Around the garden

Speaking of ferns.. I love finding random ones growing in the yard lol I have one under the deck and near the AC units. We had one further in the backyard, but some neighbor's yard people chopped it down. They trespassed to do it... and they did it multiple times, as it was trying to regrow. That made me mad! My SO had to tell them that it was our yard and to stay out once we figured out how it was happening because at first we thought maybe it was just animals lol

I hope my hydroponics survive the storm.

Birdfall maybe?

The dreaded Japanese beetles are back. I'm plucking off about 20+ daily (on sunny days, they don't come out much on rainy/cloudy days). They are even having orgies inside of my magnolia flowers

We have bought a bacteria that targets beetles to spray on the foilage of the crape myrtle (their favorite to eat on our property), it is supposed to kill them within a few days of eating it, so we'll see if it helps reduce the numbers. We've already been using milky spores in the soil for the grubs, but if they are coming from somewhere else, then it won't help enough.. maybe this bacteria can be taken with them from wherever they are coming from and spread there instead once they die.

Prior to this we were also using neem to spray, but it's mainly an anti-feedant, and it only lasts for like 1-2 days it seems before the swarms come back. They are landing on pretty much any plants we have that are in the sun, so it's a lot of work... I go out twice a day if I can during the peak hours I tend to see them, and I collect as many as I can and throw them into a bucket of soapy water. It never ends My poor plant has leaves that look skeletal all over because of them.

Luckily we don't have those Japanese beetles here. I have been keeping a close eye on the redcurrents and gooseberries though for the Gosseberry Sawfly. Luckily I haven't seen any yet

I have a very young rhodedhendron [or however you spell it ], and the leaf eaters skinned it last year to the point there were shards of green here and there. I am amazed that it has returned to life this year.

I have never seen the leaf eaters though.

My jalapeños are doing amazing.

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Jen, I think the heat here in Florida helps so much. Whats the hotter weather comes in they usually take off and I am picking them everyday.

That's really horrible.

Luckily the woods behind us have no powerlines, but the woods across the road do. They run through one side of the woods, and every few years, they turn up and chop every tree down. No respect.

Yep.. they have rules where there needs to be so much clearance and whatnot all around the powerlines, even if the plants are not technically in the way of anything, and it's worse because there is plenty of room and on the opposite side where they can work on things if needed... ridiculous. We asked for opinions on what we can plant and where... and they said it should be fine if we kept things in line with some of the other plants we planted ourselves over the last few years, and as long as they stay on the smaller side. I hope that is true because it will be even worse if we have to go through this all over again in 10 years or so.

Yep, it's both our property and not. We can do what we want with it, but then so can they lol

Beautiful! It puts my untidy weedbed to shame