janwax said:[quote="shizen"]

mine farm, too, rob. i've found a handy "sprayer" tool on amazon, that squirts food grade diatomaceous earth onto the unsuspecting bugs. (caution: wear gloves, glasses, and face mask) the dust is so fine, it bothers my sinuses, and contacts (the gloves prevent me from touching my face while applying). works well in dry, calm weather.

I just sneezed 8 times and realized that my spreading of fine diatomaceous earth yesterday did not include wearing a mask or gloves!

Please be extremely careful when using diatomaceous earth. It causes lung damage similar to asbestos!

p.s. I squish the aphids when they are hiding inside the folds of the leaves or if there are only a few. If there are a lot I just hose them off. It knocks them back and gives the lady bugs time to move in and take control of the situation. (A little tip I learned in the master gardener program...it usually works for me!)

I've always wondered about that Marilyn. I always wondered why the aphids wouldn't just crawl back on the plant they just got hosed off of.

Sorry that I haven't been keeping up with this thread.

I'm a "squisher" and a "hoser" wrt the aphids. They got really bad this year in the daylily seedling patch, and on some daylilies in a different part of the garden. I had to go buy a container of ladybugs, which I parceled out over several nights. (In between, they took up residence in our "new" fridge, much to DH's dismay . I was afraid the temp in my "lab fridge" would be too cold for them.)

One thing you have to be aware of, apart from putting them out at night, is that you need to water first. They need the water.

So, on to my progress (or lack thereof). I am only going to show the most recent images (form yesterday), and the last "progress" images taken before then.


'Poem of Love'; growing strongly in a 2 gal pot with one increase, but no sign of a stalk; images from 2-2-17, 4-3-17


'What a Beauty'; still at only one fan, growing well enough in 2 gal pot, but no sign of a stalk; images from 2-2-17, 4-3-17; (* indicates which plant)


'Clarence'; as you may recall, I started several very small pieces of this; some lived, some died; the * plant was one of the smaller pieces, but it is growing well (no increase, no bloom stalk, but growing); images from 2-2-17, 4-3-17

Although I intended to, I never got round to posting 'progress' irises - but I really enjoy seeing everyone else's! Thanks to all of you for sharing.

Update on my trial bed with the iris I got from Mika - all survived the winter, showing nice new growth and there are quite a few increases - no stalks yet but then it is only April (photo from this morning 9 April)

sunnyvalley said:Although the idea is to follow the progress of three selected iris, I hope nobody minds if I show a whole bed.
These pictures show the progress of the iris I got from Mika @cliftoncat in July (this year).
11 August

3 September

3 October


I was a little worried that I was going to lose Feu Follet - second row from the front on the right - but it has now decided to grow as well.
So, Mika, all of your iris survived the trip from France/England via Germany to Switzerland and are very happy here in 'Sunnyvalley'

Great job, Sharlene! They certainly look happy and healthy!

That looks like a successful trial bed to me.

They look great!

So exciting to see a bed full of so much potential beauty!