The Reids wrote:

Following up to David

They seemed
to be stopping where the spots are and feeding.

look closely, they are blackfly, I get them every year, spray
with soapy water, problem solved.

Is anyone else finding this a bad year for aphids (OK, good year for
aphids, bad year for plants and people trying to control aphids)? I
noticed a few curled leaves on the apple tree and unfurled them to find
huddled masses -- a veritable carpet! -- of aphids. Some leaves had
grey, others red, and a very few green. There's greenfly on the roses,
pinkfly on the scabious, a friend's lupin had real lupin aphids, huge
things, and every one of the broad beans has blackfly.

Presumably down to mild winter and moist spring?

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.