For the second year running the miniature roses have had a sudden caterpillar attack which has eaten all the foliage within a few days. Fortunately they still flower ok but look pretty barren without any leaves.

We even noticed this at a number of National trust gardens in the North West last year.

Apparently if you feed the roses then new foliage will come back, we may give it a go.

I've had black spot on mine the last couple of years. Spraying didn't make one scrap of difference. This year they have all bar one, looked dreadful, with hardly any blooms. SO kill it or cure it ! I've cut everyone of their stems and shoots back to no leaves. They are now putting new leaves out, (which is quite lucky really)so fingers crossed maybe better next year.
They would have only have to have been ripped up anyway if it doesn't work.

Caterpillars are good DD, it means butterflies or moths which need to be protected.

I like caterpillars and butterflies, common moths get short shrift.

Yes, blackspot is a pain, with non-miniature roses I used to cut them right back to the ground then keep them trimmed to stop them touching and wall, fences or other plant trunks.

Aphid count seems pretty low this year but we had quite a few ladybirds around which probably helped.

Different subject really but the fly count seems low this year, or are they yet to arrive?

A couple of flies but no bluebottles. Don't remember many last year either.

Do you remember (maybe not) when the headlights of a car at night would attract the moths into the grill. Hundreds of them. My first recollection was when I was about 6 yrs old and a family friend of mums drove us to Wolverhampton to stay with relatives for a holiday. It seemed that the car lights during the whole journey was a magnet for these little insects. Such a shame. Where did they all go to , don't see any these days?

Very few diverse hedgerows left along the side of roads, many of them are mostly hawthorn these days.