Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Milkweed Aphids

I was walking by my swamp milkweed plants the other day and noticed them covered in something yellow.  Upon closer inspection I saw the yellow "dots" moving, and realized that I had milkweed aphids.  

Rather than use chemicals to get rid of them, I prefer to spray them with the water hose.  It knocks them off the plant, but keeps any monarch eggs safe.  I have also used a cotton swab to remove them from the plants.  If the aphids keep returning you can also take a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to them.  It is tedious but kills them on contact.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Tuesday Night's Storm

Tuesday night our area was hit pretty hard by a storm.  We lost power at our house for about 36 hours, but there are still people without power today (Friday) as I write this.  We did not have any storm damage at our house.  We thought a big branch broke off of our tree, but it turned out it was a branch from a neighbor's tree who lives two houses away.  It was eventually confirmed that 5 tornadoes came through our area that night.  Thankfully their were no fatalities from the storm.  I can honestly say I have never seen lightning like it before in my life.  It was continuous, like a flashbulb just kept going off over and over again.