Polka Dot Militia

I'm happy to report that our roses are really blooming in abundance this year. The last few years have been kind of ho-hum as we let our rose bushes go a little wild. I am not an expert of plants, so only as a last resort, I reluctantly hacked away in the fall and spring. Fortunately that did the trick. We have beautiful roses of burgundy, pink and peach that you can see all the way from down the street. I've also been staying on top of trimming any wild growth, and watering thanks to newly added drip hoses.

I put  the new hoses along our flower beds in late spring. I've never used them before, but I'm really liking it so far for ease of use and I don't worry as much about wasting water.

The downside to my roses this year is that aphids had arrived. Gross. Early in June I began to notice them munching away at our incoming rosebuds. I tried spraying them down with water... no luck, and I really wasn't wanting to use any harsh chemical sprays.

So....we called in the experts!

Brandon and I found these at Northwest Seed and Pet. I wish I had a better picture. So many Ladybugs! We kept them in the fridge until evening so that it would be cooler and they would be slower to fly away.

Here's some shots from the next morning.

The aphids aren't completely gone, but much more under control. Its been about a month since our lady bug experiment and I'd call it mostly a success, though eventually we may need to bring in some more of our polka dotted friends.

Anybody else out there using natural methods to get rid of weeds or pests in their garden this year?