Hi. I'm battling midge. : ( Sadly, I poured Merit in the soil around 4 of the most devastated roses, then I read about it's connection to bee colony collapse. Terrible, and I have planted plants specifically to attract bees and butterflies. Argh!!

I started looking in old Rose Annuals to see if there was some forgotten, chemical-free way to treat midge and I found this info in the American rose Annual from 1918 on the treatment of midge at the time by Mr. Koch in Humboldt Park gardens in Chicago. I don't know where I'd get a load of tobacco stems, (ha), but I thought this organic treatment was interesting.

"He found many of the plants affected with mildew and stem-

blight, and, in 1911, rose midge had been introduced with new

plants in the three principal parks. Hybrid Perpetuals and Gruss

an Teplitz were found particularly susceptible to attacks of the

midge. After considerable experimental work, Mr. Koch adopted

mulching four inches deep with tobacco stems. It is applied

after the first summer hoeing, about mid-June, and spaded

under after frost in autumn. Where the mulch becomes thinned

or shifted in the course of the summer, additional applications

are made. This, he found, prevents hibernation of the pest.

Last summer but few larvae and few injuries were found. For

the greater security of other varieties, it was found necessary to remove Gruss an Teplitz from Douglas Park entirely in 1915."

Any thoughts, info, or ideas on this method? Should I start growing tobacco? ; )

Thanks!!

Jennifer