Thanks, Tapla, (is it Al? seems so informal to my British sensibilities.. ;-) Yes, wouldn't have thought of red clay drainage probs without your postings I've read. Eternally grateful. And yes, (S)praying mantises did make me smile. Husband has actually taken portraits of them. More than of me, recently....would post but can't be bothered to work out how, and photos are somehow intrusive on this site, don't know why but I feel it instinctively. Which reminds me, I obtained info on green vitriol from a 19C publication called "New England Farmer" via the Web - obviously can't download here - but it's fascinating - any way of getting it to you without retyping? Have completely forget which web link. Useless woman I am. Biggest guerrilla warfare stuff on red spider mites is on brugmansia site, btw. Note to self: don't grow brugs.

What you saw where baby spiders, not spider mites. I have red baby spiders all over my yard right now too. They do no harm, spiders eat aphids and mosquitoes. I welcome them. Spider mites are not common here and certainly not this early this year after all that rain. Spider mites cause damage that you can easily see long before you can see their webs and the mites themselves which are almost microscopic. When I go to Phoenix or Palm Springs I can see spider mite damage from the car driving around town, they are very common there and very easy to spot their damage. Not something I ever see here except in my greenhouse where I brought them in on a houseplant and even then they are not red. They are green because they are two spotted spider mites. Spider mites are always found underneath the leaves they are on and not out in plain sight where you could see them without a magnifying glass. The post you answered is four years old. Spider mites can be controlled but it can be difficult in hot dry areas where they are common. Not knowing what your pest is and just spraying willy nilly is a really really bad idea. People, pets and wildlife are poisoned by insecticides and fungicides sprayed incorrectly all the time. I wish they would ban more of them than they have already. It is scary how few people read labels and follow them and really know what they are doing.

Hi and thanks- really you think?? any jumping spider I've seen- I was never skeeved out about! This one- was SO big and fat- you wouldn't even WANT to kill it- because it will surely 'pop' or worse- he was very fat and plump- and yes 1' prob stretching but def 3/4' I could see his eyes, and his mouth 'pieces' moving they were bigg, and he ran to an ant and bit it, and then waited - I left prior to his dinner show :P gag Here's the 2nd pic of him I took- I even did an online search, picking his colorations my state etc off a spider site and came up w no pic of this one. It's not a type of wolf spider? and jumping spiders arent poisonous are they? Here is a link that might be useful:

I have divided spider lilies spring and fall mostly spring because the winter here is so dry and I don't water much then, so I have had better luck with spring plantings. Just make sure they get watered when they need it. I'm not sure where you can get them, you might try TLC on Memorial road they have a nice selection. They might be an heirloom lily if they were growing at your mom's mom's house, so you might try some places on the net. Sorry I couldn't help more.