When our earwig population goes up, I use rolled up newspapers left overnight. I find tons of the them inside in the morning and then just throw the whole thing in the trash. It seems to keep them at bay.

crowrita1 said:

I resemble that remark !

Ohhh nooooo! I sure hope not!

Zencat said:When our earwig population goes up, I use rolled up newspapers left overnight. I find tons of the them inside in the morning and then just throw the whole thing in the trash. It seems to keep them at bay.

Where do you put the newspapers, out by the garden, along a wall??

Leslie, I put them wherever I see the most activity. They like dark, moist places. Under shrubs mostly. I catch the occasional slug, too!

I forgot to mention to wet the paper.

Boy, that sounded weird. Moisten the paper. If you wet it, I'll have to say 'Good girl!'

I came home today and found one of the stalks on what I think is Witch's Wand snapped off and another stalk bent. I straightened the one and hope it's okay. It's probably a neighborhood cat. Possibly the same one that digs toilet holes everywhere. Grrr! Been waiting 2 years for this one. There are more stalks in that little clump so I WILL see it bloom but...DANG! I almost cried.

I just hate it when that happens. Do you have stakes to prop up the bent one? When I find broken ones, if the bud is showing color, I bring them inside and let them bloom in a vase. They never reach the size of bloom that they do uninterrupted, but I'd rather see a smaller bloom than none at all............

No, I didn't stake it. I propped it against the adjoining leaves. It looks okay for now.

All of us Iris Lovers have experienced soft rot, leaf spot, borers, that dreaded crunching sound of a broken stalk or watching the innocent neighbor girl learning to ride her bike take a dive into a clump of hard work and love and get that sick feeling. My wife backed over a fan of Cherokee Blaze one morning that I had been waiting to see for 2 years. When I found it I was so upset I wanted to yell some really bad stuff at her. Seriously decided to trust the man upstairs and let it go. The bloom stalk came straight up out of the bulb soon after. It's was and is a beautiful Iris! True story. This year it has 3 bloom stalks reaching for the sky😀. In regards to some Iris seem to be fine in all conditions and some fall over and rot for no reason I think each new Iris cross carries the genes both good and bad of its parents and their parents. They are like each of us, unique in their own way and some are just not as healthy as others especially with all the complex crosses being done today we are seeing the effects of inbreeding in my opinion. Iowa winters and weather are hostile to say the least.

Pilot -- I sympathize with you about your wife backing over your Irises. My husband has managed to back into my Iris Lane on at least four occasions (maybe five) (or six) -- crushing fans, destroying markers, and even breaking off edges of the driveway. I sucked it up and didn't say anything the first time. The second time I scowled and whined. The third time I had a minor temper tantrum. The fourth time I stormed into the house and demanded an explanation and a solution. The fifth time I threatened his life. He then FINALLY decided to change the way that he exits the property.

I'm glad that your Cherokee Blaze resurrected itself.

Too funny Mary Ann! My neighbors have a little guy who is about 18 months old. He loves to walk the gardens and touch all of the garden art objects. He just touches them then goes to the next one and touches that one until he's touched them all. I just know that there will be some picked flowers this spring, but I'll just have to suck it up as the price to pay to allow him to explore his world.

Mary Ann.

As long as he's just touching and not *grabbing* -- you might be ok, Tom!!

I have several in bud and so I was extremely careful when I weeded today. It is always a good time after a big rain. So no accidents today

I have had rain for so long and mucky weather that the weeds are growing fast, even with pre-emergent. Some of the TB's are now sending out stalks, so I'm going to have to weed with some stalks, and I don't like that, but I have to. I don't have too many yet, but they are starting. It's supposed to warm up now, so my little guys are going to be coming on faster I'm thinking.

How often can you put Preen down? I think I need to reapply

We have had a lot of rain!

Does Preen get old and lose its potentency? I quite using it last year because after using it I swear it made the weeds grow more.