petunias are naturally sticky ... arent they ... patty nailed it also ... but her reply was not there when i typed mine.. though it is here this morning .... GW gets weird sometimes ... no matter how many times i hit my browser refresh ... whats that all about?? jim .. petunia get SPENT ... they start looking ratty ... a severe pruning.. or cutting back MIGHT get them to recuperate ... but one thing for sure.. with annuals [in your zone] ... most will stop blooming profusely.. once seed is matured.. their job is kinda done ... you will have to learn about deadheading.. if you wish to extend the flowering season longer ... its hard to explain based on your pix.. but you might trace back a large branch.. back towards the main stem.. looking for little buds.. and then whack off most of the side branch.. hoping to stimulate the last 2 or 3 buds ... in a prefect world.. those would start growing.. and inside a few weeks.. you might get a new series of flowers ... [or they just might die.. since they already spread their seed] if the plants have many branches... say 6.. clip two as i suggest ... and see how they respond... if you start to see new growth.. then clip the rest.. you have a multitude of plants.. experiment... ken

you can buy ladybug and lacewings online to take care of your aphids, ladybugs and their young are the best as they are aphid eating machines but there are some ants that farm aphids like cattle. the aphids give the ants a sugary food and the ants protect the aphids even move them to better plants. the lacewing looking bug I agree looks like a type of mayfly. then there is the hoverfly, the spider is a what we call in the states a daddy longlegs the small ones do eat aphids and other bugs, the little wasp is also a good guy he hunts for spiders and larve of things like moths. as far as your peppers go I have friends that plant them in pots in colder areas so they can take them inside when winter hit and also grow them in their gardens with much success. my grandfather grew hot peppers every year he started them inside sooner then normal like in December or January by the end of summer his pepper plants were 4 ft. tall and about the same size round and full of peppers

OP said "Well, the spray we were told to use didnt do anything anyway. Its supposed to be more of a mold and black spot preventative than an insecticide. " Oh my, you need to locate a resource who can provide accurate information. Perhaps your county's Extension Service office. Find your county's office with this map: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/ Okay, back to your curled leaves and black mold. Please stay with me; take time to thoroughly digest each step to learn what occurred. It goes like this: 1. The diagnosis for your cherry tree is most likely aphids on the undersides of the cherry leaves. Those aphids were drinking plant sap and excreting the excess that they didn't need. That excess excreted sap is called honeydew. It's clear and it's sticky. 3. Then, a mold that's ever-present in the air, landed on the sticky stuff, fed on it, then produced the sooty mold (the black stuff) on the leaves. No way was that stuff black spot! Ladybugs, both adults and youngsters feed on aphids. The thing stuck on the leaf was a pupa as was already explained. Please don't try to scrape them loose as you may damage them and end up with a deformed ladybug rather than a healthy one. So, in the future, when you see similar curled leaves, please unroll them and look at what's inside the curls. Aphids, Lots and lots. Often very small. The best & safest remedy: Keep alert for curled leaves, then wash off the aphids. Insecticide sprays likely won't work because they are well protected within the curled leaves. Oh yes, as was said, the ladybugs don't make holes in leaves. Here is a link that might be useful: USDA map to locate Extension Service offices

It's impossible to count the number of legs without not squishing it first. Since these insects look like they are feeding on the wood of the windowsill, I can only assume they are some type of woodeater. I just saw one of them crawl out of a crack in the wood of the windowsill near where the windowsill itself and the metal frame of the window pane meet and crawled back in. I don't have a magnifying glass, but it appears to me that there are minute wood shillings leftover on the edge of the window pane metal frame near the crack in the wood of the windowsill. Is it a definite possibility that it is some kind of woodeater, but not a termite since termites are much bigger in size. These are no more than an 1/8th of an inch in length and are even slimmer in width. This last one I saw I figure to be about 1/16th of an inch, but this one looked more darker brown than the others.