A few weeks ago our rose bushes started to be overtaken with aphids. Sarah, in her sage five-year-old wisdom, told me that what we needed was ladybugs, because they like to eat aphids. That sounded like much more fun than spraying our garden with chemicals, so we started our search for ladybugs. Apparently we are not the only family in town with the same idea, because all of our local nurseries have been sold out for weeks. I looked online but could only find enormous, mass amounts of ladybugs to cover acres of land. That seemed like a bit of overkill even for me. Last week we stopped by our favorite nursery and got lucky. For just over $8 we were the proud new owners of 1750 ladybugs! The girls were so excited. Their friends Adalae, Liam and Sophia came over that evening. We made ladybug homes out of old Tupperware. I told the kids that they could each select two as pets, and we released the rest into our garden. The kids had a great time having the ladybugs climb all over them before they flew away.
As for the aphid situation, the roses actually look a lot better. I’ll admit though, of the 1750 ladybugs we let go, I would estimate that 12 are still in our garden. But we had fun!
As for the aphid situation, the roses actually look a lot better. I’ll admit though, of the 1750 ladybugs we let go, I would estimate that 12 are still in our garden. But we had fun!
3 comments:
oh that sounds like fun! although i think that would send poor sammy RUNNING as he's developed a little fear of bugs. when he cries there's one near, gracie looks at him and excitedly asks "Where!" two DIFFERENT children i tell ya.
i don't know how it is in denver but $8 is cheap for a days activity with 4 kids! what a great summer idea we may have to try that! That being said i love a couple ladybugs but am not sure what i would think of 1000+.
Great activity! Katy
Post a Comment