Well Rooted Garden Consulting

09/13/2026

Endless Onions! Limited Availability at Kopacz Nursery & Florist !

06/26/2026

Celebrating in Oregon means there's a LOT of bees to celebrate! With over 500 species of native bees and counting, each playing vital roles in their different environments, protecting pollinators and enhancing their habitats has never been more important. We say this often, but you can play your part by planting native species in your yard and garden. It really is that easy. Follow us here Well Rooted Garden Consulting or Kopacz Nursery & Florist for more information on Eastern Oregon native plants.

06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day!

06/21/2026

MEET THE 🐛 BUDWORM'S 🐛SNEAKY SIDE
The Moth Behind the Damage
Understanding the life cycle helps you stay one step ahead!
1 • ADULT MOTH 🦋
Adult moths fly at dusk and night.
✔ Mates
✔ Searches for flowering plants
✔ Lays eggs singly on buds and flowers
Timing: Late spring through summer
2 • EGG STAGE 🥚
Tiny pale eggs are laid on flower buds and petals.
Duration: 2–5 days
3 • CATERPILLAR STAGE 🐛
This is the stage that causes the damage.
✔ Hides inside buds
✔ Feeds on petals
✔ Produces black pellets (frass)
Duration: About 2–3 weeks
4 • PUPA STAGE 🟤
Fully grown caterpillars drop to the soil and pupate.
Some overwinter in the soil.
Duration: 1–2 weeks during summer
5 • NEW ADULT MOTH 🦋
The moth emerges, mates, and begins the cycle again.
SEVERAL generations may occur each year.
🌿 BREAK THE CYCLE
✔ Spray Bt before damage becomes severe
✔ Repeat every 7-10 days
✔ Check baskets at dusk with a flashlight
✔ Deadhead damaged blooms
✔ Spinosad is also effective
🪱 WELL ROOTED TIP
Consider beneficial nematodes to help break the budworm life cycle.
Treating the soil in or around the area where infected plants are growing can help reduce the number of pupae that survive and emerge as moths later in the season.
✔ Apply to moist soil
✔ Water before and after application
✔ Best used in late spring and again in late summer
✔ Particularly useful in and around containers, hanging baskets, even gardens that experience budworm (and over 250 ground dwelling insect pupa and larvae) damage year after year
Reach out to Kopacz Nursery & Florist for all things B.t, Spinosad, and beneficial nematodes!
Well Rooted Garden Consulting
Grow Confidently.
Eastern Oregon • Drawing on Nearly 20 Years of Nursery Experience

06/19/2026

🐛🌸 Petunias & Geraniums Full of Holes? Meet the Budworm! 🌸🐛
If your petunias or geraniums, even Calibrachoa suddenly look like something took a tiny hole punch to the blooms, chances are you've got budworms.
🔍 Signs to look for: • Tiny black pellets (frass) on leaves or petals
• Ragged, chewed flower petals
• Blooms that fail to open properly
• Small green, tan, or brown caterpillars hiding inside buds
🌿 What can you do?
✔ Check plants at dusk or after dark with a flashlight
✔ Hand-pick any caterpillars you find
✔ Spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) every 7-10 days, in the evening, while caterpillars are small
✔ Spinosad is also very effective
✔ Remove damaged blooms to reduce hiding places
🛒 Kopacz Nursery & Florist is your local resource for all things Bt, Spinosad and budworm.
Budworms are often active in Eastern Oregon from late June through September, so now is the perfect time to keep an eye out!
Have you spotted budworms in your baskets yet?
Post a photo in the comments—I’d love to take a look! 👀🌺
🌳 Well Rooted Garden Consulting
Grow Confidently.
Eastern Oregon • Drawing on Nearly 20 Years of Nursery Experience
"One tiny caterpillar can ruin an entire hanging basket. Here's what to watch for!"

06/18/2026

Women entrepreneurs, business owners, makers, creators, and professionals—our next Eastern Oregon Women's Business Lab networking event is just around the corner!

🗓 Tuesday, July 21
⏰ 6:30–8:00 PM
📍 The Next Chapter Bookstore Next Chapter Bookstore | Hermiston, OR

https://www.facebook.com/share/18E7UCXxDs/

Join us for an evening of connection, conversation, collaboration, and community with fellow women business owners from across Eastern Oregon.

Whether you're running a storefront, selling at local markets, building a side hustle, offering professional services, or growing an established business, there's a seat for you at the table.

✨ Tag your favorite woman entrepreneur or business owner below and introduce them to The Lab!

https://www.eowomensbusinesslab.com/

Together, we're building stronger businesses, stronger communities, and a stronger Eastern Oregon.

06/17/2026

06/02/2026

Well Rooted Garden Consulting June 2026 Employee of the Month, Ashley!

🌱 Employee Spotlight: Ashley
“Whether she’s greeting clients, inspecting gardens, or reminding Roxanne to take breaks, Ashley helps to keep Well Rooted running with heart, hugs, and plenty of tail wagging.” 🐾

06/02/2026

Half the bugs people panic over and spray are the ones doing the pest control for free.
Each of these is a predator or a parasite of the pests that actually damage your plants. A garden full of them needs almost no spray — because the spray is what wipes them out first.

- Ladybug — Adult and Larva Both Hunt
The adult eats aphids. The spiny black-and-orange larva eats MORE aphids — up to 200 before it pupates. Also eats mites and soft scale. The larva looks like a tiny alligator and most people kill it because they don't recognize it. Learn what it looks like.

- Green Lacewing — The Aphid Lion
The adult is a delicate green insect attracted to porch lights. The larva is the weapon — called an "aphid lion," it clears aphids, mites, and pest eggs by the hundreds. One larva eats 200+ aphids before pupating. The adult drinks nectar. The larva does the killing.

- Hoverfly — Pollinator and Predator in One Lifecycle
The adult looks like a small bee but doesn't sting — a harmless mimic that pollinates your flowers. The larva is a translucent slug-like creature that eats entire aphid colonies overnight. Two jobs from one insect, split between life stages.

- Parasitic Wasp — Tiny, Harmless to You, Devastating to Pests
Most are smaller than a grain of rice. They lay eggs inside caterpillars, aphids, and whiteflies. The larvae consume the host from within. The white cocoons on a hornworm's back are parasitic wasp pupae — the wasp already won. Never kill a parasitized caterpillar.

- Ground Beetle — The Night Shift
Works after dark when you're inside. Patrols the soil surface eating slugs, cutworms, and root maggots. You rarely see them because they hide under mulch and debris during the day. A garden with ground beetles has fewer slug problems without a single pellet of bait.

- Soldier Beetle — The Soft Red-and-Black One
Soft wing covers, typically orange-red and black. Eats aphids on your flower heads while simultaneously pollinating. Harmless. Abundant in late summer on goldenrod and yarrow. People swat them thinking they're pests. They're not.

- Minute Pirate Bug — The Speck-Sized Assassin
Two to three millimeters long. Barely visible. Destroys thrips, spider mites, and pest eggs — the tiny pests that are nearly impossible to control with sprays. Commercial greenhouses BUY these. Your garden can grow them for free if you stop spraying.

Before you reach for a bottle, look closer. Some of those bugs are the reason you don't have more.

06/01/2026

Check out Tyler and Brian at Xotix Outdoor Care, Friends! A couple of really great guys that will work hard for YOU!

HERMISTON, Ore.-Xotix Outdoor Care is a fairly new business in Hermiston, but the local landscape design, installation, and maintenance company is leaving its mark across backyards and in the community. Getting started Tyler Olea unofficially started Xotix in 2022 while doing yard work at his grandm...