I am looking for the following two varieties Oxalis (Shamrock) which can be grown from seed and that are hardy to zone 5: > Oxalis acetosella var. subpurpurascens (syn. O. acetosella var. purpurascens, O. acetosella var. rosea) Irish Shamrock. A picture of the Oxalis acetosella can be found at http://www.artfamily.com/jmc/catalog/IMG0026.jpg > Oxalis depressa (syn. O. inops). A picture of Oxalis depressa can be found at http://community11.webshots.com/photo/3446853/3447171DFmzEJpnPE and at http://windmillfarms.com/Gallery/pages/oxalisinops.htm If anyone has some of these to share, I would love to trade for them. Please view my list for a trade, or email me with an address if I can send an SASE. Thank you.

One of the many orb weavers but obviously not currently in her web. She's quite pretty, isn't she? The orb weavers make a large flat web that resembles a multi-spoked wagon wheel. The spider hangs upside down in the center during the evening but usually hides during the daytime, staying somewhere to the side of the web.

Oh whew...I am so relieved to read that nobody thinks they are spider mite webs. Whew, whew!! Is there some definitive way to determine mite webs vs spider webs? Thanks TJ. You are right. And I haven't sprayed a thing, good or bad, in the last 15 years with the mentality of "come what may" but this yard has been trying. I have never seen so many good and bad bugs in my life...and in the last month resorted to BT to kill the hornworms that are decimating my tomatoes and since I'm spraying anyway, I bought the neem which I'd read up on here. It appeared to be pretty innocuous overall, so that I used along one fence where most of my succulents live in light shade and dappled sun--that's the area where both of these photos were taken. None of it was sprayed on my edible or flowering plants, as I read that neem can damage blossoms... The only thing I have consistently used except when I lived in SF was snail bait and they seem to be having quite the blast anyway this year. Jean, we sure do! I can't confirm my neighbor ID'd what she saw correctly but upon hearing that and about two minutes before I ordered neem, lol, I did google it and Japanese Beetles were spotted in the Sacramento area, right above me, per the CA Dept of Ag. I only read one article but that was close enough for me! Ken, my spiders are year round, I'm afraid. January has much less than the other months but there is no month where I can't find spiders crawling on my plants or webbing here and there. Come spring, there's virtually no plant I can't find a spider on or at least evidence of some spider having been on it. That said, I still find it really bizarre that at this yard, for the first time ever in my gardening life, I have not seen ONE aphid. Spiders are not predators of aphids, are they? I've never seen a ladybug here either..probably because there are no aphids. Not complaining but I find it so bizarre! Thanks again, folks!

I like the spiders but not on my picture window. It make my bedroom look like the house of horrors, LOL. I have lots of spiders all over my yard and don't want to kill them - just want to prevent them from distorting my view. Geoffrey, do you use this around outside windows and if so, how often do you spray?