insects in the garden

Marge,
	It sounds like the east coast is having Pacific Northwest's normal WINTER
weather this summer.  We are back to our normal maritime climate this week.
The 97 F coming so suddenly was hard on plants (the Peonies came and went in
a flash), people (I could barely function) and my dogs too (at least they
don't need an excuse for laying around snoozing all day).  I'm happy to be
back to 75 F as I still have a lot of planting to do.  :)
	Worryfree is like Sluggo - same active ingredient, but is significantly
cheaper to buy.  Seems to work just fine.  I am surprised the slugs don't go
for my Tricyrtis, but the root weevils sure do!  They take bites out of the
edges of the leaves, mostly of Rhodies, Azaleas and Tricyrtis, but if they
are hungry enough - they will chew on anything. I have seen my Heuchera
looking a bit limp and on inspection discovered the roots have been entirely
chewed off!  Fortunately, they re-root easily if you catch them in time.
The damage from the adult root weevil is cosmetic only.  But the larvae
chewing on the roots in the fall can kill plants outright.  There is a
beneficial nematode that works really well on the larvae by parasitizing
them and then they reproduce inside the grub's body.  The new nematodes eat
the grub from the iinside out!  Sounds like the movie "Alien" doesn't it?
Hey!  Life is hard!!  :):)

We are at the height of our annual Rose Festival here and the roses are
putting on such a beautiful show.  They perform beautifully  in the heat as
long as they get enough water.  Between the roses and the Clematis, I am on
sensory overload every day.

Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Marge Talt
Sent:	Sunday, June 08, 2003 11:19 PM
To:	perennials@hort.net
Subject:	Re: insects in the greenhouse

Ha, Marilyn...hadn't thought about those heavy duty exhaust fans, but
bet it would take a poor lacewing right out.

I've heard of Marathon for years, but never used it - well, never
used any systemic for that matter. $100!  Lordy!  May be a while
before I try it at that price, even though a little goes a long way.
Nice to know it works, tho'.

I've discovered Sluggo for slugs and it seems to work.  They just
ravage certain Tricyrtis (not all of them, but, of course, the really
lovely variegated ones) and Sluggo seems to be slowing them down.  If
it weren't raining every day, might even stop them.

What is "Worryfree"?  Never heard of it.

I have heard on other lists that you guys in PNW got our weather by
mistake and we got yours:-)  I do not envy you...I shall be getting
the normal heat and humidity shortly, but your spring has been a
delight....now you know what gardening in the south is like:-)  Wanna
trade?

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index