augh! aphids! scary!

augh! graduate school portfolio! due tomorrow! scary! 

(This was the alternative title for the post, but you're probably more interested in aphids than the last three years of my academic adventures.)

Aforementioned aphids have taken over my starts.  At this point, it's undecided whether the handyman's raspberry soil played the part of the culprit - we're suspicious of a lot of things now...

Nevertheless, my dahlias had some friends when I checked in with them this morning...

So, the handyman and I ran around squishing the bugs, and, for the record, I considered it quite the ethical dilemma and carried on an extensive conversation in my mind about whether or not the greater good would forgive me for squishing bugs just to save my starts... I heard my starts cry out to me and decided I was in the clear.  

Though it was more efficient to squish with one's fingers, it made me itch.  (Ever had a lice outbreak at summer camp?  Lice or not, your head itches for weeks... just looking at those little green suckers was enough to bring my nails to my scalp more times than would be socially acceptable.)

But then, we realized it was going to take more than tweezers to solve the problem.  Out came the sticky-soap insect-killer.

Still, I fear for the souls of my thumbelina zinnias...

I would make some kind of war analogy, but I am at a loss. I can not fight the good fight and submit my portfolio in time tomorrow - the aphids may feast on my zinnias and bachelor's buttons and tomatoes until I am freed up for battle. In the interim, the above solutions are not sufficing, but we will prevail! 

Or the handyman will deal with it while I work... 

(Suggestions welcome.)