Pacific Northwest Gardening: Garden pests, 1 by NoH2O

NoH2O wrote:
I actually miss the summer rains; it is so dry here from July into October. I think we have had half an inch of rain since the beginning of July. Definitely not enough; especially with 100° temperatures for several days last week combined with humidity under 20% and a desiccating wind. I am growing about 100 dahlias for my neighbor\'s daughter\'s wedding next weekend. Thank goodness for soaker hoses!!

I enjoyed a lot of the unusual insects (like walking sticks) in Ohio. What I am so grateful to be rid of is Japanese beetles. The were the absolute worst garden pest I have ever encountered. I will take banana slugs over JBs any day. The JB season used to run for 2-3 weeks; the last number of years it started earlier and earlier and lasted longer and longer. It was a nightmare. Also the last few years that I was there (pre-2013) a new mosquito arrived that was out all day long. It was the Asian Tiger mosquito, black and white, and in mid-day, steaming hot sun would be out biting. That was a real nuisance.

I do love poppies of all types. Several friends have asked me to save seeds for them so I will have tons. If you would like some seeds, just remind me in the autumn and I will send you some. They need cold weather to germinate so I usually sprinkle them where I want them in Dec or January. Once you have grown them once, they will reseed themselves annually if you don\'t deadhead them.