Oh Rhizo, you're right. I'm cringing. OMG, a non-fiction horror story! I'd have moved every last bit of furniture, with either dh's big shoe/broom handle inserted since I don't dare near any spider, let alone a black widow, or a fly swater used to swat ants! Donned in thick gloves and winter boots!! Honest to God, I got goose bumps reading yesterday's event at your house. Will you or Robert sit on the couch? Do you find webs? Ohhh, I hope she didn't have babies..look for her dh's skeleton. Might lead to her whereabouts. UUULLLKKK. Several deep breaths..... Your Mantis is a little monster. Poor hummers. Can Robert catch and trasfer to a different location? A wooded area? I can't believe he/she bit you. And broke your skin. Do you know if they have teeth? Darn sharks! No matter, I'd rather be bit by a mantis than see a BW. Auron. After I ordered PM egg cases, then posted here on GW, I then discovered mantis weren't as innocent as they look. When mantis stand they pose as in prayer. After hearing Rhizo's story I know what they're praying for. lol. At first I thought mantis ate grass, weeds, etc, then found they ate bugs, but didn't think it possible they'd eat a bird..even a little hummer. We rarely see hummers here, so I pray, if by some miracle the mantis live and grow full length, the hummers stay away. I realize it's a matter of survival. I can't watch nature shows when one animal devours another, even though it's natural. I assumed mantis ate ants..a pest I've been trying to rid 4-5 yrs. Ants are everywhere, including our house. As much as I dislike finding hundreds of ants, I'd rather deal w/ants than Rhizo's black widow. lol. Purple, thank you. You're so funny, 'in a good way.' :) Yes, the brown things are mantis. Babies. Mantis type wasn't on the receipt so I wrote the seller. He said they're Chinese Mantis. Oh Rhizo, you're right about exotic mantis. There's one type that resembes a semi-white/semi-transparent, double-petaled flower. He/she is BEAUTIFUL. I'm certain they're not hardy in IL though.

Susanlynne - thanks for the Tuliptree idea - great! And the IL Native Tree link. Great site. It even has noted whether or not the tree is a butterfly host! We always had tent caterpillars all over the trees in the back lot line at my parents house in SE Wisconsin... are they that discerning when it comes to tree species? (of course I have NO idea what those trees were...) We had some on our Linden (basswood?) too last summer. They always seem to be everywhere. Hey, speaking of, is the Linden a host to anything fun? MissSherry the Black Cherry sounds awesome - the fruit being attractive to birds too is so attractive to me.... but now I'm thinking the city would not like that due to the mess it might make on sidewalks and cars (my husband might not like that either on his car LOL!) Rhizo1 - 100 feet for a tulip tree? oh MY that's tall. Yeah, I have no idea as to the restrictions. I probably will have little choice in the matter when it comes down to it. :P The parkway across from ours has lots of smallish trees.... Bradford Pear perhaps? Hmm. Maybe I can lobby for a nice apple tree, LOL! Susan - pecans! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!

Mealybug is a common epithet used for a specific genera of insects, but not scale insects. Mealies belong to the same order (Homoptera) as scale (and aphids, cicada, leaf hoppers, etc), and even the same Superfamily, Coccoidea. However they branch off on their own after that. Mealybugs are listed under the Family name Pseudococcidae. The scale insects belong to three or four different groups. Cottony scales, which I really think is imaged by the original poster, belongs to Margarodidae. The Cottony Cushion scale is common to citrus anywhere, and can also be found on a wide variety of other woody plants, as well. The 'cottony' part is the egg sac. The flat, disc shaped part on the top is the actual scale insect. These insects, with the egg sac, are about as big as a....(wait for it)....pencil eraser! You need to keep a close eye on these gals (yes, GALS). You'll find it difficult to spot the crawlers that emerge from the egg sac. Personally, I would hand pick as many of the adults as you can locate. There are a big bunch of natural predators and parasites that will also help you in their control. Look for ladybugs and other predatory critters, frogs, birds, and itsy bitsy parasitic wasps. As far as the black sooty mold goes, you need to determine what kind of insect or insects is producing all of the honeydew that this simple black mold feeds on. In your case, the scale insects are a good bet. The soft scale do produce honeydew. Other likely culprits would be aphids, leaf hoppers, and mealybugs. The remedy is to get rid of, or at least control, the insects. The prevention is to inspect your tree regularly and apply your Neem as required. You can also use other horticultural oils. The black sooty mold will flake off on its own once the food source (honey dew) is no longer present.

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I'm taking it all in, I assure you. I definitely think I need to make an even grittier mix... the one I'm using now is still holding too much water (it's modeled after Al's mix but I used composted redwood and it has already flattened out a lot). I can't tell if I'm overwatering or underwatering... so a gritty mix will help alleviate that problem. Rhizo, I've seen you post a lot on the organic board. (Along with Gardengal, too.) How do you fertilize your perennials/citrus that are in the Turface mix, and do you use synthetics? Mike, I don't always check back here every single day, but believe me I really DO appreciate your help on the citrus stuff. When I first got the citrus I was shocked at how hard it was to grow them in pots. So many people here in the bay area grow them successfully in pots I had no idea some of the problems so many people have with them. Anyway, I'm also a perfectionist, so I felt like I was on this steep learning curve and wanting to take it all in fast. That might be why Al's and JaG's approach was so fascinating. But if you've been following it you'll also know I don't necessarily take all their advice. LOL I'm pretty hard headed. Not to mention, I visit a bunch of the other forums here, because I've started a lot of new gardening this Spring. Some containers. Some citrus. A new Square Foot Garden. And of course, as you know, I'm trying to grow it all organically. And half the time I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. But now that I have a couple months into this learning curve I think I'm starting to (maybe a little) relax a little. It's SUPPOSED to be fun, right? LOL And yes, I'm glad summer is almost here. We've had a wierd spring here. We had a heat wave of 100+ temps in March, then a late frost in early April. Then a couple weeks ago more 105+ weather. Then this week highs only in the 60s. I am looking forward to the warmer consistent weather. One of these days I'm going to get around to posting pics of my citrus. Despite all my frantic posts, I think they're faring pretty well with everyone's help here.