Milkweed Aphids

I was walking by my swamp milkweed plants the other day and noticed them covered in something yellow.  Upon closer inspection I saw the yellow "dots" moving, and realized that I had milkweed aphids.  

Rather than use chemicals to get rid of them, I prefer to spray them with the water hose.  It knocks them off the plant, but keeps any monarch eggs safe.  I have also used a cotton swab to remove them from the plants.  If the aphids keep returning you can also take a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to them.  It is tedious but kills them on contact.

Tuesday Night's Storm

Tuesday night our area was hit pretty hard by a storm.  We lost power at our house for about 36 hours, but there are still people without power today (Friday) as I write this.  We did not have any storm damage at our house.  We thought a big branch broke off of our tree, but it turned out it was a branch from a neighbor's tree who lives two houses away.  It was eventually confirmed that 5 tornadoes came through our area that night.  Thankfully their were no fatalities from the storm.  I can honestly say I have never seen lightning like it before in my life.  It was continuous, like a flashbulb just kept going off over and over again.