The "Lady Bug"

Every fall I get a few calls from concerned clients regarding “a small grey bug with orange spots” on trees, shrubs and around the garden. I then get to tell them that there is no need to worry it is just a Lady Bird Beetle Larvae. A What? Well the bug is commonly called the Lady Bug. Lady Bugs are a beneficial insect in the garden and are predators to many pests. In fact the Lady Bug attacks the frustrating Aphids in our garden. In 2009 there was an unusual amount of aphids in the spring and through the summer and that fall the Lady Bug adults and larvae were larger in numbers. So don’t worry about these little creatures and let them do their amazing work as our garden warriors!

Happy gardening!

Kirsten

Tulips in a Planter

A Fall Project

Have you wondered how other gardeners grow tulips in their planters without freezing over winter? I’ll let you in on a secret..... They don’t leave them in a planter they put them in the ground over winter.

Here is how they do it.

Step #1 fill an icecream pail with 5 quarter sized holes in the bottom 1/2 full with either a potting soil mix or soil from your own garden. Plant your bulbs (hairy side down) into the soil and cover the bulbs up with soil to the top of the pail.

Step #2 - find a sunny side of the house that defrosts earlier in the spring an plant your pail as deep as the pail but exposing the top ring (this helps for finding it in the spring)

Step #3- As soon as the frost is out of the soil pull out the pail and plant the entire pail into the desired planter. At this point you can watch as your tulips awake and flower.

Step #4- When your tulips begin to die down (lose color and wilt ) dig the pail back into its original sunny spot where it can stay until next spring.

These pails can be done any time in the fall until the ground freezes. One year I had some bulbs hanging around that I hadn’t got a chance to get them the ground right way so I planted them the first week in December!

Happy Gardening!

Kirsten