Thanks for the ideas, all. Snidely, I had considered that....washed my face and used my nasal irrigator, which did help some. Arkansas girl, yep.....used peroxide to brush my tongue, and that helped some, too. Moonie, I actually did tell a friend one time, and I was soooo uncomfortable about it! But it was a chronic problem, and I just knew that she needed to see a dentist. Turned out that I was right; she had the early stages of peridontal disease. Lol, Linda....I'd be happy to do the honors!

peren.all - you are way beyond my understanding of this pest. I was not aware of any natural parasites of Lily Beetle being as how it is not a native species. Certainly, even if there are some they are having little impact according to the RHS survey information. One factor might be that there are far more lilies being grown these days. Combined parasitoids of the lily beetle have been found to parasitise 25% to 94% of L. lilii larvae in mainland Europe (Haye & Kenis 2000; 2004; Ra¨mert et al., 2009). With 21% of larvae producing parasitoids in this investigation and 27% reported in Salisbury (2003) it appears that parasitism rates are currently towards the lower end of the European range in the UK. This may be due to the UK currently having fewer species of parasitoid than mainland Europe. The dominant parasitoid in most of Northern and Western Europe is Lemophagus errabundus (Haye & Kenis 2000, 2004, Ra¨mert et al., 2009). From the results presented here it is apparent that this species is also the dominant parasitoid of L. lilii in at least part of the UK. Tetrastichus setifer is dominant in Germany and Diaparsis jucunda (Holmgren) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) (a species not yet found in the UK), is dominant in Southern Europe (Haye & Kenis, 2000; 2004). From source.

Yeah, it's...interesting, to say the least. It really doesn't seem like Houzz and these garden forums are a great fit. And things seem to be getting worse. I hope they have some incentive to improve things, and ultimately to keep the garden forums alive. The changes that have been made seem to suggest otherwise. Do any of us actually patronize Houzz, beyond forum usage? I know I don't. In fact, if it weren't for the banner at the top of this page currently announcing a "rug sale," I'd have no idea what they sell, or even that they sold anything. Nor would I care. If you visited my home, you'd find that most of my furnishings are purely functional practical stuff, and I'm ok with that. Any "design" or "style" within my home is entirely accidental, LOL. (The fact that there even exists a forum devoted to "Design Dilemmas" perplexes me to no end; the only reason I know about it is that it keeps popping up and forcing me to de-select it in order to post in a gardening forum. Argh). My garden, on the other hand...now THAT's where I spend my money, time, and effort. And it's entirely for myself, not for "curb appeal" or for whatever other concern the recommended forums on this site keep promoting. Anyway, all grumbles aside, my real concern is that if we're all (from Houzz's perspective) a bunch of non-profit-generating dead weight, why should they care about keeping us happy? I do miss Gardenweb. Kinda like how I miss actual garden-related programming on HGTV. Hopefully these forums aren't headed for the same fate.

Mediterranean climate - hot dry summers and warm wet winters with westerly winds. Worth a try, LOL.