I just got done with chemical warfare in the backyard. I put a small basil plant out there and within days it looked like crap. Not only did the dreaded leaf miner eat into every leaf, the spider mites were hard at work too. On my zinnias and hibiscus the aphids are going crazy. And then I found the worst -- army worms eating my zinnias apart.

I just doused everything in Neem oil - hopefully it will kill the aphids, though I haven't had much luck with it -, and then hit the army worms with BT. This is going to be a long summer.