This year's aphids have so far been attracted to my light pink double columbine and to my chives.

I hate aphids!

I had them all fall and winter and they finally died down in the begining of spring. I still have waves of them but nothing like this winter.

They were not as bad this early last year. So far they've been on my irises, tomato seedlings, roses, and sea holly. Don't know if it was the mild winter or the fact I'm growing more varieties and starting them earlier this year. . .

Check for ants in your garden beds - chances are, if you've got lots of ants, you'll have aphids. I had a rough time with aphids last year, but this year hasn't been bad at all...just found them one time on my Zinnia seedlings. The difference is that this year I have treated my beds a couple of times for ants, using Green Light Dust, and I had my entire yard treated for ants using a commercial granular product. My battle this Spring has been with White Flies...Lord! what a battle it has been, too. They nearly destroyed my Gardenia, but after several very thorough repeat sprayings with insecticidal soap, I've mostly gotten them under control. (fingers and toes crossed)
Good Luck!
Renee

My HUGE problem with aphids this year is on the new Knockout roses I put in earlier! They are simply covered with them in spite of repeated blasts with the hose and even spraying with a plant based insecticide. And Knockouts are supposed to be very aphid resistant. Well...not so far. I'm especially annoyed but not sure if I'm more aggravated by the bugs or the apparently overstated claims for the roses.

linda
knockouts are blackspot resistant, self-cleaning, drought & mildew tolerant - they don't repel insects, too :)

Ah...my beautiful roses! They are absolutely gorgeous, but oh those aphids!! They are driving me nuts! I'm thinking about using that Bayer All-In-One systemic insecticide, etc. Has anyone had any luck with this?

the bayer stuff is fantastic!

I have had aphids on my roses. I just used a little dish detergent in water and squired them off. I have not seen any since. With all the recycling going on I find myself throwing out the soapy dish water on all my plants. Keeps some bugs down.

Ants will very often "farm" aphids on plants. I have watched them do this. Very interestingly the ants will keep the aphid colonys clean and fed (by bringing them nectar), then cart off the fat ones home to the family.

~teresa

Chapelhillgardener...I'm sure finding that out! (And so far, I'm not really impressed with that deadheading thing.) But before I decided to put them in my garden I was deceived by such as this: http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=gatepage&gate=GPKnockOutRoses&cid=wpp000007
and this:
http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/HORT/Apr0604a.htm
Actually, there are lots of ads claiming Knockouts are resistant to Japanese beetles; fewer claiming the aphid resistance. But, well...I should be old enough by now not to believe everything I read!

Thanks Chapel Hill Gardner! I'll try it this weekend!

This is an article I found a few weeks ago about soapy water and aphids:

Nasty green "bugs"
Dear Roger: I have 2 roses in a pot on front veranda in direct sun that I planted last year.

I pruned them back three weeks ago and have new early buds showing.

Yesterday I noticed tiny green "bugs" on all the new buds.

I also have a new ÂKnockout rose that I put in the ground to the side of my veranda, also in full sun. This one was in a bag. And on checking, I also saw the tiny green "bugs."

I spayed them with a solution of soap and water and today the "bugs" could be rubbed off.

What could they have been ? Â Betsy, Whiteville

Dear Betsy: The bugs sound like aphids, which are very common on new growth of roses in spring.

Your treatment of these insects was just right. They may return. But another squirt or two of soapy water should do them in. The soap removes the wax that protects them from drying out. They soon dessicate and die.

Hope that helps everyone!