I am looking to set up some spring trades over the long boring winter where I can't garden here in zone 5. TO TRADE: I have collections of sedums (15 kinds), hens and chicks (25 kinds), mints (10 kinds), TONS OF IRISES and some other flowers to offer. Most of my daylilies are new so most will not be up for dividing this year. Some will but I won't really be able to tell which until spring so I hoping to mostly trade other plants for daylilies. BUT I LOVE REPEAT HONEST TRADERS - and will keep track of them!!! I am looking for spiders, unsual forms, very unusal colors, and some ruffled edges. I prefer to NOT add any more yellows or oranges to my garden but there is always an exception. Would realy like Hot Chocolate daylily. Email me if you are intersted at myohhmy@comcast.net might want to put daylilies in headers so I don't accidently delete them. THANKS!!!

Ouch. As someone who has battled Pacific mite for years, I know exactly what you're going through. There are so few viable solutions, unfortunately... There are a few things you can try to keep the mite populations down: they really like hot, dry, dusty conditions and stressed plants, so the more you avoid those conditions the better. - If you have a lot of dust around, consider wetting things down periodically in the late morning or early afternoon to keep it from flying around and coating the leaves. That will also help to increase the humidity and cool down the leaves. - Mulch well to help retain moisture, which will reduce plant stress; it will also eliminate dust. - Keep the plants well-fed, well-watered, and vigorous. I've found that mites are much less of a problem when the plants are growing well with lots of new foliage. Lots of water and food is probably my primary defense against mites now. - My second line of defense is picking the right varieties. Certain plants tend to attract mites like magnets (marigolds come to mind). Certain varieties of tomato are more susceptible than others as well; I've given up on growing anything with wispy foliage because those get totally hammered as soon as the hot weather comes in. I miss out on some good pastes and hearts, but there it is. Potato leaf and rugose varieties have almost no trouble with mites unless the plants are really struggling. - Predatory mites are sold for greenhouses; with that sort of pest population, you might benefit from them even out in the open. Check some organic supply catalogs. - Be vigilant. All it takes is one plant getting overwhelmed by mites, then they have a foothold to take over the rest from. Yanking or severely pruning one plant is better than losing all of them, if you notice that one is faring badly. If there's a variety or species that seems to do much worse, look for a different one for next year. The mites are tough to kill, so we have to adapt and learn. I wish you the best of luck. --Alison

the spiders will eat whatever is eating the holes in your plants. There are several thousand varieties of spiders so identification can be very tricky, even with pictures. All spiders can bite but MOST can't break the skin-their little fangs just are too little, brown recluses and black widows of course can, so can others. Just wear the gloves and be happy you have spiders. They are a sign of a healthy environment. Tally Ho!

You are right. The link didn't work. It's the first time I've tried doing the "link" thingy on houzz. Will try again with the AHS registration information on Clements "It's Afraid Of Spiders....Maryl http://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/detail.php?id=173857&name=It's%20Afraid%20of%20Spiders