[nuttytart]

I just  put a ladybird in the garden as it was crawling along the coffee table 

[Zippy]

throw all your chemicals away and go organic, add wildlife friendly spots to your allotment and you will soon see a return to balance as well as being able to produce excellent crops and the ladybirds will return as if from nowhere.

[kermit]

throw all your chemicals away and go organic, add wildlife friendly spots to your allotment and you will soon see a return to balance as well as being able to produce excellent crops and the ladybirds will return as if from nowhere.

I would agree, but I am almost entirely organic, have piles of rotting wood in corners of the garden, live next to a slow running stream etc.  Still no ladybirds.  For 5 years!  Maybe they just dont like me 

[JayG]

Och! Don't be sad, lad!

Never had that many here but have not seen a single one this year (maybe they have become too "soft" for the frozen north?!)

[Hey Jude]

There was a lovely one on a cornflower while I was watering - it's the first one I've seen in the garden all summer

[Hey Jude]

Sorry, forgot to take the italics off the above post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Antonius]

There's loads of ladybirds up here on our allotment in Manchester...maybe they like the rain! 

[Zippy]

Rain? you've got rain?

[Beklet]

We have loads of ladybirds though a couple of weeks ago was a bit upset to notice a number of dead ones 
At one point I could count a ladybird on every carrot plant 
And they're all proper ladybirds too - not those nasty big bitey cannibalistic Harlequin things with too many spots - urgh had an infestation of those in my house couple of years back - they kept biting the cat who is now terrified of ladybirds.....
Last year I even found a couple of yellow ladybirds hiding in the plants - haven't seen any of them for years, certainly not since I lived in the East Midlands!
We also have loads of newts - nice because they've prevented the council from digging up some of the allotments to put a new water main in (for an estate that hasn't been built yet)