War on the roses

I'm glad to see this. The aphids have started to come in, and I'm a little reluctant to spray. Although Confidor is a good weapon here that doesn't hurt the beneficial insects.





But about the beneficials, at least they're having a try now. There's the lady bird, which is great. And if you see any little black alligator insects they're an earlier stage of a ladybird.

Less known are all these little white ones. The yellow/white bugs are parasitic wasps and they eat aphids too. So the white cottony threads where the aphids used to be - they're the remains of the eaten aphids.

All of these would be killed if I got a head of steam and sprayed with rose spray or pyrethrum, so I'm resisting it. Confidor, watered into the wet soil is the best answer, but expensive. It kills the sap suckers and leaves the others alone. Slightly less expensive, Confidor sprayed onto foliage.

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