Thoughts on Aphids and Control

Toward the end of this past spring I planted milkweed from some seeds I received from SeedSavers, a non-profit located in Iowa that I endorse,  Anyway, I did not have much of an issue in growing the milkweed, I planted about 15-30 seeds in some soil in the corner of my side garden that receives full sun most of the day.  Incidentally, milkweed is an amazing plant, as I have learnt, it attracts and benefits a range of insects.  Like most people, I planted it to help the monarch butterfly.  Monarchs depend on milkweed to survive, female monarchs lay eggs on it and the larvae feed on the milkweed as they develop.

Yet, the first life I saw on my milkweed were aphids.  Aphids are essentially garden pests that feed off the sap from plants like milkweed. What was amazing to me, and some would not necessary classify as "amazing" were the aphids appeared one day, seemingly out of the blue.  I tend to check on my plants regularly, just to see what is happening and understand their development through the seasons.  To me, the presence of aphids basically overnight is an example of just how intricate and complex nature can be.  There were about 20 aphids on three milkweed plants, then hundreds on most of my milkweed saplings.

When you search for a question such as "where do aphids come from (sic)?"  You will receive a bunch of posts about how aphids feed off plants of various varieties.  But, my main question was "where exactly did these aphids generate?"  If you think about the implications of aphids appearing for certain plants it not only impacts how planting certain species will steer your biodiversity, but makes you wonder the genesis of insect life upon the growth of plant life.   

So, many sites try to prod you to remove the aphids via sprinkling with water, neem,  dish soap, etc.  I did indeed spray my milkweed with a garden hose initially, but then decided I would wait for the predators to arrive and allow nature to re-balance.  Sure enough, ladybugs are now appearing. Ladybugs wipe out aphids, per the Internet they consume 50 aphids per day.   This makes you wonder what junior scientist got stuck with counting how many aphids a ladybug could devour in 24 hours...

Anyway, the mystery of how the aphids appeared was met with how the ladybugs knew the aphids were present.  Nature is undergoing a re-balance in my small corner of Loudoun Cty.  As indicated in the above picture, the predator ladybug has feasted and will feast again.  Hopefully, the monarchs will find their way this season.  But, if not, I think they will eventually.