i hadn't noticed them over the winter, but they were thick on my daylilies yesterday. i agree with the seemingly early need for bug intervention. watering is another thing i've had to do much earlier this year. it's been an interesting/unusual season so far :)

I found them today on one of my clematis, covered the poor thing, and on some of my roses. I hate to be spraying this early too but had too....

Lynne

Yesterday I wandered across the street and took a look at my neighbor's roses. I enabled her into buying the roses so I try and keep an eye on them and head off any big problems.

I have never seen so many aphids in one place in my life! They all were positively infested! It was gross. Of course I sprayed them....I'll probably do it again this weekend. My roses are all aphid-free....surprisingly. Maybe aphids can't cross the street. ;-)

Anybody know why I would have had them all winter, without a break. The nursery guy I talked to told me they come in waves and wait two weeks and they'll be gone. What a cooincidence that would be since I haven't gone a day without them since fall. They haven't been this bad but still had them none the less. I kept waiting and waiting for them to die down but it never happened. Now, I'm sorry I didn't resort sooner. I sprayed the Safers because I did find two ladybug larva on my climber rose and one single pupa. Woo-hoo. Not exactly what I would call enough for the control I need though.

This winter has been so mild; here on the coast we never had a hard freeze at all; hubbie saw mosquitos in January! So it's no wonder the little critters, along with everything else, is a couple of months ahead! I've noticed a few aphids, but have a lot of little spider mite webs.

It's the mild weather. I never spray for aphids and my plants look fine.

When I took some of my potted roses out of their winter home in the shed, there was one lone knockout tree rose with its new growth covered with aphids. It seemed odd that the other roses and geraniums in close quarters were aphid-free.

I just pruned them off for now. Since they are soft-bodied, soaps are supposed to work. I'm not keen on spraying chemicals at this early stage either.

claire in sanford.

Well I used the Safers soap until I can get a good company to ship lady beetles to my house. They said the soonest they would ship is April 17th. A little late IMO. They are destroying all new growth. They were only on one side of the house for most of the winter and only recently made their way to my HT roses. Lil' nasty buggers. I'm paranoid of killing off the lil ladybug nyphs I have on there now too.

The mild winter weather is to blame for the aphids. Spray them with insectidal soap (or just plain soapy water). Soap is very effective for killing aphids, but will need to be reapplied.

If you wait the bugs that eat the aphids will hatch out too and eat the aphids. Insecticidal soup is environmental friendly but does kill most insects, including praying mantis, if they are on the plant when you spray.

Aphids do not like hot humid weather and will die back again this summer.

Here is a link that may be useful: aphids

there was no way i was leaving that many aphids on my daylilies - a sprinkle of sevin dust and they're gone. i almost killed my gaura with soapy water last summer; certainly, i got the ratio wrong.

even a strong spray from the hose can dislodge them without soap. in my past observances, it seems like just about when they get intolerable is when the lady bugs & lions come out to play-give it just a few days. i saw a couple mating just yesterday. btw, lady bugs bought at a store have been shown to almost all fly off. they say it's a waste of money. t

Alicia,
Great aphid info!
I have not seen any yet...but have not looked for them (You Guyz will have me on patrol now!!). They destroyed a Hibiscus last year; could not get them to leave this potted plant alone. The infestation moved to the outdoor potted annuals too. I relented and finally sprayed the chemicals on the Hibiscus and annuals, but it was too late to save the Hibiscus plant! I would not bring it indoors for the winter, because I did not want to infect my houseplants. I will be out hunting aphids tommorrow. Always try the soapy water method first. Hate to use the chemicals!..Dianne

I had the same problem with aphids all winter on my Gardenia. I decided not to do anything about it, other than an occasional spray from the garden hose on warmer days. I'm now regretting my decision. My gardenia is covered in sooty mold from the honey-dew left behind by the aphids - new growth is distorted, etc. I'm going out tomorrow with a bucket of mild soapy water and a soft bath glove, and I'm washing each leaf individually to remove the sooty mold. What a major pain in the butt!! Simply spraying the shrub with Safers just won't work in my case - it may kill the aphids, but it won't remove the nasty black thick layer of sooty mold that built up over the winter. It's so thick, that I'm afraid it will eventually kill my gardenia if I don't remove it. The soap wash should kill any aphids lingering around on the shrub, too. The mild winter was nice, allowing me to work out in my garden more than I'm usually able to during the cold months, but it has created problems as well. *sigh*
Good luck!

Man, I hate me some aphids. It seems in my yard that the infestation blooms quite out of control without intervention. 2 years ago, all kinds of things were infested and I lost more than one plant. Then when I read that their little eggs would over-winter, I got myself ready for a huge cleanout last spring. I resorted to a systemic. Only used it once, when the aphids got going. And that seemed to finally bring the problem under control. I do not think there are enough predators in the world to have eaten all of the disgusting masses of aphids that I had here 2 years ago. Now I'm especially vigilant. But not vigilant enough to expect them so early. Guess I'll have to take a good look. Thanks for the warning! And good luck with your own messes.

Karen

My mystery is that I had none in the spring/summer last year. They started slowly in the fall and boomed in the winter. Now that it is spring I get very few and have not used systemics. I see some ladybug and larva on my plants and that is all. I was vigilantly spraying with water to get them off and two hours later they were back. I have done nothing differently but they are for the most part gone now. I don't get it.

My columbine buds were covered with the aphids yesterday, so I used the insecticidal soap. I guess I'd better keep after them. My yard will be one of the six gardens in the Statesville Garden tour the first weekend in May. I hope I can control them by then. Nancy