(sigh) I had a nice long post typed out and guess what Walter, my laptop did? KILLED SAFARI.
That's what.
Anyways.
Sorry I've been totally lame. I've been pretty reclusive on the forums and with my garden. Nothing like piling everything in at once and getting it done.
I have been having an ongoing battle with
red lily beetles.
First I thought they were cute little beetles. Until my lilies went from
this to
this by
this. I've unfortunately I have been forced to start drowning them in soapy water. As they are an introduced pest, they have no natural predators. I have been using insecticidal soap but it's been pretty wet. And, in my opinion drowning > having your outer shell eaten away. Regardless,
fear has been struck into their hearts.
I also found out how dumb I am today. When we first moved in, I planted a bunch of seeds from my butterfly garden packet. I though I had failed because I didn't see anything new come in where I thought I had planted them. Anyways, my other half has been ragging on me to pull out the "weeds" in the front bed. I've held off because I like them and I'm glad I did. I found out that from the packet I have:
boragecornflower blue (I'm doing a seed trade on it as there are other nutters that like "weeds" too)
black eyed susanI also have some pretty
mothers wort in the back.
Oh, and I've had family over for the last little bit. Apparently
this looks a lot like
this.
confused 
