Encouraging Find

   Way back in February, I was surprised to find a beautiful, green lacewing on my front steps.  The small bug had just recently changed from its larvae state to an adult and was a bit sluggish yet.  Of course, I HAD to sit next to the insect to protect it from the (at the time) kitten, Bat.  Bat was at that curious age where everything that moved was a target of interest.  So, I "babysat" the bug until it was strong enough to venture out into the world.  Finding the insect made me happy as they are delightful things to have in the garden.  While in the larvae state, they have voracious appetites for a lot of garden pests.  Most people would rather dump a bunch of chemicals on the plants and call it a day but I am a bit more careful about my gardens.  No chemical sprays are used.  Those kill both the good and the bad.  Personally, I would rather let the lacewings do the job for me.

  I had high hopes that the lacewing would return to the steps to lay her eggs thus starting a new generation of helpers.  Imagine my delight when I found the telltale spiral of tiny, pale green eggs on the underside of the turmeric leaf!  This turmeric plant is in a large pot sitting on the bottom step near where the original lacewing was found.  In a few days, these eggs should hatch and the larva will start their hunt for prey.  This gives me hope that there may be less garden pests in the future.  Carry on, Little Lacewings!  

Spirals of Helpers

  It is oftentimes that we become so accustomed to our surroundings that we overlook many marvelous things.  Take today, for instance.  The backdoor had been used dozens upon dozens of times as each of us either fed the cat, hauled scraps to the compost pile, fetched an item from the shed or merely used that door instead of either of the others. Not once did a fresh occurrence even draw attention to itself until Son went out to feed the cat (for the third time today).  When he made the discovery, he came in to inform me that he found a "spiral".  Well, that called for an investigation!  Spirals are interesting things no matter what created them!

  On the outside of the screen door, a grouping of white dots spiraled their way into a one inch loop.  Each dot was connected to the screen by a wispy thread.  To be more precise, there were thirty-eight pinhead sized dots on the screen. Aha!  Although most folks would probably be quick about whisking away the dots, these shall stay put and hopefully will hang there until maturity.  These are Green Lacewing eggs and the larvae that will hatch from them are a boon for the garden.

  Green Lacewing larvae have a particular fondness for aphid larvae which are the bane of most organic gardeners.  We fight all plant-eating critters only with natural methods so having the lacewings drop their eggs near the garden is a good thing.  While the adult lacewing feeds only on nectar and pollen, the larvae munch on any soft-bodied insect and on insect eggs.  

  So...now you know!  If you see a spiral of minuscule white dots floating about on wee threads, your garden will be a much happier place.  Leave the eggs to hatch and feel good that you did not have to use harmful chemical sprays on your plants!