Organic Pest Control, Crepe Myrtles and other Goodies

As I promised, I have some good information that I found while checking out my Twitter contacts! I also added a couple of organic growing mixes at the end of this blog that have worked for me. The first link is a about planting herbs to deter garden pests and attract good insects. To see which ones are good for what, click here Natural Pest Control in the Garden: Herbal Companion Plants make Organic Gardening Easy

The next ones are articles that I found interesting about Crepe Myrtles. I love Crepe Myrtles. I moved away from the most beautiful ones that my husband's first wife had planted before she got sick. I would have dug them up if they had not been so large. I planted a new one in my yard here two years ago and it has had a hard time with the Japanese beetles. Do you ever wonder why God created Japanese Beetles and Mosquitoes? Anyway, here's the links Crepe Myrtles and Crepe Myrtle Planting Instructions

The following recipe has worked for me when I didn't want to spend the money on fungicides - it has worked for meal bugs too. My plants that I winter over inside seem to be prone to these little pesky critters. I have sprayed this on roses for black spot too.

1 cup dish detergent

1 cup strong Chamomile tea (I use 3 tea bags to 1 cup water)

1 cup Listerine or other antiseptic mouthwash

1 cup Murphy's Oil Soap

Mix it all up and pour it into a bottle sprayer. Drench the affected plants. Might take a second application in a week if the first one did not get all the bugs or fungus. You can use this as a preventive on roses in damp weather too.

I'm sure most of you know that Epsom Salts are good for nearly anything that flowers but did you know that if you add a cup of sugar to a cup of Epsom Salts it makes an even better bloom booster? You can put some of this mixture into the planting hole to give your plants a growing boost too.