I do not know my caterpillars nor do I wish to! I have the disgusting tiny ones hanging by threads from all my apple trees. They are like beads hanging from dreadlocks. They have eaten all the leaves and blossoms, I think, overnight. By the time I noticed them it was too late. And I’m the one always harping about gardening being nothing more than observations.

Beth at Heather Gardens said she got rid of them with one application of Captain Jack’s Dead Bug. Good to know! It contains spinosad which is a bacterial insecticide similar to Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), also a soil dwelling biological pesticide.

I am going to resort to using it on my savoy cabbages, which have been taken over by flea beetles. I tried placing sprigs of lavender around each plant as a deterrent to no avail. I made that up, by the way, with no scientific evidence as backup.

Every product I like gets discontinued or shipped off to Asia to be produced in a cheaper, less attractive, manner. The latest is a favorite stand-up weeder called the Winged Weeder. Mine, with a lightweight wooden handle, says it was made in Idaho Falls. I tried to purchase a couple more for the workers but could only get cheap, plastic yellow handles — made in China.

I went on Google and found a phone number in Idaho Falls. I phoned and got an answering machine at Walmart. In other words, the company sold out to Walmart. Need I say more about quality? I wouldn’t set foot in that place. They ruined my hometown. No more mom and pop stores. Just saying.

Does a hard winter with tons of snow breed ticks? I pick off several every day. It doesn’t seem fair.

I have baby Black Seeded Simpson lettuce plants popping up all over the garden, in other plants and in paths. Good thing, too, since I neglected to buy them this year.

The same can be said for alyssum. It’s everywhere in the flower beds and I’m leaving it there and am grateful for it. It’s a beautiful ground cover, albeit an old lady plant. No matter, I am one now!

It has taken over three weeks but the dahlias have finally come up. I was beginning to lose hope.

I’m too young to remember when Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day. That happened sometime right after WWII. My grandparents always called it Decoration Day. We took red geraniums to mark the graves of our Armstrong relatives. Armstrong was my mother’s maiden name.

The Irons/Grimes family owned its own cemetery in Port Allegany, Pa. It is located next to Coudersport, Pa. at the head waters of the Allegheny River. Anyway, the cemetery did not allow any plantings but it is nonetheless a beautiful spot on the side of the mountain. My family is quirky. The gravestones are etched with various symbols, sometimes known only to the departed.

My uncle Tony has a roulette wheel on his headstone which he will share with my Dad’s sister Wanda eventually. Dad had a question mark put above his name and dates of birth and death. And you wonder about me!