Side benefit of the turf job in the Rose Garden

Getting to see ladybugs in their larval (above) and pupa (below)states. I thought that Sarah might have done a release as part of an IPM strategy to battle the aphids that were attacking the artichoke thistle in the annual border. But she didn't, which means the ladybugs got to those aphids naturally, which is pretty cool. One benefit of having a diversity of plants in the rose garden is that it attracts beneficials like the ladybug to come and duke it out with the pests, like aphids. Even when it's about bugs, it's still about the plants.