Mike wrote in
:

I'm glad to hear that
you have had good results with Orthenex and don't seem to notice a
population problem with your beneficials. I'm worried about the
amphibians, birds and bees, though. They particularly stressed how
toxic it is to amphibians. I'm just trying to be safe and not sorry.
Like I said, it's not panic time yet.

Thanks for doing this research, Mike. I was interested myself because I
was bedeviled earlier this spring (for the first time) by rose slugs,
which are a variety of sawfly larvae, though I'm not sure if you have one
kind of sawfly you'll inevitably suffer from the other. A cursory look at
Baldo's insect site as well as some other horticultural-pest sites
suggests that the slug's method of attack is different, at least from
what I can tell. As you note, pruning actually takes care of rose-stem
sawfly larvae.

I don't have amphibians like you do (it would be an interesting addition
to the garden if I did) but I do have lots of non-plant life including
hummingbirds, bees, moths and butterflies (just saw a Mourning Cloak this
weekend...haven't seen one of them in almost forty years), and
earthworms, all of which I like to accommodate. The rose slug larvae seem
controllable with either hand-picking or insecticidal soap, used
carefully. It doesn't look as though you can find the rose-stem sawfly
larvae on the plant surface, however.

So far my own rose slug problem seems solved, at least till the next
cycle...fingers crossed for now. But this is the first year I've had so
many roses (85 so far) and the propensity for pests and problems has
increased for me as a result. It's been an eye-opener...though of course
the roses are worth it.

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