[ziggywigs]

The Cabbage whites actually folded their wings and crawled through the netting to get to the underside....but this year i'll be ready for em with finer netting.

Midges eh.....MIL is an Avon lady and gave me some skin so soft - i was sceptical but was surprised when it did work....notice the local builders merchants is stocking it now for same reason.  So you can just surround yourself with builders and you'd blend in...heard that the Royal Marines on the west Coast swear by it. Imao.....

[WG.]

And Forestry Commission workers

[yummy]

I will get some of that then. Avon isn't animal tested either  

[Trillium]

If you're putting up netting against cabbage whites, Ziggy, make sure you prop the netting up on sticks or whatever so the net doesn't touch the plants so the butterflies can't touch the leaves to lay the eggs. A vicious circle otherwise.
As for nasturtiums, I just leave them as a catch crop for any leaf miners in the area - they totally demolish the plants. I sometimes wonder if I'm simply not attracting them by planting the nasturtiums. Haven't bothered for the last few years and haven't noticed much leaf miner damage.
As for Skin So Soft, I'm told by people who use it that it's the bath oil which has the most anti midge potency rather than the skin lotion which is less effective. Still works but not nearly so well as the oil. Apparently in Florida, the collective smell of Skin So Soft oil overpowers most flowers these days since people discovered its use.    

[ziggywigs]

Thanks Trillium...was thinking of using the Actimel pots for the canes...used build a balls last year but a bit unwieldy over a large area. Hopefully if i make them high enough it should keep the cabbage whites away.

Funny you mentioning the leaf miners i'd never had these before (that i was aware of) but noticed that the nasturtiums had covered in them...the thing that got my nasturtiums in the end was the black aphids but at least the roses were kept free of 'em.  Planted them in pots and underneath the cordon apples and seemed to do ok.  Not sure if the marigolds did any good though i planted some in pots and some in the ground near my currants and something eat the marigolds early on!  The pots did ok and looked pretty.

   At SSS i hate the smell of the stuff....let alone have a bath in it, the type i've been using is the body oil spray which does work.  Surprised they haven't brought out a shower gel for those of us that don't bath!

[Annie]

Slugs love marigolds,if you pop out after dark in early summer you will find them weighed down with small slugs,any that make it through to a good size seem to be then ignored.

[ziggywigs]

In that case then Annie they must have been doing their job of protecting my lettuces etc as they never got slug damage!  Hmmm will have to pop more in this year...perhaps up the anti and double what i plant.

Any other suggestions for companion plants that look pretty too?

[Annie]

Only nastertians as others have said,I get the first lot going early and position not too near the broard beens,last year had no blackaphid on the beans but the nastertions were decimated.Also I`ve moved the bronze fennel from the herbbed as that drips aphid in late summer but they also seemedto affect other plants near,mind I didn`t see any ladybirds last year either.

[ziggywigs]

As you say a definite shortage of ladybirds last year.  Will have to do it all in waves then....i'm really partial to Nasturtiums and grew a lot around the garden in any spare bit of groun.... a packet of seeds goes a long way and have even more packets this year.

[frazzy]

i grow as many typs of flower as i can fit in between my beds they usualy end up being no paths lol  but i dont get that many pest i get lots of insects birds and people asking for bunches of flowers .also i have large herb section with i love to walk past them crushing some in my fingers or chewing dill and fennel while i work. sage  chives and garlic chives are a must.
i do some times get rabbits that are a bit of a pest they are  like super mowing machines so then we play hunt the rabbit lol.