ProfessorRoush is NOT, of course, referring to a mythical reunion of Paul, Ringo, George, and any ex-band members who may exist, because if I was, I would have spelled the noun of the title as "Beatles." Instead, I'm obviously referring to to the barely-visible rear end of the demonic chitinous lout on the lower right side of the white flower here (and not the other long-snouted insect to the left). Do you see the hiney of the Japanese Beetle in the lower left of the flower? Look closer. Click on it to blow up the photo if you need to. See the bristling patches of white hair along the edges of its abdomen?
I was simultaneously amused and alarmed eight days ago, when, as I visited a local commercial horticultural facility, I overheard a gardening couple asking a store clerk what they could buy to kill Japanese Beetles. Thus alerted that the blankety-blank beetle season was upon us, I vowed to be ever-diligent over the next few days, and, sure enough, on July 1st I found the first Japanese Beetles of 2018 on 'Snow Pavement', 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup', 'Polareis', and, of course, 'Blanc Double de Coubert'. The first two victims can be seen at the left, taken moments before I squished them into beetle pulp. In fact, I found and squished eight beetles on that first evening. The Ex-Beetles of my garden.
In another more typical picture of the damage that Japanese Beetles can cause to a beautiful bloom, I give you the traumatized bloom of 'Earth Song' that I discovered this morning, seen in the photo at right complete with the Japanese Beetle hiding in the center of the flower (please ignore the Melyrid at the bottom. I see the latter insects all the time and they don't hurt the flowers). By the morning of the second day of the 2018 invasion, my total kill is now 14 squished beetles. Unfortunately, it should have been 15 squished beetles (one male escaped this morning by leaping off the edging brick before I could lower my foot in his direction).With a little research however, I just tonight discovered that, despite my vaunted prowess as a Japanese Beetle Terminator (Hasta la vista, beetles!), I'm winning a small tactical skirmish, but losing the strategic war. As if Rose Rosette Disease and Japanese Beetles don't cause enough damage in my garden, the long-nosed brown insect to the left in the first picture above is NOT a harmless flower beetle. The Internet informs me that it is a Rose Curculio Weevil (Merhynchites bicolor), another flower-eater and civilization destroyer sent to my garden by the demons of hell. I should be just as diligent handpicking these little snouted monsters as I am the Japanese Beetles, and yet I knew not of their existence prior to this. It seems to not be enough that I have one beetle enemy, the crunchy critters have now enlisted allies. Saints preserve my roses!
i noticed a little leaf damage on june 22 and saw/killed the first japanese beetles on june 24. they seem to show up about a day earlier each year. in my gardening, this is what i seem them on most often: fiddleleaf ferns, azaleas, meadowsweet, one of my hydrangeas, coneflowers, false sunflower and a chokecherry. in my mom's gardening, they would decimate hollyhocks in a day and then glom onto the roses and milkweed.
ReplyDeletei use just water in a cool-whip tub with a drop or two of dish soap to kill them. they are definitely worse this year than in the last few years, but aren't as bad as in the first years i lived here (10-12 years ago). since then, more of my neighbors have been using commercial lawn care people (i'm the only one who doesn't), so the chemicals are probably coming into my lawn, and i have fewer grubs, etc. i haven't seen your snout-nosed pest here, but i'm not that diligent about looking. i have seen aphids the last two years, but never noticed them before that. --suz in NE ohio, just a novice gardener who learns a lot from your site. thank you.
Yes, my parents experienced the beetles in Indiana years before I did here. I remember coming home one summer and seeing masses of them on the roses in the backyard. They also noticed they decreased over time. Thanks for reading my blog.
DeleteThey've hit full-force in Atchison, too. The roses were hit the worst, but they are also eating my Four O'Clocks, zinnia leaves, marigolds, crabapples, and the big linden tree again this year. I am wondering if the milky spore treatment would be worth investing in, or would they just come in from outside of the courtyard. Much luck your way for your part of the war!
ReplyDeleteYikes; just a nuisance to me, but that's part of your summer work with the cut flowerS! I'm told milky spore works well, but takes several years to reach maximum effect.
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