GRASSHOPPERS!!

It started with vanishing nasturtiums.  They were simply gone..nothing left of them.  Then it was the cilantro.  Then a few mornings ago I find that a once happy and thriving morning glory plant looked as if it had been snipped into pieces by a scissors-happy 3yr old.  Then a fern was gone.

ENOUGH!  Something seemed to be eating my precious little plants.  After struggling up and down this hill carrying bucket loads of soil to plant stuff in (as the rocky terrain my hill is will not sustain many plant forms) and then coddling tender plants through late freezes, a tornado, 3 hail storms, and the heat of hades... pouring gallons and gallons of water on them to sustain them through this drought...  And it comes to this!

They are gone.  No word of warning...no wilting to let me know they'd go... they are just gone!  I was looking about for some tell-tale signs of what sort of critter would be so discriminant in their choices for lunch.

I mentioned the missing flora to my husband, and he went to the shade garden to investigate further. Only then did I discover what must have been the culprit all along, as about 25 giant, 2.5" long, flying grasshoppers lurched from the shredded cannas as we approached.  Only that morning, my new canna transplants had surprised me with new leaves and new growth coming from the ground.  And now they are in tatters.  And it was grasshoppers enjoying lunch at my expense to blame.

I've hit the internet for solutions...and I don't think I've found one.  Evidently, grasshoppers are best controlled when they are very small.  Nothing small about these evil critters.  I did read that I should walk over the ground and count how many flew in a specified, measured area, in order to determine if control measures should be taken next spring.  I saved myself the trouble and counted those perched on the side of my house.  15.  Those are the grasshoppers who've eaten their fill of my little plants, and decided to relax for a bit.  Control measures needed.

I want to find a way to control them without pouring pesticide on my ground.  Any suggestions??  I need info, people... does anyone know what to do about these varmints??