I always enjoy taking walks in the garden even in the winter, particularly in a sunny day like today. And sometime, you can detect problems in the garden better in the winter than any other season. For instance, with these beautiful old-fashioned roses, this is the one called pearl door. It has a small gorgeous pale salmony apricot bloom.

Now if you look closely on some of these canes, you’ll see that I’ve discovered these insidious little melee bugs. They look like little tiny cotton balls all up and down the stems. That’s actually an insect and this time of the year is a good way to deal with it. You know, what we like to do out here in the farm is keep everything organic. So I like to spray using an insecticide that won’t harm anything else in the garden, pets or animals. And the way to deal with these melee bugs is just soak this rose and flower with insect spray. And by doing it this time of the year, that’s one point in the checklist that I’ve taken care of and don’t have to deal with once everything starts flushing with growth. I just have to tell you, these roses are so gorgeous when they bloom particularly when set against these purple smoke tree. The combination is really stunning.

So in your garden, when you create beautiful landscapes and combinations like this, you want to keep the pest at bay. So watch out for those melee bugs and squirt them down just like what I’m doing here. It’s very satisfying.

If you’d like more information on this topic or any other gardening topic, just check out my website PAllenSmith.com