Uninvited Guests

Can anyone guess what can wreck this kind of havoc in a flower bed? In May, this Phlox was about 2 feet wide by 1 foot long and was full of bright pink blossoms. Also, on either side of it were two rose bushes, both registered tea roses. One day I went back to check it out because the two rose bushes looked a little dry. When I grabbed each bush, they came right up in my hand with absolutely no root system. It had been chewed away by....you guessed it, rodents. Groundhogs, specifically and some Voles, they say. We have had this problem before, but Scott had always kept it under control with the skills he learned in Hunter's Ed. You can be safe in assuming that I am murderously furious at these little pests invading my yard. The film "Caddyshack" comes to mind, where Bill Murray filled the holes with gasoline and lit them on fire. In response, we called Gemtek (whom James sells for) and they came out and "set some bait". Next, we had a ten year old boy in our ward, Nick, come over and set some traps. We told him there was a bounty of $5.00 a head and there was a lot of money to earn. He caught a couple but, unfortunately, has been on vacation. I am thinking of investing in Night Vision goggles and camping out there with my pellet gun to take care of the situation.

The next thing that invaded my yard, specifically the flower pots, is a pesky little bug called a spider mite. The first thing to go (at the end of July) was the Lobelia. All of a sudden, it looked like it was drying up, but was getting plenty of water. Within a week to 10 days, it was all gone and so I pulled it out of the pots. The next thing to look sick were the two beautiful pots of marigolds. Finally, I had to pull them out too. Next came the Petunias. Then I was talking with someone who has their own greenhouse and grows a lot from seed and start and he told me it sounded like spider mites. He said to check the underside of the petunias and look for little black dots. As you can see in the picture, they had made a home with my petunias. So, I cut the petunia pots down and treated them with aphid spray (it's also good to pour it into the soil). I am hoping to salvage one more nice bloom out of the Petunias before the fall.

In going with the "green thing", an organic way to treat Aphids, mites, or any garden bugs is to pour dishsoap/water mixture (10 to one water to soap) into the soil.

To all the gardeners out there, here's to fighting the "unseen enemies" and coming out on top!
(My pellet gun is available and I have an arsenal of chemical treatments in the garage). I also have some sweet mouth/nose guards I got at the dollar store so you don't breathe all the fumes. Then again...the soap and water are a lot safer. It just depends on your level of craziness with your enemies. I am pretty far gone at this point, so I'm willing to try anything! I'd love any helpful hints, suggestions and stories. So I don't end on a negative note, below is the garden report of everything that has made it through the enemy attacks this summer.