"Zeedman: Thank you. I looked up Hyacinth beans, looks like they are shelling type. Am I right?" Well, not exactly. Their primary use in this country has been the cooked immature pods. The seeds are considered to be "toxic", but in the tropics, the ripe seeds are eaten. I don't know how the seeds are prepared, nor know anyone who has eaten them... so I will only recommend their use as cooked immature pods. And if all hyacinth beans are as hard to shell as the one I am growing this year, they would be last on my list for shelled beans regardless! Pnbrown, the unfortunate thing about hyacinth beans is that most are daylength sensitive, and will only bloom as the equinox approaches... as yours have. For those of us with short seasons, that doesn't allow time to get dry seed. When I trialed a few pole cultivars here, I was only able to harvest pods for a few weeks. This year, however, I received a hyacinth bean in trade that was unusual on two counts: (1) it was day neutral, and bloomed just over 30 days after sowing (2) it was true bush habit. It is white flowered, green podded, and brown seeded. All I presently know about its origins is that it supposedly came from India. Given how it rushed to bloom - and continued blooming furiously until a week ago - it would probably be ever-bearing if the immature pods were kept picked. The first dry seed was at 85 days, which is similar to many common dry beans.

They "keep appearing" because some always remain alive after you spray. And it only takes one aphid to repopulate the plant. They come to my chives every year. I hose them off several times, then give up and cut the leaves to the ground. The clump is fine when it regrows.

Likewise, I've been having problems with aphids on my basil, parsely, oregano and thyme planted in one pot. I have washed them off with water spray, and did it with soap water solution as well. But they are just temporary. They keep coming back, and have exhausted my herbs from being overly watered due to wash off. I am looking for a good remedy that will keep aphids away for good. Here's what I found out based on my research: 1. High nitrogen feeding attracts aphids 2. Control ants infestation to deter aphids away. Ants and aphids have symbiotic relationships. Ants protects aphids from predators, as they feed on aphids' butt. Check this out too. This will help you get rid off aphids in so many ways. http://www.pan-uk.org/Projects/Local/alt~dir/aphids.htm

Summers... It probably sounds more time consuming because I put it into steps. It pretty much like this... really just takes about 5 minutes. quick spray with a hose or spray bottle or whatever...5-10 seconds for each rose... at the most. 5 seconds to cut a hole in the bag. 10-30 seconds to put the ladybug bag over the aphid covered cane/leaves/bud and for the lady bugs to crawl out onto it and eat the aphids. Just do that at each spot you want the ladybugs to go to town. Here.... spraying them off with water would take forever. Dealing with the hose. Ugh. Spraying under all the leaves. And water here is still expensive, even after all the rain we have had. Plus spraying them off with water really just doesn't seem to work here. They're just back the next day.