That's a familiar sight @pansyface. I don't think I have a plant in the garden that hasn't got them. One of my lupins was so infested (even after I squidged them each morning) that the flowers were all flopping over and it generally looked awful. I lost my temper with it and cut it down to the groun. Still lots of aphids on it. I'll dig it up at some point and give it to someone else!!
@pansyface Aaah! I just adore your wicked sense of humour!! So British!! Wonderful.
I shared some hens' eggs with some of my English friends that come down here to their holiday home. I date the eggs so that we eat the older ones first. "Thank you so much for the eggs" the note came back "especially number 23." !! Just love it! The French just do not have the same sense of humour.
Ants don't kill plants as such @Frellabbie. They farm the aphids for the honeydew they produce, so it's the aphids that can do harm, as they're sucking the sap. A good blast from a hose, or wiping them off with your hand will help get rid of them until predators step in. Ants can cause a problem if they're under the soil, and can create holes around roots, and that's mainly in pots. A good soaking will help to prevent that as they like dry conditions.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have them on my shrub honeysuckle. The black ones. They almost killed every flower. They managed it last year and I had to cut all the branches back.
I sprayed soapy water but to get to them inside the buds took forever. An hour to do half the tree. I've given up and after a very short flowering season will chop the affected bits off and spray endlessly over winter to get the eggs. Advice gratefully received.
Also have tried ladybirds etc but they didn't make a dent. I'm seriously thinking about a nasty insecticide and covering the shrub with a large plastic sheet to keep other insects and birds safe. So if anyone has a nuclear option insecticide wise I think I'd like to do that then cover it up, then after rinse it off let's done it's work. The whole thing was covered in black stuff. Awful.
Oh and I've heard about putting an ant proof ring around the tree/on the plant. To stop them climbing it to protect/farm the aphids. So that's another part to the strategy.
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I shared some hens' eggs with some of my English friends that come down here to their holiday home. I date the eggs so that we eat the older ones first. "Thank you so much for the eggs" the note came back "especially number 23." !! Just love it! The French just do not have the same sense of humour.
Ants can cause a problem if they're under the soil, and can create holes around roots, and that's mainly in pots. A good soaking will help to prevent that as they like dry conditions.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...