h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd like to find predators to go after the sawflies that bother my roses.

No horses here, unless you're counting the ones under the hood of my car.

Odd. I got a very minimalist ad. It was just a white rectangle with a red box in the upper left corner with "-25%" in it just above and over a small, greyed out image of a toilet, and large text of a price, $291.75.

I just got an Oscar Mayer ad for all natural cheese.

Spalding fly predators

That is a fascinating minimalist advert about the toilet!

I had an advert with white text on a background the same colour as my Brunel page, so my eyes glanced at the header and read "Personal Space Bingo"!

The advertisers know how to grab my attention. All they have to do is show me pictures of burgundy-colored Coneflowers
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/5894/sombrero-baja-burgundy-coneflower/

Ooo They are nice. I still like the magenta coloured Echinacea best, though

Do you mean the original wild version, which is sort of pinkish purple?
If so, I love it too, because it is so hardy. There's one in my yard that I've transplanted several times, and it's doing fine. I dug it up once by mistake, so I hurriedly threw some dirt in a flower pot and planted it there. It did fine there, so I eventually planted it by the side of my house, and it's blooming fine now.

Last year's Echinacea blossoms produced lots of seeds, wghich sprouted here and there. I've collected about 15 of them and put them in pots, to be sunk in my yard this Fall, and then transplanted to permanent locations next Spring, when I find out which plants died during the Winter. These will be replacements. Some of the seedlings are getting quite big now.

I never have to worry about whether my Echinacea plants will survive the Winter in pots. I have one that I bought nine years ago. The pot sits on the ground next to my house. There's still at least one plant in it. The roots have grown down through the holes in the bottom, and sprouted new plants in the dirt nearby.

I saw a Monarch or Viceroy butterfly in my yard a couple days ago. There are bees of all sizes.

If you plant milkweeds to support Monarchs and Tiger Swallowtails you'll be shocked at how quickly the the caterpillars strip them of leaves.

Monarch caterpillars are in stripes the same colors as the adult.

Swallowtail caterpillars often look like grey garden slugs with dry skin and yellow eye-spots.

Today I saw an ad for Discover cards.

We have milkweed growing wild in the park. Hardly a leaf has been eaten.

Monarch caterpillars are white, yellow, & black striped.

And yes, they will eat up milkweed pretty darn quickly.

My local milkweed supply seems safe so far.

[Crosses fingers]

Remember at least one species of tiger swallowtail uses them for caterpillar fodder.

That reminds me that there are a couple of milkweed plants I'd like to dig up and plant in my backyard.

Milkweeds often grow well from cuttings, given an overnight pre-soak in water.

That's good to know.

regus

Today I see "How to be a better man - presented by a man after consulting with lots of women"