This article is going to help you recognize the good guys. Our discussion of beneficials would not be complete without mentioning something obvious that most of us have in our gardens--birds! They are easy to attract, beautiful to look at, enjoyable to listen to, and they are great predators too!

Scrub jays and mockingbirds eat caterpillars and grubs, and hummingbirds love aphids, which add much needed protein to their diet. There are lots more to help us — such as finches, weavers, etc....

To attract birds be sure to have a water source nearby, and plant a variety of plant material. Hummingbirds like any flowers with lots of nectar and bright colors. They are particularly fond of fuchsias, salvias, honeysuckles, and the like — we have many hummingbird-friendly plants here at the nursery. We'll show you how to create a garden for the birds!

Bees are also very important for our gardens. Without bees we could not have flowers or fruit. They're our pollinators.

If you're concerned about the Africanized bees (killer bees) which have had some publicity lately: they are usually only aggressive if their nests are disturbed, and have been found gathering pollen along with the friendly ones! It is wise to be aware of them, but not necessary to be afraid to garden!

A very helpful order of insects is the beetles (order coleoptera). Besides the ladybugs, there are two very helpful families.

1) Beetles of the family carabidae (ground beetles):
Most adults are brown or black, although a few are metallic blue or green. Some of the larger species can live for 2 to 4 years. Although most forage on insects found in or on the soil, some climb into trees, shrubs, and crop plants to hunt. Almost all of these feed on pests. My favorites are the beetles in the genus calosoma, which eat caterpillars. The next time you see a black beetle, don't step on it--it may be after the caterpillars that are eating your plants!

2) Beetles of the family cantharidae (soldier beetles):
Soldier beetles are colorful insects, often black or brown with red, yellow or orange. They are elongate and flat with long threadlike antennae. Adults are commonly found on flowers and foliage. The larvae have dark bristles which give them a velvety appearance. Some of these beetles are important predators of aphid pests. Soldier beetles are highly predacious in the larval stage. They live on the ground and feed on other insects including, snails, slugs, millipedes, earthworms, caterpillars, maggots, and grasshopper eggs.

In closing, here's an important reminder of careful and informed use of chemicals: if you choose to use them, please consult a nursery professional. If you decide to dispose of them, do so through an official toxic waste disposal--usually listed in your local newspaper or in the Yellow Pages.

Spring flowering perennials include bearded iris, lamb's ear, alstroemeria, Santa Barbara daisy, coral bells, and true geraniums.

Summer bloomers include penstemon, daylily, coreopsis, salvias, verbenas, and my personal favorite — agapanthus.

If you are a container gardener, plant with a premium potting soil. Use a good planting mix for all in-ground planting (ask us for suggestions). Add an application of an organic starter fertilizer, then watch your garden grow!

With the weather heating up and the importance of keeping everything well watered, it's a good time to focus on our soils - especially with the spring planting season just around the corner. A good soil is critical for water retention and overall plant health.

It is a great time to think about composting. A great old saying is "Waste Not, Want Not." This principle can certainly be put to use in our gardens! We are throwing away in the trash the very material that we can utilize to improve our gardens. Healthy soil is full of all kinds of beneficial microbes and bacterias that will help our plants grow.

Homemade compost is easy and fun! It can be anything from throwing an apple core in the flower bed to utilizing one of the new tumbler type bins with thermometers, etc... Just mowing the lawn and leaving the clippings will help; there's nitrogen in that green stuff!

When we compost we are really just putting back into the earth what we've taken out of it! A few guidelines:

• Do add - any raw vegetable material such as potato peelings, eggshell, yard trimmings, grass clippings, leaves etc. (Avoid perennial weeds and diseased or insect-infested foliage.)
• Do not use cooked foods, fats or meats - you want to attract microbes, not furry visitors! Also, the addition of chemical fertilizers in the compost pile is not microbe friendly.
• Add a layer of garden soil after each addition. The more textures of material the better. The microbes need moisture and air circulation. Hint: If you see ants, the compost is too dry, and an odor would mean it's probably too wet and there's not enough air circulation.
• You don't have to turn the pile, but the more you do the faster it will work. That's why the tumbler bins are popular. Seems we're always trying to rush nature!

If you lack space for a compost pile or large bin, you might want to try some slower but less intrusive composting methods like trench composting or hole composting ('compostholing').

For trenches — dig trenches deep enough to accommodate the volume of waste to be composted. Fill with material. Next planting season, set up new beds atop the old trenches and dig new trenches where the old beds were. By alternating trenches and garden rows each season, you'll improve the soil throughout your garden. The hole composting method is similar, but uses a hole instead of a trench.

The next time you put out newspapers and cans to recycle, think about what we can recycle in our gardens as well.