Thunderflies

The antique roses are budding like crazy, even Zephirine Drouhin, which has taken a leisurely four years to finally get settled, has thirty or more buds on it. Old Blush, always prolific, is already blooming away. But nature ain’t a greenhouse. Here come the thrips (also called thunderflies) to chew their way through a bud or five. We must await salvation: the ladybugs who will eat the thrips.