Meet TS and Come See the Rest of the Garden...

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Ants!!!

Ants have formed a nest at the roots of my helelium 'Mardi Gras', causing so much damage several tall stems have nearly toppled over. I'm so frustrated! It's been over three weeks since we've had any rain and the ants moved in after the last deep soaking I gave that section of my garden. They've excavated tunnels between the roots, disturbing the soil that was helping hold them in place. Because my garden is organic, I don't want to use any insecticide to kill the ants. We're heading into a crazy heat wave today and by Tuesday is supposed to be 100+. Ugh!!

I was in NYC last week and was thrilled to see a lot of the same plants I have in my garden growing in the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in Central Park. That was exciting! But even Central Park had its sprinklers blasting away...

7 comments:

  1. You have a great blog. I love all your bright flowers.
    We have fire ants and they are awful. I am allergic to them and stepped into a pile....was not a pretty sight. Cute dog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much!! When we lived in SC we were constantly on guard for fire ants. Nasty little devils! My ants are small black ones that appear way too organized and disciplined for my liking!! I just finished mulching that section garden (I'm way behind this year!), which I'm hoping will collapse their evil takeover of my helenium. As soon as I can convince my foster dogs that it's okay to go outside for more than ten seconds, I'l take their pix and add it to the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a nice blog and beautiful gardens! How tranquil. I really like the way you took the area that dogs would roam naturally and enhance it into a run. Well done! That way everyone is happy.

    It's hot and dry here too. Thankfully I have abundant grass clippings for mulching. It helps conserve water and with a well, one must not tax the water table too much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks a bunch for the compliments!! I really appreciate it! :0) It hasn't rained in a month and it was 103 today. Our water bill is going to be HUGE! I wish it would rain for about a week! Last month I started saving my cooking water from corn, pasta, etc and having been using it to help water the plants. I don't salt the water and the plants must love the extra starch because they always look better than when watered with plain water! Hooray!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful blog. I am the "bee lady" here and Tina sent me this link. Your refuge and more importantly your attitude towards honeybees is a wonderful model for beeing bee friendly. We have hives at the monastery in Bristow and other members in Bristow area.
    Hope to see you at the Prince William Farm Tour this September! You can always find out what we are up to here: http://www.PWRBeekeepers.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Check out my friend's new business... look for an accompanying book featuring, among other things, Karla's Bees next year...
    http://inthekoop.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's awesome!!! Thanks! I just need to convince my dogs, especially Baby, that catching bees is a really bad idea!! I wonder what honey made from the flowers in my garden would taste like? :0)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog! Feel free to comment on the posts or photos.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.