'Try Wait'.
It's a local phrase meaning hold on, wait a minute, don't rush. An important phrase in an island vocabulary and even sometimes in an island garden.
Aphids are not important, in gardens or vocabularies, unless they arrive just as the dill seeds are swelling, covering the flowerheads in a dismaying carpet of soft bodied sap suckers.
'Things don't look good for dilly beans' he says, looking forlorn. Dilly Beans are his favorite. 'Try Wait' i say, and smile...
...at the Lady Bug and her family.
12 comments:
You are so right - Spray? No can! Those good guys are having plate lunch of aphids. More power to them.
LOL Barry, these bugs are smart, i think they can read the can so no need spray!
Wow!! You are so lucky to have lady bugs looking out for your garden. The lady bugs don't visit my garden very often and I have lots of aphids!
I remember wishing da ladies would appear last year, but it was colder than normal. This year when we were about to go ahead and order some, the ladies arrived to save the day!
I remember wishing da ladies would appear last year, but it was colder than normal. This year when we were about to go ahead and order some, the ladies arrived to save the day!
Ooops...sorry about that. Blogger must be having the hiccups again. Case in point: the word verification below is "focks" - ai yaiyai...
The ladies do have a way of showing up just in the nick of time. I get lots of syrphid flies in the garden also, their larvae are voracious consumers of aphids but you need to plant pollen and nectar producing flowers to attract the adults. They love the cilantro and sweet alyssum blossoms that I let volunteer around the veggie patch.
Isn't it funny, Jane, how the bad bugs are so much more reliable than the good ones ; )
No worries Rowena ; ) Flocking Bogger! So you can just order up a dozen or so lady bugs when things get aphidy? Cool, but what do you have to do to get them to stay??
I see the adult syrphids doing lots of nectar sipping and pollinating but i'm not sure i know what the larvae look like Michelle. Always learning something new from you! Off to google that now.
Wonderful photos! I especially like the third one where the little guy is doing hanging on for dear life. I must try ladybugs - I was worried they would just disperse everywhere (or get eaten by a stray chicken). Is there anything I should do to make the environment in our garden work for them? Our bok choy are getting eaten alive, although I'm not sure if its aphids doing it...
Hi Lehua!
i've been lucky, seems like the ladybugs mostly just show up whenever the aphids get thick. No chickens here but they dodge the Francolins pretty good!
Bok choy can be hit or miss, sometimes nothing touches it and sometimes there's not much left of it ;( A yard or two of tulle row cover can work wonders!
Hooray for ladybugs. Nice metamorphosis pictures!
When the ladybugs are overwhelmed by the number of aphids as they were in my case - a bit soap and water also works to kill the lice..
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