Since the first two shots are not plants I am likely to be wrong but... It looks like the bacterial growth called Crown Gall. Sandy

I used Neem this spring and I've seen 8 dead and dying bumblebees on our rosebushes, within the last 6 weeks. There are several recent newspaper articles about a greatly increased mortality rate of bees in NOrth America. I wonder if the increased awareness of the harmful effects of artificial pesticides has led to an increased use of Neem,which is made from a culinary herb, and if Neem is what is killing the bees. I've gone back to using Cornell spray. I use a garlic, jalepeno,onion spray against thrips on my white and light pink and yellow roses. Luxrosa Cornell Spray. Prevents mildew, rust and b.s.. baking soda 1 to 2 tsps. I use 2 on the few roses which require the extra amount. 1 tsp. of canola oil ( it disperses in water) Thrip spray. 1/2 head of garlic (you don't need to peel it. 1/2 onion 2 whole jalepenos. 1 quart water. 1 tsp canola oil. Blend everything, let sit for 4 hours at room temp. Strain with cloth twice. Keep any extra in the refrigerator. Lux.

Actually, Dswan, I kill wildlife fairly often. Only in the appropriate season and only what I eat...and I don't feel bad at all about it. But I can sympathize about the snake...or any other critter that gets killed for no good reason at all. I've sadly run into enough boneheads over the years (and many aren't hillbillys...not sure if we technically can legally call them "hillbillys" in Canada...it may be like "champagne" is only rightfully applied to certain wines produced in the appropriate districts in France..perhaps we can call them "sub-alpine oriented peoples" ) who seem to feel that the only appropriate response to any critter on their property is extermination. I have a skunk that lives under my front verandah...not so much lives but loiters. In the several years that it's been resident, I've smelled it only once, and my olfactory abilities are finely honed. I've enjoyed watching the old girl raise litter after litter of handsome young skunks. A visiting relative was shocked by my entire family's nonchalance over the skunks. I told him that we learned to accept them and their odd habits, in much the same way my family came to accept him. Still, on his own little slice of rural bliss, he routinely dispatches any and all skunks, coons, and squirrels as they are "vermin". I find this appalling. What's worse is that he is an extremely civilized, well read and thoughtful individual...and unless Manchester, UK qualifies as part of Appalachia, I'm doubting his hillbilliness. Every day I hear complaints about Canada geese, cormorants, and sundry other birds and mammals. More and more, these complaints are coming from retirees and yuppies, refugees from the urban sprawl of Toronto or Ottawa. I hear comments about control and culling, and how the environment is "out of whack" Personally I'd like to see the exposion of these minivan driving Homo sapiens brought under some sort of control..they've taken to building their large bulky homes in every corner of our once proudly rural township...they clutter our roads and insist on trying to recreate the exact situations they left behind...if anyone has any suggestions I'm open.

"Please stop OBSESSING over things to the point of needing POISON to do something." So if someone is dying of an infection or cancer, they should not use a potentially toxic antibiotic or definitely toxic chemotherapy medication to treat it? People should stop celebrating New Years with champagne? Ethyl alcohol is most definitely a poison - try drinking 500 ml of it undiluted and see what happens. POISON is just a scare word. Should be ban people from growing Aconitums, because they are very POISONous lol? "It boggles my mind how much energy and money is wasted on front lawns" Yes exactly why I agree, a lot of people probably shouldn't have them. Especially the morons who scalp their lawns 2-3 times a week, causing a lot of lawn mower emissions, and just end up with a big pile of crabgrass and Microstegium. (well it usually isn't must of a pile...more like a concrete covered in dingy green) If people in the midwest want to have a front lawn of native prairie - go for it. I guess you can call the fire department out to protect their house during the periodic once-a-decade burn down. BTW it won't have dandelions in it, because they are a Eurasian invasive. If people in the east want to have forests as a front yard (and back), go for it. Definitely better for the environment than a lawn scalped 2-3 times a week. I've leave it as a mental exercise for people to see through your "As a matter of fact, the dandelions actually make things grow better!" I guess they can pull N P and K out of a trans-dimensional portal, too.