Question

Dear Lynnette,
Friends sent me some minature roses from Tenn. in April. Now I have these worms eating the leaves. I thought I got rid of them but haven't. What can I do?
Richard  

Answer
Worms are usually quite easy to get rid of especially if you use a systemic type of insecticide as it gets into the sap of the plant plus the leaves. When the caterpillar eats any part of the plant it is poisoned. Ortho puts out a good insecticide but if you want an organic solution then take a tablespoon on cooking oil in a quart of water and spray it on the roses. This should suffocate the caterpillars. Don't forget to spray all around the base of th plants. Hope this helps.