We got to talking about things and how the weather definitely was one of the reasons the butterflies were not as abundant this year but the spraying has caused a lot of problems as well, despite the fact that we don't live in the 'spray zone.' I remembered how a few years ago, the winds carried the sprays towards my area and I had fewer butterflies that year. So sad.

She asked me about snails at my house and I told her I had some so I am going to start a habitat for her and give them to her. :) That way her Box Turtles have food and we won't have the snails eating up MY garden.

The butterflies this year have been amazing, but no Red Admirals :'(

However the snail population here is doing very well

Penny

Seriously, I went to the local vector control folks and raised Cain about being sprayed. They said they'd do their very best not to but air moves, see, and ....

Argh. I truly think that this is a HUGE part of the bee decline as well....

I cringed the other day when I overheard someone talking to the clerk at the garden store and he wanted to get rid of some bugs. I don't even think he knew what he wanted to kill, but the clerk was too happy to give him something that would kill anything on his plant.

People at garden stores need to be educated about the poisons they are supplying the public. There should be some kind of required training before selling such stuff. And I am sure that most people don't even bother to read the label and the warnings. grrr...

Think of all of the clothes that kids wear that have butterflies on them. Bought by parents who could give a woo-hoo about the real deal and think that having a lawn as pictured on a bag is what beauty is.

Those companies should pay reparation damages :) And all of the pesticide companies...

Hmmm...maybe I should go back to school and become an eco-lawyer....

OT--but I do think local non-game divisions of wildlife services need to be more vocal about what they want to see happen. For instance, in NH, turtles get run over (like everywhere else) but all that gets done is an article on the site that only the choir is going to read or in a newspaper and hope that the word gets spread.

Just so fruitless. Why not seasonally for a couple of days use those big signs that tell you to buckle up or that tell you about a construction site that's not happening??

So simple and so many people would see it. But I'm sure that it's not the point of them and there is some safety hazard.

I mentioned that it would be really helpful for shoppers if they could slap a "Native" tag on plants, and she was quite receptive to the idea.

Progress....

Jeff

Hey Suzy! Glad you came back and said your piece. :) Woooo-hooo! So glad you are at Home Depot and can share your expertise!

I was just at the local Armstrong Nursery/Garden Center today with Chelsea (had my butterfly parasol out and open for her since the sun as quite bright and I didn't want her getting too much sun/heat from being out with 'mama'). People were looking at me with smiles (and some with looks akin to "Look at that crazy lady!" Hey, at least my dog was able to enjoy her time out with me as I was out searching out to rescue caterpillars!). They had loads of Rue (whoa!) and even Asclepias (Milkweed) although the Milkweed was loaded down with Aphids. The good thing is that they don't use pesticides. I didn't find a single caterpillar/egg but that was okay. I did find that they had a lot more of the 'organic' variety of pesticides as opposed to the more 'bad' chemical stuff. People were looking to find things that would target specific things like powdery mildew and sawflies, leaving the 'good guys' alone. Loads of Ladybugs were on sale as well. Now THIS is what I liked seeing and hearing.

Sure, having pesticides and whatnot are going to be a given, right? But, there are ways to help rid your gardens of certain pests (I haven't had to do a thing about fleas because I give my dog a supplement made from simple ingredients and she's had nary a flea on her, much to my groomer's and my delight!). I made my usual 'spider spray' concoction this morning and it is now steeping and fermenting in the backyard. It serves a dual purpose because it also kills and keeps away the ants. :) Yay!

Sure, we have to keep things in balance, right? All things in balance...zen, after all...