I am fighting
with the Japanese Beetles right now, which are nesting on my Knockout roses. Periodically
I go out to the rose bushes with a small container of water which has a little squirt
of dish soap in it and I grab the infidels and throw them into the water! (I
put a plastic glove on.) Sometimes, I can just shake/knock one into the water,
but if there is a cluster of bugs, it is better if I grab them in a scooping
motion so no one makes an escape. I leave the container out on the driveway for
a while, hoping some bird will find a treat. Eventually, I pour the soup onto
the drive, and step on the bugs, just to be sure. Usually, the carcasses
disappear within a day, so I presume the birds are happy with the meal.
The beetles
are also eating my Linden Tree and some Coleus, but I haven’t caught them on
the Coleus, and the Linden tree is too big to bother with. About 3-4 years ago,
I tried one of those commercial bag/scent traps, but it was overwhelming how
many bugs collected.
A different
invader appeared in my garden this year – an unusual (for me) weed. A gardening
friend helped to identify it as Broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine), sometimes referred to as “weedy orchid”. Someone else wanted to see it
in flower, but that looks like it has FAR too many seeds to allow it to flower.
So, I dug it out. And, now I will be on the lookout for more this year and
next. In the pic, the leaves behind the weed are Siberian Iris.
On a happier note, here are some Common
Nodding Onions in bloom. Aren’t they cute! (Although I will admit that they
have gotten a little (cough, cough) out of control this year.)
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