July 10, 1998
Drying Flowers
Drying or preserving flowers is a popular gardening activity. Dried materials are long lasting and can be used to add warmth and color to the home. Gather flowers that are free of dew or rain and insect or disease damage.
Sowbugs: Another Wet Weather Annoyance
Wet conditions outdoors are producing a bumper crop of many pests; everything from mosquitoes and slugs to millipedes and sowbugs. See the "resources" section at the end of this newsletter for directions to past articles on these and other pests.
Sowbugs are crustaceans more closely related to shrimp and crayfish than to insects. Other names used for these very common animals include pillbugs, roly-polies and isopods. Sowbugs are 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, dark to slate gray and possess seven pairs of legs. The oval, segmented body is convex above but flat or hollow underneath.