GIO I'm going to look into finding the red dye as well. Are you planning on water, clove oil, and the red dye? I'd much rather use that than the Sevin... Yes, I'll be using the red dye, water, clove oil and other containers with the dye and tayuya root powder, which I have. No Sevin. The only place I could find the dental disclosing tablets was online. Your dentist might have some tucked away in a cabinet somewhere -- I'm not sure how common their use is these days, though I think they're used to help children brush thoroughly! But check to be sure the dye is #28 red, since #40 red is used sometimes. Also, about the clove oil. One woman tried it when we were experimenting but apparently put it full-strength and *some* liquid Sevin in a plastic cup. She reported that the next morning the bottom of the cup had melted away! I read later that undiluted clove oil WILL melt plastic. I used styrofoam cups and probably a greater dilution of the clove oil with water and didn't have any problems at all. Good point about the yellow containers. I got excited about making it more effective without considering the consequences to the pollinators. However, is the red dye toxic to the pollinators? The red dye will be consumed only by the insects attracted to the lure it's mixed with, and that's ONLY cuke beetles, not the pollinators or other insects. The reason is that the chemical compound, cucurbitacin , is in the lure that attracts cucumber beetles. It exists in varying degrees in all cucurbits, but the beetles flock to some cucurbit plants in droves and less to others, quite likely because of the strength of the odor. OTOH, pollinators are attracted to the cucurbit flowers, mostly through the kind of light emitted by various colors and probably the nectar in them, and cucurbitacin is of no interest to them. (Thus my reluctance to use anything yellow as a container in hopes of attracting the cuke beetles -- that might indeed attract the pollinators, too.) I hope your garden won't be as infested with cuke beetles this summer as last year! The kind of cucurbits you planted may have been the lure for so many (I didn't check your list against the list in the link), so if you can avoid growing them again, maybe the beetles will be smaller in numbers and it won't be a losing battle to keep the numbers low enough that you can harvest most of what you plant. That's about all we can ask of nature! I have Crenshaw melons, tomatoes, and beans out in the garden right now and haven't seem any insects so far except for flea beetles. So when these pests show up (and I know they will) that's when I'll set out the baited traps. I'll report back occasionally on how well it's working. It would be great if you (and anybody else who tries it) could do that, too. Report success OR failure. People have a tendency to not think about insect problems until they show up in THEIR garden, so it's possible that some who aren't interested in killing every insect on their plants will look for a solution a bit later in the season. I've never had to deal with Japanese beetles, but a zapper over a koi or other pond sounds like a great way to get rid of them! Sounds like you have some fun projects to think about!

Hi Three, I know your pain!!! All too well actually! But I concur with just about everyone else who has posted, gardens are perpetual works in progress with good days, bad days, good years, bad years and of course none of us post the ugly pics ;) One wise gardener on Gardenweb (actually she answered me on the organic forum when *I* was feeling hopeless) gently reminded me that the main reason I garden is for the journey, not the destination. Might sound corny to some but I think many on here understand what she meant. I know she nailed it for me! Keep your chin up and know you aren't alone. We've all been there and I'm sure we'll all end up there again, at least for a moment or two but it will pass. Its a cyclical thing;) But isn't it nice to know you can come here and share the good, the beautiful, the bad and the ugly? Michelle

thanks

The links above are excellent, but I'd also add: 1) Don't try to get away with cheap paint. Good quality paint is easier to apply and the colors are often more pleasing and subtle. Ditto, cheap brushes/roller pads, etc. 2) Remove stuff from the to-be-painted room, or at least remove everything you can while painting. 3) Buy and use good canvas drop clothes, properly cared-for they'll last you a lifetime. (And they have hundreds of other uses, too.) 4) Get good step ladders, and some lights on stands as being close to your surfaces, and being in a very well lit space make a big difference in knowing that your paint is being well-applied. 5) Think some about what colors attract you, for each type or room, and then think about why. Make a color picture file (either using printed pictures, or digitally). If you collect enough pics, then you'll see where the trend of your choices is leading you. 6) Think about those trends and the furniture, or carpeting, you already have or are likely to have right away. Think about the light coming into your house, and your geographic location (i.e. bright Miami Beach sun vs. cool, foggy, Seattle) 7) Don't expect any print or on-line rendering of any particular color to look exactly like it really is, even if the color number or name is known. Ditto, at least to some degree, even for many paint sample cards. Paints also change somewhat as they age on the wall, and the sample cards. 8) Once you've got some tentative choices, buy small cans of the fave options (some brands have sample sizes, a big plus, as the cost is much less than a quart) and then paint at least two coats on some large foam-core "poster" boards (at least 2 X 2.5 feet) - purchase boards at craft outlets or stationery stores. Hang the boards up on walls around the room and see how you like the colors. (Use folded over loops of blue painter's tape stuck on the back to hang the boards.) If you strike out on the first round(s?) of paint colors, you can just keep repainting the boards. 9) Don't use the wall as your sample site since it can create difficulties painting over a patch of rejected color, and you can't move the painted part of the wall around to look at it on different walls, and in different lights. 10) Keep in mind, it is only paint, so it's definitely not the end of the world if you find yourself in a pickle, even after you've got it on the wall. The biggest part of painting is the prep work, which does not need to be re-done if the color you choose turns out to be unappealing on the wall. At worst, you'll need to lay down an extra coat of primer to cover a really deep shade with a lighter one, but usually not even that needs to be done when repainting right away before your walls have been dinged by wear and tear. 11) Most of the trouble of painting is doing the trim work, so unless you're super confident in your color choice, stick with classic off-white for the trim. Bright white is rarely a good choice for trim as it sets up a very harsh contrast with subtler tones of almost every other color. Nor do I think bright white is good for ceilings, either, for the same reason. 12) The only thing tricky about off-whites is whether to choose one that is on the warm or cool side. Hold off on the trim/ceiling shade decisions until you've identified the main colors in your house. Then you'll have more of an idea of where you're headed. If you must pick trim before you've worked out a whole color scheme (i.e., if you must complete one room ASAP), then try to stick with a more balanced off-white. 13) Don't set yourself up for trouble with self-imposed deadlines (i.e. "got to have the whole place painted by when Mom and Dad come for Thanksgiving", or whenever) You'll make poorer decisions on colors, and predispose yourself for application issues when you're under time pressure, especially if you've never done much painting before. If you absolutely must get something on the walls (say, to cover over gang tags, or the PO's erotic drawings in the now-children's rooms), simply prep and prime with an off white. Then down tools and take your time on the next round of decisions. A clean off-white is always a good color to have on the walls when choosing among colored sample boards as you get less interference between the existing color and what you're contemplating. 14) Unless your DH is unusual, he probably won't be too interested in, or preoccupied with, the quest for just the perfect tint of a color. Ask around among your girl friends to find someone who likes these things and will happily ruminate with you over all the choices. My DH is only happy when the choices are narrowed ("do you prefer this one or that one"), but even then, be sure to only offer a choice if you're really going to be happy either way. I find it's better to offer him the choice at any earlier stage, as in "I'm thinking of painting the DR green, how does that sound"? If I ask my DH to choose which shade of green (among several), then I won't get anywhere useful, as I usually do have some hierachy of preferences and he invariably chooses the one I like least among the finalists! Paint color choice is the fun part of decorating.