I don't use any oils or pesticides for insect control as I grow organically. google Arbico. they specialize in beneficial insects. I ordered three praying manti egg cases. one for my yard and for my neighbors on both sides. one egg case hatches abou two hundred manti. They devour every insect you hate. and once they live out their life cycle they lay their own egg cases. so now I have an ongoing population of manti. I live an hour north of death Valley so its a desrt hot blazing summers freezing winters if my manti can stay alive year after year your area will support them as well. also consider Ladybugs these are literalyy the toughest bug in the pack they eat every single pest bug you can imagine problem is when they eat everything they move on to find more food. I even take my baby manti indoors to work over my bonsai and houseplants I leave a couple of windows open all the time for my cats to get in and out. so manti have an escape, or entrance if they choose. I grow vegetables, tobacco, fruit, housplants and bonsai. this was a permanent and inexpensive solution to my bug problem. Good Luck!!!!

Those are a relatively new introduction to the US, Begrada hilaris. I believe that they are from Africa. Thus far, they have only been found a very few locations in this country, but they are likely to spread rapidly. OK, I found a good fact sheet for you so that you can learn more about your pest. Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for more information

Can I just say Thank you!!!!! This conversation had me on a google search that lead to this: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=1050 It looks like this is PERENNIAL SOWTHISTLE Other Names: corn sow thistle, creeping sow thistle, dindle, field milk thistle, field sow thistle, gutweed, hare's colewort, hare's lettuce, hare's palace, milk thistle, swine thistle, swinies, tree sow thistle. I probably never noticed it flower thinking it was a neighboring dandelion. If anyone else runs it this nightmare hopefully they can catch it quicker than I did. Thanks again!!!! These 2 suggestions on what it was gave me the right search string. Now off to find a way to destroy it! :)

How big of a garden spot is this? It looks like it would be easier and much quicker to pull up the "good plants" and smother the whole spot for a year. Then uncover a small test spot & check to make sure it's well & truly dead before putting it back into use. Smothering won't work if not done thoroughly, heavy corrugated cardboard with seams overlapping at least 6", no holes in it, covered with at least 4" of heavy organic matter holding it down and completely blocking the light, and for sure covering all of the plant/roots. I think I would use 2 layers of it for this plant, one I couldn't kill when I tried getting rid of the top 6" of soil in a garden about 20 yrs ago. I've never had smothering not kill anything but this particular plant gives me the heebie jeebies. Good luck with whatever you attempt!