Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The 'V'...

There's only 2 type of Vs (visitors) in any gardens. The good ones and the bad ones. 

Cuckoo Spit

Yesterday I discovered what I think a cuckoo spit on one of my roses (pls let me know if it's not it).

Some gardeners consider it as a garden pest, but I think it's a wondrous formation. Although the froghopper nymphs and adults suck sap from stems/leaves in that cocoon of spit, but in such small quantities they rarely cause damage.

I decided to not mind the unsightly spit.



The bad guys

The ones I less delighted seeing in my garden are thrips, spidermites, scales and stray cats! 

Yes, cats! These fury little beasts often do their 'business' on the grass and in the rose pots. Besides having to clean the poops daily and flush my roses from excessive urine, there are times when smelling roses is a bad idea. 

The good guys

Cuckoo spit is not the only visitors my little rose garden receives; snails, slugs, grasshoppers, birds, bees, bumblebees, leafcutter bees, flies, butterflies and moths make plenty of frequents. 

I am not too fond of leaf-cutter bees but the damages are within what I can tolerate.

Garden visitors. Grow 'em and they will come.

An art by a 'leaf cutter bee'.  And I thought it only went for the leaves...
A honey bee or a leaf-cutter bee? Whatever it was, it helped with pollination.
A bloom among the many. One lost against plenty of gains.
A different bee from the top photo. This has pointed bottom.

A fly. Helps to rid of unwanted pests.

Not a bee and not a beetle.

Buzz..buzz..

Sitting still waiting for a prey.

Copyright of Rough Rosa

5 comments:

Malar said...

Lovely roses! The pest are really big headache for us!

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

I guess we need both, the bad and the good guys.......

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

You do have many visitors in your garden showing that you have a very health soil and environment for them. What a nice surprise my first ever rose plant is the same as your collection( pink-purple one, 2nd last photo)that I bought from Sunday market.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Oh I forgot to ask what is the name and variety.

ROUGH.ROSA said...

malar@ i hear ya... the bad ones are nuisance. if I can shoo them off and lock the gate.

Bangchik; u're a wise man. I seldom selfish enough to wanting only the good guys, since the bad guys makes me feel like battling an unwinnable battle..

malay-kadazan@ thanks... too many visitors can be hard to handle too.. :) the pink-purple rose is 'rosa paradise'.