Cowboy, I don't know what the "slug bells" cost, but I could make up a whole bunch of them for less than $30---the price of a couple of really nice hostas. This is a sink drain, selling at Home Depot for $1.98. There is a screw on the bottom of the rubber stopper that you can remove, to give you a central hole. If the holes are too big, lay a scrap of nylon screening over them to keep the Sluggo from falling through. This is an 18" plant support from Home Depot. It costs $1.17. It would be easy to slide the sink drain basket halfway up the length of this and then slide a holed rubber stopper or cork (if you're a wine drinker, save those corks!) up underneath that to support the drain basket. Finally, get some cheap but pretty large coffee mugs at a yard sale or a clearance at a drug store or grocery store. You can often find some for like 50 cents apiece, certainly no more than a dollar. Hang that open side down over the wire spiral at the top of the plant support. Voila, your own cheapie version of a "Slug Bell". If you like the earthy look, substitute a 4" diameter clay plant pot from Home Depot (78 cents) for the coffee mug. Total cost = a shade over $5 vs. $18 for those Slug Bells.

I have a soft spot for jumping spiders. All of the chrysalis I know of are fine, too. We just had about 30 mph wind, but it is still amazing how strong this little glue connection is. I just saw one little caterpillar wandering around a bit aimlessly on the fence. Bent down a branch of the oak that’s right there and he went on. Hope it was the right tree for him.

Diane, I am so sorry about the deer. At my house hosta are first on the menu, then daylilies, roses and hydrangea. It is just so hard when you wait so long for your plants to get big and healthy and then they’re gone in an instant. Plus, I don’t know what it’s like at your house but right now there is still plenty of food for the deer to eat besides my plants! And I don’t know if it’s true or not but I’ve read that hosta aren’t even good for them! It’s like their version of crack. I hope the preventative methods I’ve used stop them but I’m pretty worried. Everyone says once they’ve found your yard they never forget it :(

Thanks , the one the left is Mathilda Gutges, 15yrs or more…has never gotten bigger but the best Blues..never Winter Pro ….the blue on the right is LA Dreaming … some consider they are the same… the other two are BOBOS