Our Doctor Wanted Gardening Advice

Terminex called on me the other day, door to door. I said, "I use birds and beneficial insects."

Team Ichabod went to the doctor's for a routine visit. Our physician loves Lenski and wants to complete his theology PhD one day.

We are both doing well. He suggested a new diabetic treatment for Chris. He was impressed that I was steadily losing weight on his eat-less-bread diet. I switched away from bread and replaced that with meat and fruits.

Part of my exercise routine is gardening, which is so much fun. The doctor asked about how to deal with his June bugs, since he noticed my copy of Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, But he lives in the woods, and his squirrels dominate the bird feeders. I laughed later, recalling how our squirrels used the levers on the squirrel-proof barrier to shake food out for themselves.

I suggested a bunch of bird baths to attract birds to his yard, then described starlings and grackles for him, since both birds love to hunt bugs and grubs. Starlings and grackles gather around water and bathe with great gusto. I simply use clay dishes and a shallow kiddie pool - and they are filthy and almost dry each day.

The doctor tells his patients to adopt healthy habits and "go to church regularly." He said that he could see the difference in health among believers, because there is a direct relationship between faith and habits, - even how the body responds to spiritual nourishment.

Bend down closely to your plants on a sunny day. That wee little bee is really a flower fly - or hover fly for the way it hovers.

In Other News
I am adding flowers and beneficial bugs to my gardening lore. Each time I identify a new bug, the rest of them are less mysterious. At first a gardener is going to say, "I saw an insect and have no idea what it is." The same is true of wildflowers and weeds. They all look alike until we know more and more of them.

Just as there are good bugs galore, so are there good weeds to help the beneficial bugs.

Example - the flower flies as adults need pollen and nectar. They lay eggs which hatch into ferocious babies that exist to eat pests. The plant has to give off distress signals from damage to coax the flower flies into laying eggs there. This beneficial insect is reputed to be more effective than better known good insects - like the ladybug, lacewing, and preying mantis.

Also - the beneficial insects may need food in between feasts on pests, so the wise gardener has many different places where these miracle workers can rest and feed.

Some surprises - good plants for beneficial insects - even if they are weeds or hard to control

• Ragweed
• Pigweed
• Goosefoot
• Dandelion.
• Cow Vetch
• Queen Ann's Lace
• Buckwheat
• Feverfew.

All four get the praise of  Walliser's Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden,

Ordinary flowers - good for the good guy insects we need

• Sunflowers, the aircraft carriers for insect life.
• Coreopsis, also called tickseed
• Shasta daisies
• Dill
• Anything with tiny flowers for tiny insects.