Garden Hero

I've been working in the garden again lately, planting tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, roses and calla lily bulbs. I'm also starting to harvest my first compost, which I have been feeding with kitchen scraps for a year or so. I hope that my plants like it! I've also purchased a praying mantis egg case, which should release about 200 young ones in about 3 weeks. They prey on whiteflies, aphids, and other garden pests. I'm hoping they take care of some of the whiteflies that persist on one of my hibiscus plants. I've tried the systemic stuff to no avail, so now I'm going the natural route. I love this pic, by "howlinhill" on Flickr.