I spent my morning cutting off curled, stuck together leaves from my Annabelle hydrangeas. They form pockets that harbor worms of the leafier moth. The worm surrounds itself with castings. The leaves and castings protect it from pesticides so the only effective control is to cut off the affected parts, crunch, and bag. This wasn’t what I planned to do with my morning, but I am very grateful that this was the biggest problem on my plate so far today!
I found a great blog from Canada with more information-Heidi Horticulture.

Sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses have sheaths that go to the ground.

On a visit to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Wednesday with Bedford Garden Club I learned that planting nepeta (catmint) and other native plants next to roses supports the beneficial insects so that the Earthkind roses flourish without chemicals. The garden uses no chemicals in their rose garden. So today I am planting nepeta next to my roses!

Fertilizer from our yards contributes to harmful Blue Green algae blooms. We can forgo the fertilizer, have beautiful yards, and help prevent algae blooms.

Lucky to have an interview on Central Time with Rob Ferrett!
Summer is here, but don’t put on your yard what you don’t want in your family’s drinking water because what we put on our yards and gardens washes into our drinking water. Tiny amounts of these chemicals can cause long term harm by disrupting our hormonal systems. Instead, learn to love a few dandelions and you’ll get to see hummingbird moths!
(photo Bob Judson USDA Forest Service)

Prepping Our Lawns and Poisoning Our Water
Fortunate to have an interview with Krys Boyd!
Best tip for natural yard care in Texas is that Texas A&M suggests a combination of Spinosad and Orange Guard ant killer to kill fire ants. Spinosad is a product of fermentation of the bacteria S. Spinosa, and Orange Guard is made from orange peel.

Why use chemicals on our yards that the government is concerned causes cancer and Parkinsosn’s disease in agricultural workers when we don’t need them. Especially because they are going from our yards into our drinking water.

One of the delights of a healthy yard is that it is a-buzz with wildlife. With the days alternating between rain and bright, warm sun we have been fortunate to have so many hummingbird moths this spring. They love our lilacs, and when they are suspended in the air drinking nectar from the flowers they look just like small hummingbirds-except they have antennae and insect legs. When they glide by they look like chubby dragonflies. They lay eggs on viburnum, honeysuckle, hawthorns, and black cherry. The eggs hatch into sphinx caterpillars with two horns, a horney tail, and tiny red dots on their green sides. They also love bluebells, phlox, and verbena.

Worldwide bee populations are suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder, likely resulting from a combination of pesticide toxicity, mites and other diseases, and unnatural habitats and lifestyles. Pesticides kill the bees in large doses, but in smaller doses their effect is not as obvious. They may make the bees more susceptible to other stresses, making teasing out the culprit more difficult. Now scientists from Newcastle University in the UK say they may have a solution.
In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, scientists report that a new natural pesticide made from the venom of the deadly Australian Funnel Web spider and lectin from the snowdrop plant, kills many insects that are pests to farmers without harming bees. (Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins that are common in plants and help protect them against microorganisms. They also coat seeds and help them survive digestion by birds and animals). The venom based pesticide didn’t interfere with the bees memory or learning. One problem with neonicotinoid pesticides is that they interfere with the bees ability to find food and to return to the hive.
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1787/20140619.full
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/could-spiders-be-the-key-to-saving-our-bees

This Fiskars weeder makes taking out weeds fun. Really! This is Canadian Thistle. It is incredibly aggressive and spreads rapidly, and we could not remove entire plants. My husband actually enjoyed weeding them because it was easy-no bending-and it worked so well!
The weeder is Fiskars UpRoot Weed and Root Remover 7870, and it works best if the ground is moist and the soil is soft.