Oh dear, so sorry it's taken me SEVEN YEARS to reply to your comments! I'm back with another update. My beloved dogwood is still with me - as Mike noted, chopping it down did not get rid of it. Though, it did take a couple of years before new shoots started emerging. By that point, I was so impressed with its resilience that I let it do its thing. I've let it grow on and off every other year or so since then. Last summer, the shrub grew to a glorious large size and the aphid swarm was correspondingly large (black, winged aphids). It was the worst I've ever seen it - they were attacking even the mature leaves. I had to prune the shrub down to the ground as it was becoming a sticky, aphid-covered mess. To answer some of your questions: - I do not fertilize nor water this shrub at all, yet it grows lush and healthy all on its own - I live in the northern part of Zone 8 (British Columbia, Canada) - Dogwoods are native to this part of the world so it's well suited and thrives here - I've tried a ladybug release in the past, but they didn't stay on the shrub - they were pretty much all gone by the end of the day! - I haven't tried the other beneficial insects yet - willing to consider them but only have a small budget - money's very tight right now - Sorry, I didn't snap any photos of the infestations... but I will try to remember to next time it happens I'm quite sure I'm giving this dogwood the care it should get... so I'm absolutely confounded by the aphid infestations!! Any other suggestions?

Cindy, the only time we have any significant ants in the garden is when we have the aphids. We've been able to knock the aphids back by using Neem. Doesn't get rid of them altogether but keeps that at bay enough where we can harvest something. And like you, it's only on the Purplehull's even though the Blackeyes are planted right next to them along the trellis. I mentioned your situation to DH the other night and I had wondered if they might be attracted to the color but they show up when the pods are still green so that's not it. We're not planting any Cowpeas this fall because I'm tired of the aphids. :/ TimeTraveler - I'm just over the bridge from you and I think I've seen those green bugs in our garden as well. I just thought they were juvenile Stink Bugs. We have nothing out there right now but two small pepper plants so I'll have to keep my eye out next season and hopefully it will be identified by then.

Congratulations. That's the nymph of a predatory Wheel Bug. Google their adult stage so that you can learn what they look like.....pretty wierd. Wheel bugs (and other predators) don't hang out in gangs, but quickly go their separate ways as soon as they hatch. You can't see a proboscis because it's tucked up under the head....unless in use. By the way, the adults aren't shy about stabbing the heck out of any curious human wanting to hold it. Yeouch!

Nicole, You need lady bugs. The lady bug larvae will devour the aphids. I don't know exactly where you would find lady bugs in Norman, but here in southern Oklahoma, as well as in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where I lived before moving here, most nurseries have them in the spring and summer, and some of the large home improvement stores have them as well. You also can order them on line. Lady bugs will take a few weeks to eat up the aphids, but once you have an established lady bug population, they will take care of the aphids for you forever. After you release the adult lady bugs (which also eat the aphids), they will reproduce and the larvae will look like little alligator-type critters. The larvae will eat aphids till there are no aphids left. Lady bugs are the least toxic aphid solution. Good luck, Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Lady Bug info