HELP!!! I just noticed this evening that that are lots of aphids on my Major Wheeler Honeysuckle!

I am sorry, I have no offer of help. But I feel for you. Last year my two honeysuckle were COVERED thick with aphids! Some lady bugs moved in on their own. It helped a bit but my honeysuckle barely bloomed. Thankfully the aphids did not spread. But I was too busy last year to investigate any other solutions.

Spray them with a hose or buy some insect killing soap..

You could try Neem Oil it works well on them. Either get ready to use or 2 tablespoons per gallon.

Lady bugs love Aphids! Buy some lady bugs.

I read that buying lady bugs is a waste of money. The site said the majority of them do not stay.

Thanks for all the responses!

I'm going spray the plant with a blast of water all over!

I got rid of the sections that had the aphids the other evening. The buds are already reddish in color (and getting longer) and I figured they would be blooming this week with the temps were having.

Last year I didn't see any aphids, but then I didn't get it planted until after the Spring.

I had aphids on my Rose of Sharon and the Lady Bugs were eating them. I am always looking for new ways to attract them to the yard. Certainly if there is nothing to eat then they will leave but maybe they will come back when there is more to eat, also the ladybug feeders help a lot because you can soak raisins and put them out, they love raisins.




I was just fascinated and took this picture.

I did not know they liked raisins.

Me either! How did you know that Susan?

I bought a feeder and it said in early spring to soak raisins in water till they are plump. The raisins are good for food when there are no aphids. They will keep them around so they will not go else where looking for food.

http://www.gardeners.com/Ladyb...

Thanks for sharing!

I've sure noticed a huge increase in dead lady bugs in my spare room or other places I don't use so often. I spoke with one of the local nursery folk and she told me the ones we buy for prevention are (correct me if I have this backwards) mountain lady bugs who need to overwinter inside whereas our local lady bugs (oh shoot I forget what they do in the winter)... Anyway, it made some sense to me. This is just random unconfirmed information. Nothing against lady bugs, they are a great help against aphids. I guess my concern would be introducing non-native species in good faith, only to find out much later that it perhaps was not the best idea. Starlings come to mind...

Didn't know that either. I know my sister in law had an infestation in here dome house. Forgot what they did. I did put lady bugs in my greenhouse one time to eat the bugs but they slowly escaped. Wish they would hang out here more. I'm going to try the raisin food.

I would definitely buy them local. Here they hibernate in shrubs.

I do not know much about Starlings, at the other house I had a two gallon bird bath and there would be 15 in there at one time. It was so funny!!

They love their baths!

Social too!

Mine has never been bothered, knock on wood!

Very beautiful, how big does it get?

It just keeps growing year by year but you can always trim it back in the fall if you like.