I drove down to the Farm Center today to buy this rose, but they had already closed (darned Daylight Savings time messes with my sense of time). Anyway, I got out and looked through all the roses. They got more in stock. There are three Night Owls left. And then I spotted another rose two pallets over. WOw! It was the most beautiful red I had ever seen! The rose is a large shrub rose called "Hot Cocoa". Oh boy! I am going back tomorrow. If the roses aren't too much, I hope to get two of them and one of the purple Night Owl. If they are too much, I will have to decide. Can a person be FICKLE with a rose??? :) ~Annie

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie gardener so I have never had the opportunity to experience what you're talking about, BUT!, read this in the Feb/March issue of "Organic Gardening" magazine's letters to the editor. "Squash Those Bad Bugs"....I read the article on organic squash-bug control in the June/July issue (Ask OG). Years ago, I had just about given up on raising squash, as I could not defeat the bugs using Sevin dust. Then I read an article - possibly in Organic Gardening - that recommended grinding up onions and garlic in a blender, adding water, and spraying the squash requently with the mixture. The theory was that the smell kept the bugs away. This seemed like a lot of work. So, the next spring, I saved some onion bulbs and planted two with each hill of squash and cantaloupe. As an extra precaution, I took a handful of onion tops, cut them into short pieces and dropped them on and around the plants. I have not had any squash-bug damage for 15 years. I have passed this idea on to several friends and they have all had similar results. A reader from Abilene, TX" I hope that helps! I will be interested to hear a follow-up if anyone tries this because hopefully next year my squash won't freeze and die and I'll try this method to keep bugs away.

drowning or gassing.. NEVER works .. its called air transfer and drainage.. things you worked to develop in your soil ... disturb the whole with a small shovel or just step on it ....... come back tomorrow... if its not reopened.. problem solved .. if so.. disturb again.. until they begin to understand that you are in charge of this garden.. and not them ... you are really kinda starting at the extreme of dissuasion.. lol .. whats next.. poisons and a gun?? ... lol ... go simple to start ... you might be surprised how wild animals.. dont like to be disturbed .... i cant really tell much from your pic... some toads live in holes... ken

OK, I have an update. I dug up the the most recently collapsed collard and examined the roots and the soil around it (again, there were ants swarming around the base). My wife and I thought it looked like something that eaten away the outside of the main root-- from just below the soil surface down, along with a lot of the root filaments. You can see a picture here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3014435482509&set=a.1806489204607.91452.1311214793&type=3&l=0d2086a07b&theater This seems to lead me a way from the 'it's just tunneling ants' theory and back towards the underground pest theory However, I didn't see anything appeared like an obvious pest on the root or in the nearby soil-- (I was kind of expecting subterranean aphids clinging to the root or seeing little wriggling grubs or something). If they were there, they were either really small, or concealed themselves, well, or just not something I could recognize. There were, though still lots of ants.... and there still are around the other kales and collards. Any thoughts?