What CAN'T be WS'ed?

uggg, i just checked my spreadsheet and i didnt record the germination dates for the 4-O'Clocks. I'll have to see if i wrote it elsewhere.

Thank you, doccat and tcs, for the tip about Four O'Clocks as a catch crop for Jap. Beetles! I'm going to WS and then plant (hopefully!) a border of those flowers near my roses and also my lilies, which seem to attract them.! I do HATE those JBs, and when I was sifting one of my compost bins last month I found several grubs. . . (which I destroyed, naturally.) They are UGLYYY! So I know there are lots more just waiting to hatch elsewhere in my garden.
I have heard, but do not know if it is true, that marigolds also act as a catch crop for insect pests, and that's why they are often interplanted with tomatoes, basil, and other veggies. I just thought the insects didn't like the marigold smell, or something. I'm going to try WS some marigolds as well.

I interplant marigolds and nasteriums to help repel insect pests. Besides nasti are good eating...... Do plant your four o'clock away from your roses. You want to redirect the little buggers attention. LOL
I like flowers interplanted with my veggies. I find it very soothing.
I have a bad back and now I have bad knees to match, what a deal! I'm always looking for way to "cheat" so I don't have to do a lot of bending and kneeling. The Troybult makes that a lot easier.
One year I planted 200 glads in staggered rows at the very front of my garden. I love gladiolas, but I'm lazy and didn't want to do that many by hand. Just ran the Troy thru there a couple of times, then used the row marker which attaches to the side of the tiller and set up my planting rows. Got the boys to help me just drop the bulbs in the rows. It was a show stopper. I do love that tiller so, it's so easy to use, as it will turn on a dime and give you change. At 800lbs of machine it's just great, I don't have to wait for DH.
All the older ladies on the road were dumbfounded I would do that with glads....(I was like, ah?????) But the next year, everybody was doing the same thing. LOL
I have new glads on the way in and will probably buy more closer to planting.

wow, doccat5 that sounds gorgeous with the glads!
i have a tiller on my wish list

i'm trying to compile a list of plants that kill, repel or distract japanese beetles....i also read that if you are going to pluck them off of plants to do it in the morning because the dew makes it so they can't fly....i have geese and ducks that enjoy a good bucket of beetles :-)

regarding 4-Oclock placement

here is a not very good picture of the south side of my house
approx 50' in length, with a DR bay window in the middle.

the 4-O'clcoks are at the east end, and then the west end, i have my roses.

it's been this way for about 4-5 yrs, and even with the O'Clocks some10-20' away ... I don't get JB damage.

that is good news!

naturally i have things scattered all over, so i'm going to have actually pre-plan a lot regarding placement but i do believe it will be worth it!

This is GREAT! I'm going to WS Four O'Clocks and Nasturtiums and Marigolds--I'll probably wait until March or April to do so, but there's still a lot of time before our last date of frost here on Cape Cod (May 25) --and then I'm going to plant them out as catch crops. Thanks so much, everybody, for the advice.

i also read that castor bean plants help too as the leaves are poisonous to the beetles as well as larkspur and white geraniums and red buck eye

i am slightly confused with "trap" plants and ones to use for interplanting because several on both lists

i think i'll put a bit of distance between the roses and the ones for the beetles to see how that works

i noticed beetles on wisteria and around day lilies but not on them
didn't have many lilies last year, so i'll see this year

i found a recipe to use for trapping them in a milk jug
1 c water, 1 mashed banana (probably other fruit would work too), 1/4c sugar & yeast
place on perimeter of garden area 1inch off of the ground in a sunny spot...strain/drain in the pm

forgot that i found these plants listed as repellent plants for those pesky beetles

catnip (i know 9 kitties that might like that), chives, garlic, tansy & rue
rue has added benefit of being food for the swallowtail caterpillar

that should be it :-)

Thanks for the recipe for trapping JBs. . . this wouldn't be as attractive as those JB traps, which end up attracting them from several acres around? Sounds like it would just work for the individual beds. And thanks for the list of other plants that repel JBs.

larlienda, you can use the plants mentioned in both ways. If their acting as a "trap crop" the JB's will usually go for those first. I have notice the pesky critters don't seem to be to fond of marigolds either, but I'd have to study that a bit more.
Thanks for the recipe I've saved that, I want to try it!

i have one of those traps that i got at a garden center's annual 50% off everything sale & they do trap a lot of beetles!
problem was we didn't know the rules of setting them up so the little stinkers attacked roses first then the trap :-)

i like trying anything first without all of the extra chemicals....my biggest problem with roses last year was the beetles...i did notice some blackspot later, but the beetles were horrible
late in the summer a few got hit by tiny little green caterpillars....seemed like one or two wiped out all the leaves and buds on several of my roses....i will need a plan for them

i hope the recipe works...definitely good for areas that may be way out of way of other traps or plants

I hope it does too, I like having many weapons in my kill JB armory. For catepillars, pick off the leaves that are curling and destroy and apply Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) to the plant. It's toxic only to caterpillers and is biodegradable and non-toxic to humans, pets and beneficials.

thanks!
i will make a note of that

i want to have plants for special caterpillars (feels bad to discriminate) so we can see the various butterflies and hopefully luna moths (saw one last year), but i can't feed all of the others

Try this site, it give an excellent break down of the various non rose friendly caterpillars:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2023740_caterpillars-rose-bush.html
I just order some additional milkweed plants to attract more monarch's I'm hoping. They are so pretty.

i've got to see if i have any of those seeds...don't think i had success ws'g them last year

i just love the butterflies & fell deeply in love with the luna moth
we had several rosy maple moths & my daughters loved them too

doccat -- which milkweed did you order?

I got tons of scarlet milkweed seeds. they easily germinate and blooms galore, and WAY too many seed pods.

if you are interested in more....

doccat & tcs, i have some doubles of seeds i accidentally ordered if either or both of you are interested in a trade for some milkweed seeds....one i know right off hand is blue larkspur blue cloud & i just found the other...nasturium (sp) black velvet

my husband still rolls his eyes when i mention butterfly weed & milkweed.....so narrow minded :-)

tcs, I would love to have some. Please dmail me. And thanks so much. I don't have many perennials so I'm always looking for more.

larilinda, let me see what I've got coming in. I forgot........LOL Yet another wonderful senior moment! sigh.........I do expect them shortly, I got a lovely not form e-mail from the outfit I ordered from confirming the order and they were to be shipped Monday last.

i have some too that were shipped last monday.....i hate waiting!

i even doubled up some roses for the spring...i figured i must like them a lot!

larlienda -- LOL.. too bad we didnt talk about this in Oct when i sent you the MG seeds!!

larlienda, there is no such thing as just one rose. LOL It only gets worse, when you start thinking about parking on the street so you can turn your driveway into another long bed, you know you got a problem............LOL

too funny :-)

we are on just over 10 acres & my husband is afraid all of it will be split between flowers and hopefully llamas as well as our little flock of birds (chickens, ducks & geese) and herd of 5 personality full goats!

Well! sniff what's the matter with the man, it sounds like a great mix to me. I think the llamas would be so cool! We don't have room for anything like that, darn it. The house over the years has been a regular zoo, with dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, skunks, rats, domestic mice and hermit crabs. I drew the line at snakes. I don't do snakes.

snakes are ok on their own!
finding shed skin is good enough for me
we had a baby rat snake caught in tape on a bag in our old house
my husband actually took time to get the poor stuck thing unstuck
have to find the pictures because you could see the snake go "ahhhhhhhhh" when he became unstuck

we also have one chinchilla who is 8
he'd love to have a pet skunk, but i think in va you have to be an animal rehab person to have one...not sure about that

Yeah, the laws have changed. This was over 15 years ago. Her name was Rosa and she was a white albino. We got her from my SIL who was mean to her. It took me over a year to get her to warm up to me. She loved my husband and son. Got along very well with our black Belguin shepard and siamese cat. What a bunch! Skunks are nocturnal, so at 3 in the morning all 3 of these brats are playing chase up and down the hall. Sounded like elephants running thru...sheesh.. I'd have to get up and calm em down. Rosa was a junk food junkie, my BIL would give her all kinds of crap. We found a vet that handled exotics and she was up to 50lbs. Way, way to heave, so on a diet we went. I use to go thur 4 to 5 lbs of carrots a week. She just loved carrots and would take it, drop it next to Duchess(the dog) and growl. Duchess is like ah ok? Then she'd eat it. I must say I wish I had had a camera the day we took her into the vet for her check up. Everybody was pullin way back, including one of the biggest Rotties I have ever seen. She'd been descented, so it was no big deal. Had her own fancy red leather harness, and we'd go for walks. Sometimes, just because I loved to see the neighbor turn white. shame on my little self. One of the neighbor kids let her out accidently and we were never able to get her back. Hubby would see every once in awhile with her kits. He'd stop the truck and always kept cookies (which she loved). She'd bring the kids up to the truck for cookies, while her mate was over the side of the ditch, hissing and spitting and having a fit. It was quite an experience.

wow...that is cool...we had some living up by the house that had befriended and been befriended by our cats
unfortunately they went through the fence where our female great pyrenees did not befriend them....i was very sad to find them killed...i hope we get the fence taken care of where they can't get in because it was really funny watching them with the cats