(At the risk of repeating myself) I'm with you on not using insecticide, Cindi.
I'm not sure exactly where bees live around here. The rocky landscape, I think, might have some great cave-like locations for bee hives. When the nepeta and salvia are in full bloom, the garden is positively buzzing with activity. Seems to me that is a precious and under-appreciated resource.
Another precious resource in my garden is lizards. There are at least two different species, and they are ubiquitous. As I sat in the hammock the other day I think I was able to see five in plain view at once. Each must eat dozens or maybe hundreds of tiny insects per day. And if I could see five, there must have been two or three times that just out of sight. Insecticide would kill those guys long before it got all the insects. So the first time I sprayed insecticide, I would risk ruining the garden for at least a year, maybe more. Then not only could I not grow roses, I couldn't grow anything else, either.
