Poor plants. They get yelled at and hear things they should not here. Ill play them some relaxing sound of nature tracks. Give them a little fertilizer and leaf massage and make them feel good again.

Wow, that would be a whole lot of massage in my case! And for the record, I do not yell at my sweet little iris. I reserve that for the yellow jackets.... and for the ants that build their nests in the bottom of my potted iris, then bite me when I tip the iris out to plant it!!!

Gotchya Leslie. I had a tree that died many years ago, and I was looking for someone reasonable to cut it down. For some reason the trunk became hollowed out some and had a bee hive move in, a rather large one. Called someone to take care of it and he mentioned it was the largest he had seen in a while. What was funny is that even though he closed it off, I had another hive move in 3 weeks after that, which was a big one also. The bee removal guy made some funds the month and a bee farmer got 2 hives.

what do you think they are feeling as you mow the grass just feet/inches away?

The yellow jackets? They certainly feel vibration from the mower, but I am in little sympathy after they have stung the bejeesus out of me.
I would think more kindly of bees but they are smarter and aren't going to waste their sting.

Think fire ants. They follow my vibrations all over the garden. They patrol ten feet around a hidden nest and when I get near the guards, they send the signal and two or three start the charge on my foot and as I am grabbing them to get them off I can see others running towards me on the ground. I have to run away while I am counter attacking, throwing my shoes and disrobing at the same time. whine, cuss, whine...... And it does not matter who is passing or standing there. They are not named fire ants for nothing.

Ouch Bonnie! Vividly ( ) put but ouch!

Thank heavens we don't have those. Sympathy from all of us.

Hear, hear!!!

No No No. I meant the plants (specifically the irises)!!!! Not the bees. Were you all talking to the bees or the plants? Geesh!

more total losses

Be Original
Nickel

holding on by the slimest of margins

Royal Orders
Roasting Chestnuts
Idol Dream

Greg:

Do you really think the aspirin drench is any better than bleach?

Beach does kill a lot of fungus and may also kill mycorrhizae which is a greatly beneficial fungus. Most of the plants on the planet cannot use the fertilizers we feed them before it has been eaten by mycorrhizae and then fed to the plant. Also, aspirin does not do anything at all, pro or con, for the different rots. The theory was that the aspirin helped boost, or kicked into gear, the rhizomes immune system. I don't know if it worked or if the irises were just going to come back to life anyway. I do know that it did not hurt the environment and will not contaminate ground water and will not kill mycorrhizae. smiles

And that's all good, Bonnie!!

Some of my MDB seedlings look very unhappy. I think that I will move the few which are left.

That's a pain, Lucy -- but you don't want to lose them.................

Another goner: White Autumn King by Sass, 1935. Just shriveled up after the challenge with excessive moisture during the move. I will leave a space for that one.

Dave -- really sorry to hear of all of your losses. Very disheartening..................

I have that one ,Dave (at least I *think* I do...it hasn't bloomed yet ), so don't buy it....we'll do a deal next year. I actually have it in two places, from two sources...so ONE should be correct.