I’ve tried the nasturtium thing (I called them “sacrificial nasturtiums”) but found they just attracted the black aphids rather than lure away the green ones that were my original problem. I also have done the ladybug thing, which worked wonderfully but was quite expensive ($15 for one small bed). I think other than supporting healthy plants through creating healthy soil the best treatment for aphids is still the soap-and-water approach. Tedious, but it works. Although I sympathize – I wouldn’t want to eat soap-laden blooms either!

Laurel and Kate: You are most kind! You brought a smile with your comments.

Lindsay: The short answer is that I sacrificed a sweet pea plant (aphids loved it, and they left my tomato plants alone). I hand-picked the aphids off the plants every night (possible because my garden is so small)to keep their population down.

I grabbed any ladybugs (ladybird beetles) I saw and put them on the aphid-infected plants as well (some sources say ladybugs eat aphids). I wouldn’t say that I had this down to a science. It was mostly “read around and try it.”

:)