Riding the Leafy Wave ...

Tonight we have another one of Fernymoss' discoveries from when he ventured out on August 5 with the camera ... this cute lil one is a Ladybug larva, as it makes its way across one wavy corn leaf in the back garden, accompanied by some smaller, unidentified bugs riding along with it. We seem to have lots of Ladybugs most years, and they are a very welcome presence in the garden, along with the bumblebees, mantises, small wasps, lacewings, dragonflies and other predators of the bad bugs. We're firm believers in the gardening philosophy that if you plant the right sorts of plants, you'll attract the right kinds of insects to keep things in line a bit. We give a lot of credit to them, and are glad to see they're comfortable making our garden their home (and hunting ground). We've only once had to use a spray (for a whitefly infestation on tomatoes) to conquer insects, and that one was composed predominantly of steeped cayenne peppers and dish detergent (which is remarkably effective on a lot of insects). We like to think that a lot of our smaller, insect buddies in the garden take care of potential problems for us, even if we are, at times neglectful of their surroundings. Embrace the Ladybug (if you don't already) and some of her equally interesting and beautiful cohorts....