Storm & Spider Mite Damage in the Garden + Harvesting Blackberries & Strawflowers! 🌿🤤🌼 

We actually appreciate that you show us both sides of gardening. Not just the pretty side, but the hard side

Laura showing her hands with the blackberry stains made me think of my sweet dog Dottie Sue, whose favorite place to lay in the yard was under the mulberry tree. She was a beautiful cream American bulldog & she would be covered in varying shades of purple streaks 😂 One time we were at the vet in the waiting room & someone asked me what kind of dog she was & they were so tickled when they discovered her “markings” were actually mulberry stains! 😂 Oh Dottie Sue you were my funny funny girl 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Hi Garden Answer! I'm from Cambodia ,i learning English by your videos for my listening skill .

How is Bethany’s farm with the fires so close? I’ve been praying for all the people who are affected by the fires and smoke. Stay safe and know you are in our thoughts❤️

It’s such a bummer about the spider mites damaging your Limelight hydrangeas but it helps me feel better about the things that go wrong in my garden! I sometimes feel like I am failing but seeing that your beautiful garden has bad things happen and how you deal with it is SO HELPFUL ❤️

After loosing 2, and nearly loosing 5 Green Tower Boxwoods, and watching your great pred mite drone drop last year, I started applying pred mites since early spring. The new growth was healthy and practically glossy. The bad spider mites tried to take my Salvia instead (right in between my GT boxwoods). The bad mites should be called FIRE mites - it's like trying to put out a fire in a windstorm. I believe I'm winning though, in using the pred mites. I used systemic treatments up until last winter and it didn't really work. I also tried systemic treat on my Blue Chiffon hibiscus and nearly killed them. This year the early pred mites (right when hibiscus started new growth) made for lush and healthy hibiscus plants. Thank you for sharing so much, Laura!❤

We got an unexpected mini garden tour through your whole space, watching you release the bugs everywhere. Bonus!

Oh, I love it when you show us "real life." We gardeners are in a constant battle even if it's just keeping things watered, dead headed, or insect attacks. It's the same in gardens all over the world. I'm praying for you to get on top of the pests in your beautiful garden. ❤ Toni in the UK 🇬🇧

Do you guys remember Benjamin told you that was not the same type of birch? I think about it every time I see them. He was convinced and I believed him. 😂 Yum blackberry jam is my favorite.

Thanks for showing the reality of gardening. I appreciate that you share not only what is going well but what is not going well. I guess that is the truth of gardening!

Money shot at the End! You know your followers so well, knowing we were expecting BlackBerry Jam and a big bite to close out the video! Thanks Laura!

Laura, your work ethic amazes me! You work circles around every other garden channel I watch! I have enjoyed watching you from the beginning! Love everything you do!

❤I hope this doesn't sound weird but I love you Laura. Yep. You make my life of loving gardening so much enjoyable. I don't have a friend to share with, well except you! Thank you for all you do.

I feel bad for loving this video so much since you're dealing with pests and storm damage! But that is the essence of Garden Answer to me -- you make watching you walk through your gorgeous garden, accompanied by beautiful music, so soothing and lovely to watch! Thank you (and your editors!) for all you do!

Oh Laura.. when I saw the hydrangeas, I said out loud “oh NOOO!!” I’m so sorry. I know this is how gardening goes, holy moly!!!! I know that you will get on top of it, but man!!! My morning coffee just isn’t a good cup unless I’m watching you and yours. ♥️♥️

Glad you waited a day so you didn't lose any of your "bug killers." Always love how "the earth" smells after a good rainstorm in the summer. What a wonderful bounty of blackberries and flowers 💐

Hello Garden Answer friends. Outside of critters meaning ,deer, rabbits & chipmunks in our zone 5b Northern Michigam territory..we deal with japanse beetles.. lil buggers. We do count our blessings everyday, since as we see mother nature & natural disasters keep us humble & grounded. At least we have a home, garden & yard to maintain...Prayers to those dealing with the Natural disasters. Thanks for the video Laura. Fantastic harvest & the flowers are beautiful..😊

I appreciate seeing the “not so perfect” side of gardening. Makes me feel better about my own battles with bugs! And the berries are amazing! My dad and I used to go across the street to the cow pasture and pick tons of blackberries that my mom would make into pies or cobbler! I loved that so much!! My mom would let the berries sit in cold water first before cooking them and I was always amazed at the amount of tiny worms that would come out of them!! So I always soak my berries now, even store bought ones! 😂

So sorry for the damage but gardeners are always fighting natures negatives. North Ohio has high temps and a lack of rain. My hydrangeas are suffering. So very glad you didn't get any worse than you did. Prayers out to all those who are dealing with fire . My heart goes out to all of you. May God keep you safe and give you peace in your trials.

Laura, when I lose/break a stem from any of my coleus, I just make a narrow hole in the ground and stick/plant the stem in. After about a week of watering the coleus stem will take hold, and you have a whole new plant. It always amazes me!! 🌿

Oh my goodness! Blackberry jam, pie, cobbler! Beautiful!

Those strawflowers are sooo pretty ! I find it quite interesting that they have that paper like feel. What a bountiful berry harvest ! Yummy jam 😊

You have a great attitude and you make it real that things will happen in the garden and life goes on. Thank you for sharing your spider mites journey. Love your channel it my morning routine. Thank you.

Good luck with your beneficial insects; hopefully they will take care of the problem. The berry harvest was awesome. When I was growing up, we would go out to our back pasture edges and pick buckets of blackberries and mother would make jellies that we would eat on the rest of the year. I never actually ate store bought jelly until I was grown (we always had delicious homemade strawberry, blackberry, plum, apple and pear). I miss those days. You are making memories that your children will cherish forever. Have a blessed day everyone.

We lost our home & my parents home in the Bushfires here in Australia in November 2019. Plus our enormous machinery shed & nearly all our machinery & equipment. I sincerely hope you & your family are not impacted by your wildfires. It’s a very tense time! I feel for you with the terrible spider mite damage in your garden. Mine was burned comprehensively but still some things regrew. I now live smack in the middle of town & am gardening on a double block next to the Nursery. Establishing a new garden. Life goes on!

Hi Guys~ WOW... That was like a mini-speed-tour!😉 Despite the damage, everything looks beautiful. The grass will grow inches quickly after that rain. The first plant I put in my barren yard was a blackberry. I love going out & eat berries for breakfast off the vine. I planted five Golden Rasberries but only one survived. I have two more to plant once I decide where to put them. I managed to get two blueberry plants to grow (Our Florida soil is sand!) after modifying the soil. I also used Espoma Land & Sea as mulch which helped my fruit trees, too. Good luck fighting the good fight with predators! Thanks for a great video...as always! 🙋

Bug damage is so heart breaking….Hope those mites are under control real soon. Berry Harvest was amazing.

Those gorgeous blackberries made me think of this quick, delicious cobbler recipe. Sure a lot of you might know it. Enjoy! Ingredients: 3/4 stick butter(6 Tablespoons); 1 cup self-rising flour; 3/4 cup sugar; 3/4 cup milk; 1 1/2 cups blackberries, or favorite fruit, drained well. Directions: Melt butter in 9x9 or 8x8 inch baking dish, while your oven is pre-heating to 350 degrees. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar and HALF of milk. Mix until ingredients are moistened. Add remaining milk, and stir till smooth. Pour batter over the melted butter. DO NOT MIX! Add drained fruit over top of the batter, evenly. DO NOT MIX! Bake for 30 -40 minutes, or until browned and center springs back to touch. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. DELICIOUS.

Watching your video today, I was surprised to hear you use the word muggy in response to your weather! I live in Connecticut and we deal with that in our summer. Always enjoy your positive take on problems we all face in our gardens. Especially loved the jam made from your bounty of blackberries…a perfect ending to a great day.

Something about the way the strawflowers sound I love! So crunchy LOL!!

I appreciate showing us the fruit harvest amazing. Love the strawflowers. Thank you,

The blackberry jam looked delicious. Your flowers are absolutely beautiful. Love the echinacea, which is my all time favorite flowers.

Afternoon Everyone 🥰

Oh, those hydrangeas usually a full glorious display, it's hard to see them that way. I like those sweet containers outside the Flower Shed. She made jam from the berries - how fun. Yum!

Oh how I wished I had gardeners to help this old body! Love your blackberries and straw flowers !! I use to have fruit of all kinds but have to much trouble with ants.

I can’t believe the birds stay out of your berries!

Gardening is fun, rewarding and trying all at the same time! So sorry about the weather and mites you have had, but I love the fact that you problem solved, and in the end of your video focused on the positives! Your jam looked fabulous! A much needed reminder, the garden mirrors life in so many ways! I hold on to that when things get challenging! Thank you!👍🏻❤️

Thank you so much for showing the damaged plants, so educational. I’m battling issues on my fruit trees and somehow it helps to know I’m not alone in my battles. ❤

Finally Spidex! It's the only mite that can keep up with my annual spider mite problem. You'll be surprised how quickly they work.

ALL the berries look just FABULOUS😊!!

It was like a garden tour darn you’ve so much beauty and now you must feel great treating everything ! How long did it take ?? Your hard work attention to detail is so appreciated!! Love this info for beneficial .

I'm glad I wasn't responsible for counting all those mites/ beneficial bugs. 😅 Have a great day. 👍😎

Oh my goodness the garden with boxwood and geraniums is absolutely gorgeous!

I would love to know or see a video of what you do with the straw flowers. I love your videos and learning from you.

Wowzza on those triple crowns! What a beautiful fruit and the harvest looks plentiful! For how much Blackberries cost in the store, especially organic, what a savings and know what you are getting.

Yum that blackberry jam. Delicious! I just had a huge coleus all broken off by wind and rain. I was sad but…life goes on. Thanks for keeping gardening real! Ps - the BT is working for the supertunia budworms. Getting blooms again!

What a wonderful productive day you had! Love these videos so inspiring. 😊💜🦋🥀

Hi Laura, I enjoy all your content, a mixed bag day is one of my favourites. I hope you and your community are safe; praying for you all.

I never understood that spider mites thrive in the dust. I try to grow vines on the sides of my chicken coop and they Always get spider mites. Now I know why. Chickens stir up a tremendous amount of dust….i learn something from you every video!

Good morning all have a safe and blessed day ❤️

Очень красиво в вашем саду, приятно смотреть на целеустремлённого человека❤

I saw a lot of beauty as you were dealing with the challenges! Thank you for positively and honestly sharing the challenges. we all have.

Laura..it looks delicious and satisfying to enjoy homemade freshly harvested product. I'm Jelly.😂🎉.

The holes in your birch are not points of entry, but points of exit, where the borers have chewed their way out as adults after boring and pupating through the tree. Entry points are pretty much undetectable. Just thought I’d note as it means you may have borers in the other two trees that have not emerged yet. Hopefully not though!

Amazing the amount of work it takes to sustain a garden Aron also you Laura deserves props. Them Blackberries looked awesome so did that Jam… enjoyed the video

In my house it would be blackberry cobbler time. Blackberries freeze so easy, they are a great fruit. Enjoy!

THANK YOU for sharing the good, the bad and the ugly

Aw Laura, you are a trooper. Chin up.! We've all been there at some point.

Love seeing the edibles come in - always my favorite videos of the year. ☺️ Can you share the recipe you used for the Blackberry Jam?

I planted those Priscilla supertunia this year and you’re so right, they are georgeous!! But I have to go through and pull all the spent flowers because they are so glaringly visible

Oh I love the dried flower basket full, so much colour and texture. And the Blackberries and jam had my mouth watering. Yum!! 💖💖🌸🌸

oh gosh, spider mites and all those boxwoods... that's a job! here's hoping the beneficials are having a feast! sounds like the valley is having a plague of them though, weird... bugs, heat, weeds, weird weather situations: gardening is not for the faint of heart... we are persistent though! looks like it's still really smoky there, too... love those strawflowers! and the berries, yummmm.... and a big thank you for showing the good, the bad, and the ugly - it's one of the most admirable things about your videos: you don't couch the truth in just the "pretty" stuff, and that means a lot to this gardener... 🥰❤thanks for the video!! 🥰❤

What are the plants growing around the boxwood cone at 27:39? Everything looks incredible in the cut flower garden!

Laura. thanks for the close up shots on the straw flowers. I'm sure it takes more time to orchestrate that, but it gives the viewer such visual delight and helps us to understand why you love them for projets! (We're also suffering from the smoke here in Eagle Crest but the rain yesterday sure did help clear the air) Keep up the good work! You are a bright spot in my day. ;)

Thinking about your four new bench areas, consider this; installing a half radius from the brick walkway, which traverses the area from the left to right side of the bench and connecting on the right and left side to the brick walkway? But then, what if you install a raised wall just like the one near the side of the house which is made from stacked shale or whatever that stacked pretty stone accent is, letting is be on the outer edge of the radius opposite the benches? You could then create a pretty flower garden section in front of the stacked short wall flanking the brick walkway?

So sorry about the spider mites. I am dealing with Japanese Beetles, moles and chipmunks. Thanks for showing that you have to deal with pest issues too. Those blackberries are beautiful!!! Just wow! I can’t believe you don’t have to cover them….to hide them from the birds.

Glad I’m not the only one dealing with bug issues. I tossed some plants already this season 😞 Thanks for sharing this video! Love the channel.

The spider mites are out of control this year! Thank you for trying these items out. I sure hope they work because I would love to try something new!

I would have stuck those coleus back in that pot-it would have rooted quickly here in our 8a.

YOU ALWAYS end on a happy note - really appreciate that from you since I also end your video with a smile!

Even though you have damaging storms and bad bugs, your positive attitude makes me happy and everything still looks gorgeous. One question, how many miles each, do you think you, Aaron, Paul and Bethany walk in a day? It would be interesting to know. Thank you for your knowledge, enthusiasm and positivity.

Yummy looking blackberry jam I picked my blackberries I was thinking of making blackberry cobbler. Have a great day.

Good Morning, I’m sorry that you are dealing with a lot of bug damage and excessive heat. But, it does make me feel better when you show the ugly with the pretty. Every spring I deal with rose sawfly and they defoliate the leaves of my roses and when they are gone then comes Japenese beetles. So when I see your gorgeous roses it’s hard not to get a little jealous. You are right though we all have things we are dealing with and we have to roll with the punches because that is what gardening is all about. Good luck to you I hope you can get spider mites and other destructive bugs under control.

It was a great mini tour of your property as you “dusted”!!!

OMG!!! The hydrangeas!!! I was SO shocked to see the extent of the damage on them!!😮

Your jam looked so yummy, kids will enjoy that, Aaron too!💕

Love the blackberries! My mother made the best blackberry cobbler. Wonderful memories. When we picked them they had thorns, we wore long sleeves. But it was worth it.

Amazing BlackBerry harvest, Laura! Inspired by you, I have Fall Gold and Heritage Raspberries planted as well. They just started forming some berries so I’m super excited to get fruit the first year. I also have Triple Crown and Big Daddy Blackberries going. Your jam looks sooo good and I can’t wait to try my hand at it. Greetings from Rhode Island, 6b

Thank you so much for showing us, “the good, the bad and the ugly” of gardening! We can all relate! My hydrangeas look like yours, but not because of mites but DEER! I don’t think there are predatory mites big enough to take care of deer! 😂😂😂

Next year I just have to plant strawflowers! They so beautiful and so fun too with their crunchy texture!

You got your steps in for the day for sure!! Good luck, hope you have success with the predatory mites/insects!

Another productive day, my mouth was watering at the end with the fresh homemade jam and toast

My mouth fell open when you showed us your hydrangeas 😮😮😮

I'm so sorry about about your hydrangeas that's terrible I would be very upset too. We here in Florida are dealing with severe weather as well it's been very very hot the worst we've ever been high 90s low 100s high humidity between 50/75% humidity. . My flowers are suffering with aphids we have an abundance of them more than I remember that's my battle. The best to you and your family be safe.

For those less-pretty strawflowers-- Appalachian Forager posted a tutorial for making fire starters from dried flowers, pinecones, and beeswax. Might be a good use for some of those strawflowers!

My Granny would also make black berry cobbler with the part is crust on top...oh my! So yummy!

Everything looks so beautiful. I was glad to hear about the boxwood as I have several that are looking a bit less than they should so tomorrow I want to give them a look to see if there is really an issue. We've had so much cool weather and only a week or two of hot weather to even grow anything. Tomatoes are still flowering and I don't know that there is even a promise of having any fruit on them this year. It's been crazy cool weather in our part of the PNW and I get so disappointed with this years garden. Loving to stop by your channel often and watch any videos I have missed. I hope the good bugs help the situation with the situations with your bad things happening in the plants you spoke of. Hopefully the fires are contained and no more lightning storms. Thank you for all you share........I have gotten so much assist with your sharing different situations. Love your channel and esp when your mother and you have a day. I love that! Blessings for a great week!

I can’t wait to see the zinnias in bloom I really hope to see a tour

I’m glad you all made it thru the storm. Prayers for those that got hit hard. Nothing like rain water 💦 for plants 🌱

Thank you Laura, for showing me what to do with damaging insects I’m battling with white flies I spray with soapy water But I think I need something more… And thank you for showing us that you are an expert gardener have problems too… Love to see your successes, but I’ve learned from your failures… Thank you

We have been OVERUN with aphids and other pests this year! I started out trying to control them, but the longer I waited and observed, the more beneficials arrived. I'm kind of playing it out to see how it goes. Going for the whole ecosystem balance here. Tomato blight was swift and hard this year too. The climate is definitely changing!

Your abundance is always amazing. Lots of sun, water, and compost, as well as hard work, make your garden beautiful. Our garden is improving year by year, thanks to you, and despite huge trees, squirrels, bunnies, and groundhogs. It was fun seeing all you boxwood as you ran around spreading the preditory mites. Hoping it works well!

🙏 hope your mom and dad and sister and her family are all safe too

I’d love a cut flower garden tour! 💜💚🩷

Oh Laura I really really enjoyed watching this great video, your beautiful garden is so gorgeous looking and so great that you treated those spider mites, some of those bugs are so frustrating, it is also possible to get those on your house plants, I have been dealing with mealy bugs on my houseplants mostly my Hoya and I have been treating them and finally most of them are dying and my Hoya that I haven't lost are coming back and that makes me so happy, this is the first year that I have had those darn bugs, I have those irritating fungus knats and luckily I have those sticky traps that catch them and they die. I am also so impressed with your beautiful and delicious looking blackberries and the jam that you made looks so delicious and I do love the taste of those berries and I remember my aunt had those and I would pick them and eat them also. Thanks so much again for this great video and I will really look forward to your next one. I hope that you have a blessed and beautiful rest of your day, sending love and hugs, bye!! 😂😂🥰😘💜💜💜💜💜

I live on a former vineyard in Central Valley, CA (Zone 9b) where it's very hot, dry, windy and dusty all summer; daily highs are often over 100 degF and there is typically no rain from May to October. Most of the trees, shrubs, perennial beds, roses and orchard are watered by individual drip emitters or half-inch perforated tubes and mulched with leaves, compost or arborist wood chips I've tried a new approach this year - - on really hot days, I give everything a quick spray with a hose in the late afternoon to cool the plants off, raise the humidity a bit and wash off the dust. It seems to be working!. Flowering and fruiting have slowed but the plants are thriving and pest free .

I’m with on the summer this year. Grasshoppers are my problem. They seem to love my dahlias. Weather! But there are small pockets of the garden that I can stare at and say love it.

For my raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, I pick and freeze all season and then accumulate enough to make stuff with.

You remind me of the energizer bunny❤

I find myself trying to explain to non-gardener friends that resolving problems and adapting is all part of the joy I get from gardening. Your sport team does not win every game, and not everything I plant will thrive.