tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post5745049886923590455..comments2023-08-30T15:35:52.807-05:00Comments on Plano Prairie Garden: Untold Stories of 2013: When Insects Attack!Michael - Plano Prairie Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10288991916201553454noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-13088009251337788782014-01-26T09:11:14.970-06:002014-01-26T09:11:14.970-06:00I think you are right, Laura. The insect pests com...I think you are right, Laura. The insect pests come in cycles as do their predators. I am trying to develop a balanced ecosystem in my garden and let nature run its course. I only step in with a direct spot treatment of light horticultural oil if the infestation is severe and concentrated. Last year was the first time I had done this in years. I doubt that I will need to do the same this year.Michael - Plano Prairie Gardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10288991916201553454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-52088200003730273702014-01-26T09:10:57.513-06:002014-01-26T09:10:57.513-06:00I am glad you were able to identify some of your c...I am glad you were able to identify some of your critters, Ann. I hope this year does not bring any more new pests. I was glad that big yellow Caterpillar did not do any damage in my front yard. This year, they are active in the neighborhood alleys so I may have another report on their damage.Michael - Plano Prairie Gardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10288991916201553454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-41383717385283205402014-01-26T09:10:39.029-06:002014-01-26T09:10:39.029-06:00Toni, I think that grasshopper was overwintering i...Toni, I think that grasshopper was overwintering in some leaves and came out to enjoy some sun. I have seen a few others on warm days. The good thing about most insect pests is that they come in cycles. Some years may be worse than others and when they do hit, they usually do their damage and then they are gone. I had crape myrtles when I moved into this house, but they had been butchered (crape murder style) in the past. After a couple of years, I decided to take them out. That was right before everybody started having trouble with bark scale. I agree, it is great to see nature taking care of nature. Michael - Plano Prairie Gardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10288991916201553454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-37147632494361817782014-01-24T09:08:45.851-06:002014-01-24T09:08:45.851-06:00I am not sure I am right, but in my garden, where ...I am not sure I am right, but in my garden, where I garden without spraying, I noticed that some years I have a huge population of a certain bug, one year it was black aphids, one year they were gray, another year I had huge amounts of flower bugs. I pretty much left them alone since the damage was just cosmetic (but managed to squeeze many of the big ones by hands). Then I noticed that the next year they were really at a minimum. I believe that by leaving the pest on my plants I fed a nice population of other insects that predated on the pest. Then in the spring the beneficial was already present in the garden and took care of the pests in no time.<br /><br />I hope that this is the case in your garden and this year you will have much fewer bugs.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15305773287880023217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-11948768786567977182014-01-24T08:27:25.279-06:002014-01-24T08:27:25.279-06:00Your post is sad but it has helped me identify man...Your post is sad but it has helped me identify many of those creatures who munched on my plants last year. I will be better prepared this year. It took me a long time to find the big yellow caterpillar. . . .very funny!!Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00092465487912222075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929448677986593408.post-7262486797624378422014-01-24T03:26:13.546-06:002014-01-24T03:26:13.546-06:00What a "fun" post! And I feel your pai...What a "fun" post! And I feel your pain as I have a lot of these same visitors every year. The four-lined plant bug usually does damage to my salvia farinacea early in the spring and then they go away and the plants outgrow it. I can't believe you have already seen a grasshopper in January!!!! Seriously? What is the world coming to?! The flea beetles have descimated my calylophus in years past. I cannot believe how quickly they devoured that plant!! And this year were wreaking havoc on Lamb's Ear. Kind of hard to spray anything on Lamb's Ear because it makes the foliage look worse than just the insect damage, so I usually just try to keep them cleaned up and eventually the beetles left. And I always get aphids on the milkweed, too....right about the time the Monarchs are supposed to come through, and I'm torn between wanting to cut off all the blooms and get rid of as many aphids as I can and wanting to leave what's left of the blooms for the butterflies. It would be a full-time job spraying them with water, but I have done that on a few. Do you have any crape myrtles? Have any crape myrtle scale? I had one tree with it this year, but at the church garden I maintain some of the trees there have been infested. Thankfully the twice-stabbed lady beetle came to the rescue. If you "build" it, they will come. I was so excited to see them on the property. I love seeing nature take care of nature :-) Tonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13862726143727717921noreply@blogger.com