 |
Eagerly awaiting catalog season, I jumped the gun and immersed myself in the Plant Delights online catalog. While drooling over various things, I discovered that what I thought was Dahlia 'Bishop of Canterbury' was actually 'Bishop of Leicester.'
With all the rain we had, 2008 was a banner year for them. Earwigs like damp, they don't like drought. They also like Dahlias, Daylilies, Clematis,
 |
 |
(For maximum effect, imagine the following said in my fake old lady voice.) Course, when I was a young 'un, we didn't have no earwigs. Never heard of 'em, nor never even seen one! It was when I was living with my parents on the north end of Arlington Heights, in the mid-80s it was, when my sister started complaining about these bugs at her new house near downtown Arlington Heights. Pretty soon, they started showing up in my mom's garden. Ugly things they were, with roach like bodies ending in nasty pinchers. Heck, we didn't even have Japanese Beetles then.
Daggum globalization, that's what's done it! Don't even get me started on them infernal German hornets.(I learned how to make my photos larger from this post on Robin's Nesting Place.)
*I'm one of those people who enjoys saying "aught." I envision myself when I'm old telling the children (or hopefully grandchildren) in an accent like the Pepperidge Farm guy, "I remember back in aught eight, the earwigs were so fierce they ate right through trees!"
22 comments:
I ought to start saying aught as well. It's better than than naught! ;-)
Actually, MMD, I think I saw a couple of earwigs, but I didn't know what they were. Please don't give them my address, though. ;-)
I will remember the rain in the spring of aught eight. Yep, them were the days.
LOL!!!
But those earwigs taint a bit funny. I have a lot of them in summer, too. I hate 'em!!!
Hi MMD, a trend is born, aught nine looks to be a mighty fine year, if'n we can squelch those daggone varmits!
Frances, old before her time :-)
So that's what earwigs look like. I haven't really noticed any around here but we also had a dry summer. What's the mix of soy and soap just in case.
word verification is morones, which is what I am in the plural:)
Shady - I have yet to hear a commentator name this decade. My spouse & I have taken to calling it "The Aughts." I'm sorry, but you can't hide from the earwigs. They find you.
Lisa - it'll make for good stories when you move to the retirement community.
Kylee - if you come upon on chemical-free way to kill them, let me know.
Frances - LOL! Them critters is mighty crafty, watch out.
Flydragon - I put a dollop of dishwashing soap into soy sauce in a plastic lidded container. I poke holes into the sides to allow the earwigs to enter. They drown in the drink. It's kind of gross if you look at them when you dump it.
I don't think we have earwigs but I wouldn't swear to it. Here's to fewer of them in your garden in aught nine!
Loved it. Loved the title, the photos, the whole shebang, including your ambitions for old age. Can I have the chair next to yours at the old folks' home?
--Kate
I'm glad you were able to enlarge your pictures! Thanks for the link.
I didn't have a problem with earwigs but the pill bugs/roly polys destroyed several plants. They were horrible last year!
Oh, I HATE HATE HATE earwigs! My yard is earwig paradise, apparently. Every time I cut flowers to bring inside, the squirmy buggers fall out on my counter and make me squeal. I think all the bark mulch in my beds is contributing to their proliferation, but my plants love the mulch . . . did you know that earwig mommies take care of their babies for a while after they hatch? Very rare in the insect world. But I don't care if they're maternal. I'd like to smash them all, mommies and babies alike. Except the crunching noise is so gross. I read about a trap for them - stick a bunch of drinking straws into a paper towel roll and block one end - supposedly they crawl in but can't get out. Haven't tried that yet. So I'll probably still be cursing them in aught nine! - VW
MMD, I remember the discussions we had about the earwigs. That's what was eating my cone flowers as well. Thankfully when the rain stopped so did the damage and I had several weeks of beautiful flowers. Here's hoping 'aught nine' is earwig free.
They are awful creatures! Between the earwigs, slugs, Japanese beetles, rabbits, and squirrels, some years it's a wonder anything's left standing. Throw in the mosquitos and hornets, a few chiggers, and the odd tick here and there, and it's a wonder we're still standing.
Yuck, these are disgusting creatures. If I had any this summer, I didn't notice them or any damage. Maybe I was just focused too much on the Japanese beetles.
You're going to make a fun little old lady some day, MMD:)
Well that's one less pest we'll have here...our summers are getting dryer!
This is not a happy thing either!
The Aughts ought to be interesting!
gail
I find most insects intriguing, even beautiful, no matter if they are destructive enemies. Earwigs totally creep me out. It's those pinchers...they just look nasty. I shriek like a sissy if one crawls on me. They especially love my trumpet vine flowers.
Oh, man - does this one bring back memories! Earwigs weren't a problem when we had our first house and garden...think we were on house #3 when the invasion began.
At the time, the story was that earwigs had gradually worked their way around Lake Michigan, and then moved south and westward as lake water delivery systems were added to the suburbs.
Shredded daylilies and marigolds were a pain, but I really hated it when they jumped and fell out of clothes in the hampers when I was doing laundry in the basement.
The pinchers are not just decoration - one of my kids had an earwig give a strong, painful pinch to an earlobe.
You will be a hilarious old lady, MMD! But with media filled with hectoring articles about every aspect of life, perhaps we are living in the Oughts.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Cindy - you've got other fun pests to deal with, I'm sure. Maybe it's too dry for them in your garden. (See, there's an upside of drought.)
Kate - I'm glad somebody appreciates my warped sense of humor!
Robin - I've had terrible problems with sowbugs in other years. It got so bad I had to give up growing Autumn Crocus. I don't know why they aren't as bad any more.
Hi, VW, thanks for visiting! I did not know about the earwigs maternal instincts. Fascinating, but I wish there was some way to use that against them. I'll give the paper towel tube/straw method a very unscientific test next summer.
Beckie - I think "earwig free" is hoping for too much. I'd be happy with earwig fewer.
Gardengirl - if those nasty beasties were gone, our gardens would be paradise. We'd never leave them & we'd never get anything done.
Rose - if Beckie had them, you probably had them too. I wonder if some of the damage you chalked up to Japanese Beetles was actually earwig damage? Either I'll be fun, or I'll be the scary old lady yelling at kids to get off my lawn.
Gail - too much rain can be almost as bad as too little. No earwigs is a small compensation for such dryness.
Hi, Jill - I'll remember not to plant Trumpet Vine then. The pinchers are just the icing on the icky cake here. My husband still laughs at how I used to shriek at work when I'd open a book and find an earwig inside.
Annie - this is the first I've heard of an earwig attack. Now I've really got the creeps! They haven't been a problem inside the house, fortunately, but they freak me out when I pick something up outside.
The earwig solution round these parts is to used upside down pots stuffed with straw placed ontop of canes. The earwigs prefer to go there rather than the Dahlias and you can then do what needs to be done with the minimum of fuss.
I do like the thought of you with your mock false old lady voice saying 'it wasn't like that back in the old days...' ;)
Hmmm. We get some earwigs, but I just ignore them and let nature run its course. But then we have a lot of land and a lot of plants, so it's kinda like with the slugs; a few holes chewed in plants aren't as noticeable as they are in a normal yard. I hope this year brings a population bust, as it sounds like you've had your share of pop. boom.
Earwigs are the one insect I just squish.
A friend of mine and I sometimes talk to each other in old coot voices... we also love the word "aught." I have no idea how this got started, but it's been happening some 20 years now and, well, now we're really becoming old coots! :)
~Monica (oddly, earwigs seem to be an indoor bug here, not so much a plant destroyer)
VP - I tried a modified version of your method, but it didn't work. I guess the pot needs to be off the ground.
Jodi - I probably wouldn't notice so much if the Dahlia was planted across the garden rather in the prominent position of the patio pot.
Chuck - I've squished quite a few in my time, but I hate the crunch.
Monica - believe it or not, I'd rather have the earwigs chomp my Dahlias & Clematis than be in my house. Yuck!
Post a Comment