Re: APHIDS HELP !!!!!

by AutumnDamask 6th October 2012, 11:53

It started with a few brief showers at 4am. On and off light stuff after that. But the heavy stuff you got missed us. Just getting another band through now.

by paulh 6th October 2012, 22:19

Jac2 wrote:I’ve got lots of petunias, Paul, huge areas. They’re positively thriving in all that horse manure and most of them come from one plant that is doing particularly well – I’ve never seen any petunias grow like it. I’ve got some caterpillars, too, but not necessarily on the petunias – they’re mainly on the rose, when I see them, that is.

But I also have lots of Marigold between them. Marigold makes an excellent companion plant for roses and also vegies, because their scent confuses the bugs. To my surprise, visitors comment just as much on my Marigolds as on my roses; but they really do look lovely, particularly en masse.

Whilst they’re not exactly welcome, caterpillars are allowed to be in my garden – they belong in gardens and help assure me that I’ve got a healthy system.
Theses little darlings have been feeding in my garden for many months now. The only time they’re not around is in the middle of the day, but their nest is somewhere else. It’s a couple; the female looks like a sparrow, only still smaller. I’m hoping they might build their nest in my garden next year.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It seems they’ve accepted me as a permanent feature in their territory and come really close now, but they’re quick, making it hard to take photos. Maybe they made me their scarecrow and follow me around, because the larger birds don’t swoop them when I’m there. I chirp to them and they chirp back … well, in my imagination anyway. I’ll get a birdbath next, my centerpiece on one side of the garden, then just some pavers, and that’s the end of my waste-of-space-lawn.

Awe jac2, if only I could get some little fellows like that in my yard, we've been here for just over 2 years now and I've never had a feathered friend come in for a look see. You often hear the magpies but they never seem to come for a visit.

by Balinbear 7th October 2012, 09:30

Our biggest problems are the native Miner (not the indian ones) and Butcher Birds chase away everything else. We even had Miners chasing an Eedgetail Eagle that was crusing over one day.
We have finches and wrens down in the forest but rarely see them in the garden.

by Happy roses 7th October 2012, 16:39

I have Wrens as well, beautiful liittle birds, we get quite a few of them in our yard as well as other birds

by Jac2 7th October 2012, 23:54

There’s a healthy and varied bird population in my area too, Happy, and some pretty fierce competition among them.
The Wren are cleaning my rose bushes regularly and systematically, and their eyes are so much better than mine, very useful as well as beautiful.

I only just started to plant this June; there was only lawn here before and one dead native shrub. I didn’t do anything to attract birds, but will do my best to make them stay. I think providing them with a source of water on hot days is my best bet.
I remember a Gardening Australia segment on how to attract birds into your garden (from some time ago), Paul; I’d imagine WWW would be flooded with similar tips.

Wow, you’ve got some pretty aggressive Miners in your area, Gary. The Wedge-tailed Eagle is like the king on the sky. Here they’re getting into the poor posties, who can’t even make for a speedy getaway; it’s a real sight.

by neptune 8th October 2012, 01:05

we have seemed to go [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] again. Please!...if you want to change what the original thread is, start a new one.........

It is hard to follow when you have several subjects in one thread and the "Search" function finds it hard to play with........

by Jac2 8th October 2012, 01:26

Excuse me, Neptune, what’s off topic about discussing birds as a form of natural pest control in the system and how they can be attracted into the garden on this link?

by neptune 8th October 2012, 01:41

This thread started by asking a question, and the person got her answer and thanked everyone for there help. Then it diversified to caterpillars, companion planting, birds etc. So as you can see, it is hard to follow the one subject when you have other subjects thrown in that aren't associated with the original subject....as for birds as a natural pest control,...I'm all for it. Unfortunately, birds don't come in a spray bottle, so they need a thread to themselves. With your knowledge on this subject jac, I am sure you could start a new thread on this. I can't help you with this as we don't have those type of birds here , except for the parrotts who take great delight in chewing the soft cane under the bud and there by killing my flowers

by Happy roses 8th October 2012, 12:40

I had started a thread awhile back called Ants and Aphids, as I found out having ants nearby, will assist the aphids by with bringing them into their nest during the night to keep them safe from predators then bringing them back to the plants the next day. It's a relationship that benefits both with the aphids providing the ants with a type of nector of sorts.

by Jac2 8th October 2012, 18:09

Ok, Neptune, fair enough. I though it wouldn’t be a problem to go with the flow and let a topic unfold naturally, by association. That this is causing problems with the search engine hadn’t occurred to me; I’m very ignorant about their general function and obviously overestimated their capacity.
I don’t really have a great knowledge base about birds. I’m really just happy to learn their correct name, and was just reporting on what I’m seeing here in my garden as it happens. Something in the content of this link must have stimulated me to relate the birds. Yes, search engines do not think laterally, I know that now, even if the original request called for an organic, natural solution – and there could be more than one.

Hope I’m not doing it again by quickly saying: the ingenuity and complexity of symbiotic relationships between animals and animals and plants in nature never ceases to surprise and fascinate, Happy, and yours was another fitting example.

by dennisd 22nd August 2013, 17:14

Rosy,
Try what I use in Canberra at National Rose Gardens we have lots of success with it. Controls black spot powdery mildew and aphids!!!

3 level teaspoon fulls bi-carbonate of soda and one desert spoon full dish washing liquid (Morning fresh) per liter water.
Mix to runny paste with a little water and add to amount of water in spray unit. Spray rose thoroughly, repeat again about a week later then a fortnight after that. Cleans roses up.
Dennisd

by SueH 22nd August 2013, 18:26

Thanks Dennis! Much better than chemicals - and cheaper!

by silkyfizz 22nd August 2013, 19:22

Thanks Dennis. The timing of the spraying ie follow up after 1 week and then again in 2 weeks, was new to me, so I'm grateful for your advice. I'm very excited looking forward to all my new roses (bar one) shooting out new growth. The anticipation of beautiful roses.
You must love them after so many years to be so committed. Good on you!

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