Water First

Weight Watchers teaches you to eat well, and South Beach helps break sugar cravings, but have you heard of the Ladybug Diet?  Those red-spotted beauties consume several times their body weight, ridding your roses of numerous garden pests.  I wish I could consume several times my body weight in a day and remain looking as fresh as the Coccinella septempunctata.

Ladybugs, also referred to as ladybirds, eat Aphids, Spider Mites, Thrips, White Fly and other harmful pests.  They are a boon to organic gardeners and a treat for the youngsters in the house, who enjoy setting them out at dusk.

Most garden centers now sell containers of live lady bugs.  I bought ours at Almaden Valley Nursery. Keep them in a cool place during the day when they’re inactive.

Tuesday night we watered the infested plant, cut open the mesh bag and offered them dinner.  By morning, they had done a decent job eradicating the pests.   Some years it takes two “applications” to wipe out the aphids or flies, but it’s always a treat to see hundreds of them gathered in one place so we don’t mind.

Ladybugs and Aphids

Garden Lady’s: Nature’s Pest Control

Dinner Awaits

It’s 9:00. Do you know where your ladybugs are?

Read more about these farming heroes and the origin of the ladybug rhyme at Animal Planet.