What Really Bugs Me

Feeling a tad frustrated with my WIP, not able to keep the characters in line and make the scene I was working on actually work, I abandoned my desk for the garden yesterday.

I keep milkweed growing in a variety of spots so that any stray Monarchs can stop awhile at the Butterfly Cafe, sip some nector, then lay their eggs before moving along. I keep the plant for what it offers the Butterflies, but sometimes it attracts less entertaining insects. Snapped this photo while I was walking out my scene trouble.

I had worried day and night about this guy killing the Milkweed -- or worse, traveling across the driveway to the kitchen garden where it would wreck havoc on my tomatoes. Turns out it can be easily identified as a common Milkweed Bug.

Big sigh of relief later, I went out to the tomatoes to tell them the good news. This reminded me to do Stink Bug duty, so I trooped over to the volunteer squash vine that popped up in my new veggie row, a gift from last Thanksgiving's decorations resurrection via the compost. Curiously, the stink bugs have only showed up in any numbers on that volunteer vine, not the tender baby Eight Ball and Zuccini I'd nurtured from seed. Having them concentrated on the volunteer vine made it much easier to control them.

"Hey, Stinky, look at at this plant! Ignore the human-loved goodness over there!" Gloves, smush, presto, no more bugs! Using this neat bit of garden misdirection, I have managed to harvest a bumper crop of tomatoes, peppers and squash with minimal damage from the stinkers.

Misdirection? Mmmmm. Eureka! Proving once again that gardening is good for what ails you, that little walk through my gardens allowed my mind to relax enough to come up with a solution to the troublesome scene.

Happy gardening!

Julie