"ant" wrote in message

Bugger. I do have a lot of those big, squeaky thistles. Keep
spraying them
and the pattersons, and am making inroads, but never quite get on
top of
them.

Doing both of these at the rosette stage (ie now) is the best time to
knock them off. My husband has got rid of nealry all the thistles on
our place by doing it at this time of year but it took a good 5 or so
years but we proably have more land than you.

gardenlen writes:
hmmm interesting that one hey? i encourage the milk & sow thistles as
i find that the othe bugs would rather chew on them than me vege's
etc, also the thistles flower profusely and bring in the pollinators
for better tomato and capsicum pollination.

That's a logical-sounding line of thinking, Len, but ....

for me but i would be assuming that if the aphids are happy on the
m.t's then they may leave the other plants alone???

Possibly you are right -- but your explanation relies on thistles being
an around-the-year crop, and are they? I think of milk thistles as being
a winter/spring plant, and if so then the aphids will have to move on to
something else in your garden when their thistle hosts disappear during
summer. If my theory is right, then this would give rise to the reputation
of milk thistles giving overwintering hosting to aphids.

but suppose if the ants are doing the farming then again that could be
the lynch pin, or do suppsoe that the aphids move themselves from the
m.t to the roses say?

I haven't studied aphids closely enough. (Maybe I'll get out the paint
pallete and put a few red crosses on some aphids so I can monitor their
movements?) But I'm sceptical that aphids have evolved to be totally
dependent upon ants for locomotion. It is stretching my credulity that
if an aphid wants to get from Rosebud #1 to Rosebud #3 it must flag down
a passing ant to taxi it around the plant. My experience with aphids is
that there are lots of aphids AND ants on the red tips of my prize lemon
tree, but I don't object as there is plenty of juice and sap for everyone
to have a share! On minature roses I've seen every bud covered with aphids,
but I doubt that an ant (or even a hundred of them) could have assiduously
carried equal numbers of aphids out to each bud and with such care as to
not miss even one bud.

I just spray them with my metho+water mixture and say good riddance! The
ants must be fast learners if they are responsible for backpacking aphids
around the garden--they make no attempt to replace those lost to my metho
spray!! Maybe baby aphids being so small and lightweight can hitch a ride
with butterflies and bees and on the beaks and feet of birds? I think that
might be quite likely. But I reckon aphids probably have their own little
legs to propel them around. I will investigate this question more closely!
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

"John Savage" wrote in message

But I reckon aphids probably have their own little
legs to propel them around. I will investigate this question more
closely!

The rose aphid goes by the Latin name of "Macrosiphum rosae" if you
want to google it.

Every now and then Aphids produce a generation of winged creature to help
spread their population around.. They also have some funny reproductive
processes, including females being born pregnant !! There's an interesting
article in Wikipedia on them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid

Geoff


"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"John Savage" wrote in message

But I reckon aphids probably have their own little
legs to propel them around. I will investigate this question more
closely!

The rose aphid goes by the Latin name of "Macrosiphum rosae" if you
want to google it.

Geoff & Heather wrote:
They also have some funny
reproductive processes, including females being born pregnant !!


Sounds like some religions and their beliefs.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

Spray with a natural product like the one at
http://www.natural-ant-killer.com

It won't harm your roses or the environment. In fact a side benefit to
this product is that is also works as a natural fertilizer!

I have personally used it on my lawn and no longer have any pesty
pests. And my lawn looks terrific!

They tell me that the way it works is that it contains an natural
surfactant that breaks water molecules in molecules that are so tiny
that they penetrate the waxy coating of critters and it drowns them
instantly!

Because it breaks down water into smaller molecules, it gets down into
the soil better and as a result my lawn and plants flourished!

I am estatic!