingbirds, too. There is no reason to spare Chinese mantises in your garden or yard. Hopefully one day sale and import of these aggressive predators will be banned. In the meantime, do our native butterflies and other creatures a favor and please exterminate any Chinese mantises you find.

As shocking and sad that a mantis can actually catch a hummer (which amazed me), I expect it is an EXTRAORDINARILY rare event. In my 25 years of organic gardening (encouraging mantises among other beneficial insects), I have never seen a mantis with anything larger than a grasshopper or moth. And in untold numbers of weeding events, I have never found a hummingbird carcass on the ground among the flowers. Mantids aren't perfectly beneficial; they will catch a few "good" insects, too. But they shouldn't be considered any real threat to hummers either. Heck, I kept one as a "pet" for a couple of months once (put it on a thread leash and fed it moths). They are relatively safe to handle. You can just grab them gently from behind (like pinching a pencil in the middle) and they can't reach you. Or just put a long stick in front of them and they will generally get on it (they are afraid of you). Or push them into a slippery bowl and dump them on any plant away from the hummer feeders; they do not usually travel far. I'm a hummer-lover, but I am also mantis-friendly...