On a brighter note...

10 years ago

I've been fighting whiteflies on my Confederate Rose all year long. Now a nice family of ladybugs has taken up residence and is chomping merrily away on them. I hope they invite all their friends.

Featured Answer

jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Ricky & Silvia,
My youth in Rockaway Beach, Long Island, NY was enjoyed a long time ago. My Dad was an NYPD career officer who ( naturally ) fell in love with the only oceanfront that New York City has,..Rockaway Beach ! We moved there a year before he retired and lived at 209 Beach 99th St,. - just a block away from the famous Playland Amusement Park on 98th St. My younger brother Eddie and I attended St Frances De Sales grammar school in Belle Harbor. And Belle Harbor was adjacent to ( just east of ) Neponsit. So Ricky, all I can say is your grandparents lived in " paradise ", - and while we kids in Rockaway Beach considered our locale more " middle class ",..it was still " paradise " to us !

I grew up there,..ready for this ?,..from 1940 to Nov 1st. 1947, when my brother and I were dragged back into the Upper West Side of Manhattan after my parents decided that would be appropriate, - I was 9, he was 8,..for reasons that were lost on us two little guys. A day that will " live in infamy " is all I can say ! lol

To keep this thread on a GW track, that " Garden " of approximately 1 1/2 acres was right next to our big Dutch Colonial. It was the only place the kids on our block could explore and discover the wonders of the many little insects and plants that lived and thrived there as it was the only " green jungle " anywhere near us !

WW 2 came and went,..we all sang the patriotic songs so popular at the time,.. but whenever we wanted to relax, and weren't splashing around in the robust surf a block away,...we chilled out and communed with nature in that small " garden ", enclosed by an old wooden, green painted, picket fence ! It was the place we gravitated to so often,...where we came to know and respect the noble ladybugs, butterflies and their grasshopper pals. ( smile )

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Comments (10)

jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yeah, but watch out for the geckos ..we are inundated with them hereabouts in SW Florida's zone 10a ! However the geckos seem more intent on slurping up the other type of bugs,..only snack on the lady bugs very seldom.

Will never forget my first indoctrination to nature when I was a skinny 4 & 5 yr old in Rockaway Beach, Long Island. Next to the huge gray shingled Dutch colonial we rented, just a block away from the boardwalk and ocean was a 1 1/2 acre or so unattended to lot. Fully developed now with tacky hot dog stands, etc,..but back then it was thick with all kinds of grasses, shrubs and trees,..a veritable nature refuge for us mischievous urchins ! It was filled with all kinds of grasshoppers, ants, caterpillars, birds and yes,..a bajillion lady bugs. Recall vividly the first song I ever learned,..taught by the older " urchins. "

" Lady bug, lady bug fly away,...your house is on fire and your children ran away ! "

Ah yes,..pleasant memories ! lol
fawnridge (Ricky)
9 years ago
jofus - What year was that? My grandparents lived in Neponsit, about 2 blocks from the ocean and my cousins lived in Far Rockaway. This was in the 60s.
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whgille
9 years ago
D, I think that we are going to have more bugs than usual this season because it was warm this winter, I hope the good bugs show up in our gardens....

Jofus, I remember going to Rockaway beach around the late 70s, lol. I guess we are in the time machine.:)

Silvia
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Silvia, I'm afraid you're probably right. I hope my ladybugs come back. I'm seeing some tiny black things that may be ladybug larvae, but not sure. There is plenty for them to eat, that's for sure. I was going to treat the Confederate Rose with systemics this year, but I don't want to hurt the ladybugs. Nature has a way of balancing things out.
Rhonda
9 years ago
Joe,

I love your stories of your childhood in Rockaway. Sounds like a very special place and time :) Thanks for sharing them. Ricky and Sylvia are lucky to have spent time there.

Rhonda
jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Rhonda, Thanks for note. Yes indeed, Rockaway Beach was a special place. A community of bungalows and Irish pubs when I was growing up there. I just hope Ricky and Silvia got to experience the place before it changed,..converting most of those brown shingled bungalows built in the 1920's and 1930's, ( saw one in 1945 with two gold stars hanging in a porch window,..even then we knew their meaning ),... to brick hi risers ! YUCK !

Now there's almost no room for the busy ladybugs, butterflies, dragon flies, ( we called 'em " darning needles " ), grass hoppers, praying mantis, ( ever see one ? - we Rockaway'ers sure did ), and those bugs that flew and intermittently lit up the night sky by flashing ,..forget their name,....the ones we used to collect in jars during summer. A natural bug friendly eco-system just steps from the roaring Atlantic Ocean. A special place for sure !
jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
9 years ago
Fire flies we used to call them !!! lol
whgille
9 years ago
D, those whiteflies are wicked! when I lived in Phoenix we had them also but only around the lawn and for limited time only, never saw on the edibles or ornamentals, and I had a lot of roses then....Here they go everywhere.

Joe, you are amazing with such a clear memory of everything and I agree with Rhonda, thanks for sharing with us....I have lived in so many places that sometimes the details escape me. When I moved from NY to Long Island, I started to go to Jones beach for a while.

Silvia
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Silvia, yes there are, but I do believe these are ladybug babies on my plants, because the aphids have suddenly disappeared from the milkweed.