I Like Spiders

I like spiders. They don't destroy plant roots. They don't chew up leaves or bore through stems. I had a young Golden Rain Tree that was riddled to death by a multitude of borers and it was not a joke. Striped cucumber beetles do not restrict themselves to cucumbers. Flea beetles are not found on mammals. Mealybugs do not subsist on meal and Japanese beetles are not found on Japanese. Hornworms are not musical and grubs are not what any thoughtful person would eat. White flies wear black hats, scale insects are not to be weighed lightly and caterpillars do not purr. I pray for Praying Mantis in my garden but have fisticuffs with slugs. Many a long year ago, in the bloom of naiveté, I spotted a nest of cute, miniature spiders on a plant. My thoughts turned ugly when the plant expired from an infestation of spider mites. These are not the spiders I like. The ones I like are the kind that feast on the ones I detest, pests on plants.

I have fifteen hanging plants on the living room window wall. There are an additional thirty-eight potted plants in the same room. These help me keep my sanity during the season when I must back out of my driveway most slowly. There is a negligible amount of traffic on this road, however, the high snow banks prevent me from seeing if any of this negligible traffic is approaching when I am leaving. At this wintry time of year the indoor plants are most welcome. So are some varieties of spiders which I carefully herd to these plants. My vain hope is that if any inimical pests should show up, the spiders will get them. I also believe in fairies. To balance my philosophy, I do not believe politicians.

I construct my own hanging planters from ordinary plastic pots with self contained saucers. I drill three 3/32 inch holes around the periphery and near the lip of round pots. Square pots get four holes. Gently countersink both inside and outside of each hole to prevent chafing the hanging material. I use a cotton string to mark out the circumference of the pot. I then divide the string into three equidistant parts, mark it, and transfer the marks to the pot for the hole placement. I have used monofilament fishing line to hang pots but don't try this unless you can

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