Remember back when I wanted one of these:

 
because, I thought, how fun to have a Ladybug house.  At the time, Jamie wisely commented that ladybugs would also be quite useful in eating nasty garden pests.

Turns out, I could use a few ladybugs.  This weekend I noticed some unsightly lumps on my hibiscus buds, and upon further examination, also noticed ants.  According to my google search, that can really only mean one thing...

I have aphids.

This photo from Brisbane Insects reflects the state of my buds, sort of.  They weren't quite this bad, but they were getting close. Apparently the aphid problem can grow quite quickly.

I think I've cleared it up, though, for now.  A little soapy water in a strong sprayer dislodged most of the white round things (the aphids?) and killed most of the ants.  The helpful gardening sites out there suggest this approach will work, so we'll see. 

In the meantime, I'm thinking of ordering a couple thousand ladybugs, and a house of course.  But I just can't imagine having our lovely courtyard overrun with beetles. So I'm going to need to think about that a little more.

Lest you think I've become a gardening blog, I hope to have a few finished projects to share very soon.