This means war...

Apparently there are some not-so-friendly creatures invading our neighborhood. They've been eating flowers and plants in yards all summer, and their most recent victim was us! When we came back from Oklahoma, this is what I found on our front porch:

This is the evidence, I believe, that some small creature has been digging in them. In this next picture you can even see some ugly white mushroom-type things growing in the back pot. Once this summer my mom pulled the beginnings of an oak tree out of a pot on the back deck. She said that she thought squirrels were burying their acorns in my pots. I'm thinking that might still be happening, but that doesn't account for the mushroom...

As if the destruction of my potted plants is not enough, I also just found out that my azaleas have been completely taken over by lace bugs. I know you might be wondering how I know this, and it was after extensive research on the Internet that I realized what was happening. You can see in the picture that the leaves are definitely not as bright and green as they should be. That's because, according to the azalea society website, the lace bugs are sucking all the chlorophyll out of the leaves. (It's amazing the information you can learn on the web, by the way.) I bought some bug spray that claimed to kill these suckers and have already sprayed all three big plants completely, but I don't think it's working. I'm going to have to call in some big guns...whatever or whoever that might be. Any suggestions for either of these problems would be much appreciated. I'm declaring an all-out war to save my flowers, and I'll be sure to keep you all posted. Try not to hold your breath...