Well hey, I am not espousing chemicals either, but I am profoundly uncomfortable with the continual movement of non-native bacteria and fungi into an ecosystem which has not been able to adapt at speed of global travel. And yes, we are paying the price for the untrammeled movements of organic materials across oceans. Regarding plant species, we have witnessed the dying of bluebell woods as the more vigorous Spanish bluebell out-competes and hybridises with our native bluebells. RRD from eriophyid mites have arrived from Asia (along with citris longhorn beetle and a host of other problematic life-forms) during my lifetime....and there is no cure on the immediate horizon. For some, who must have variety and novelty, I guess this is seemingly a price worth paying....and for sure, we cannot turn the clock back to a simpler time when we grew natives, wild flowers and local foodplants....and nor would I wish to do so. I do, however, wish for a wider research base, with a more rounded agenda and a bit more of an attempt to understand the dynamic interconnectedness of life. The theory that Japanese knotweed beetles will simply die when they have eaten all the host plant is rubbish - the beetles are being introduced because the current chemical treatment costs massive amounts of money (Japanese knotweed being, in turn, an introduced species with no natural predator). See how the cycle turns?- with no natural predators to act as a counterbalance, we really have no idea what effect this will have upon our finely nuanced eco-system. Moreover, others are not happy with having these things foisted upon them (such as our groundwater being poisoned) - I just hope that the greater awareness we now have regarding how we operate in a shared world will encompass a more rounded and holistic view where a short term profit is not developed at the long-term expense of balance. Hopefully, the brouhaha about chemicals will also spread so we question short-term fixes because we really do not fully understand the workings of the natural world.... Writing this from the fens where a tradition of intensive agriculture and monocropping is turning the most fertile alluvial soils in the UK into a dustbowl reminiscent of Oklahoma in the 1930s. Yep, I am gloomy and somewhat despairing.

I grew PM a couple years ago. Thought the color was gag-ful in any regard, lol. There is just something about very pale apricot/buff that I dislike. Can't remember if the "blotches" were more in the red tones or orange though....think the latter. My answer isn't likly to be very helpful I fear, lol. Just guesses really. It's might be some ploy of the seed co. If you rename the same plant (or offspring of it, even if it looks and acts much like the parent plant) people will think it is different and want to buy it. :-P It looks like PM is an heirloom and will come true from saved seed. There isn't going to be a patent on it, so seed co. can get away with renaming it anything they please. Another reason a cultivar might have two cultvar names is because one is a registration name (what the hybridizer called it) and what the commercial name is (what is on the tag). But that is usually seen with hybrids. Sometimes heirlooms with have two names because it is a "pass-along" kind of plant. Someone forgot the name over the years and started calling it by a different one, while another person remembered the original one and kept growing and passing it along as that. They very well might have made made "improvements", since sometimes heirlooms do not always stand up to the expectations of modern gardeners. Improvements could be anything from breeding for more vigor/blooms/less disese/compactness, or simply them selecting a second generation (or 3, or 4th, etc) plant that looks more robust! Who knows. Haven't grown any for comparison, so I don't know. If you are really that interested you may find information looking up registration/patent information on the non-heirloom look alikes (guessing they are hybrid, I didn't find any info one way or the other). Then you might see if they had PM in its family tree. I did a quick and not-very-thorough look on freepatensonline and didn't see any info. Honestly though, if a plant looks too similar for comparison I just pick up whatever is cheapest or available locally and don't worry much about it ;-) CMK

If they really are ladybugs or their larvae, no harm will be done, they are completely beneficial. You should be happy to see them. If immature ladybugs, they may have hatched there and not have left in search of food yet. The larvae don't look quite like beetles though, most people describe them as resembling little alligators :) Here is a link that might be useful: lady bug larvae

Seeds I am looking for: Cosmos 'Tetra Versailles Red' Cosmos 'Gloria' Cosmos 'Picotee' Cosmos 'Psycho White' Cosmos 'Sensation' Cosmos 'Dwarf Sensation' Cosmos 'Solar Flare' Cosmos 'Ladybird Dwarf Gold' Cosmos 'Ladybird Dwarf Lemon' Cosmos 'Ladybird Dwarf Orange'