I hope we don't have another frost here in Love County, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. One of my "old farmer" neighbors, who passed away last year at the age of 97, insists that he remembers snow falling in Love County a couple of times in May, although I couldn't find any official record of it. Another, who is a relative whippershaper at the age of almost-88, does remember freezes or frosts in early May. There again, I haven't been able to find any official record to back up his memories. I don't use pesticides, insecticides or miticides in general either, Susan, but the fire ants get completely out of control if I don't treat the lawn once every 3 to 4 years. For a long time, I tried to go it organically, but there is no organic product that is effective on fire ants, and, believe me, I have tried them all. Over the decades we have tried every chemical fire ant product too. Some of them seem to work for a few years after introduction, but seem to lose their effectiveness over time, which tells me that the fire ants must develop resistance to them. For several years now, we've used Over 'N Out (I think that's the name, it is in a blue bag.) with great results. The only real pest I had major trouble with last year was stink bugs on the tomatoes beginning in August. They are a huge problem and ruin the fruit so that it is inedible. I am going to watch for them this year and try to stop them in their tracks before they multiply and get out of hand. There's not much (organic) that works on them either, except hand-picking them while they're small. Being in a remote, rural location, we have every bug known to mankind, but at least that means we have a good population of beneficials and they help with the bad bugs. I always have a billion lady bugs and I love them. Praying mantids are not my favorite since they eat everything, good and bad. You'd think with all the caterpillars we have here that we'd have an abundance of parisitic waps, but we don't seem to. Dawn

Buehl, please do! I was just trying to save something of use. I'd been checking the GW all night, turned my back for 15 minutes to watch the Health Care vote, and whammo! all the posts were gone. I kept refreshing, thinking, "This can't be!"

I keep coming back to this thread. So many beautiful photos. I can't single anybody's out, but Ingrid, I agree with Marlorena and Sheila about your garden. Serene. I always drool over Hoovb's and Marlorena's gardens, but Nicholsworth55, your photo of your burning bushes, made me say "WOW" out loud. Most unlike this reserved Englishwoman. Are they Euononymus alatus? It has been a difficult 2 years here. First the broken leg with complications, which kept me from tending the garden all summer and autumn last year. This year, no rainfall to speak of meant that lots of plants simply didn't flower, or simply faded away. I am hopeful that next year will be good. Still. There are some things I am thankful for.... The new little mandarin tree, which has replaced an ancient orange tree, that died of old age. Fuchsia triphylla, which flowers year round. Lady Emma Hamilton and Sombreuil in the background. Always blooming Pelargoniums. Dead and non performing plants removed, ready for replanting. Always cheerful Bougainvillea in one of the apricot trees. Self seeded lavender. In the way, but I don't have the heart to remove it. Pretty Jessica. TBC

Socks I don't think you have to focus on the bottom of the bushes with barky bases. I may be wrong... but the idea is to specifically spray new growth and the underside of leaves especially because that's where the bugs (and the eggs) are that you're trying to smother. The bugs and their eggs aren't usually on the barky bases. You wanna get that part too just in case... but I believe you really want to focus on the tender stuff, since that's where the bugs are.