When Mother Nature gives you bugs, make bug soup

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.)

Burst of Early June Blooms

We left to visit relatives for a few days and came back to a burst of blooms on several plants. None were blooming when I left.

Knockout Roses (with Columbine) and Nearly Wild Roses

 Peonies

Goatsbeard

Poppies

Ninebark

Mock Orange (I don't know why the leaves near the flowers always get brown edges)

Rhododendron

Last of my Irises

Coral Bells

Gas Plant (it is pinker than this pic makes it seem)

Summer Allium (the foliage is not from them)

Found a Peanut

Someone in my neighborhood feeds the critters peanuts. I frequently find shells in my yard. This spring, when I was digging up weeds, I found a peanut that had sprouted. When I dug up the second or third sprouted peanut, I thought it would be fun to see what would happen if I let it grow. I moved it to a better location (out of my mum bed), and put a marker by it. Here it is.

As I was doing some garden cleanup today, I decided to dig the plant out and see what had happened. I got some baby peanuts!

I’m not actually going to do anything with it, so it all went into the yard waste heap. But, I thought it was an interesting experiment!

My Knockout Roses are getting new blooms.

As are my Nearly Wild Roses.

The Start of Autumn

Autumn is upon us in my area. The beginning of this month was quite warm, hot even, but now, at the end of September things have changed over. Days are reaching for 70’s and nights are in the 50’s. And rain, plenty of rain. We’ve also been getting a lot of wind. Some of my pots are top-heavy and I awake nearly daily to find them like this.

 

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is done with its blooms, but the seed heads are forming. Cute little feathers!

 

The Joe Pye Weed took over the “fluffy white” duties from the Clematis.

My ‘Fireworks’ Goldenrod is peak right now.

And the bees love it!

The Fall Anemone is bouncy and cheerful.

My ‘Limelight’ Hydranga is a rusty pink, which I find pretty, but not what I expected. And, if it is going to be pink, it is in the wrong place because it is in front in my white-yellow-blue triangle. It was whiteish-green this summer. I’ll have to find out if this is typical behavior.

The Knockout Roses have perked up now that the infidel Japanese beetles are gone.

The Chard that I planted for color has intensified.

And, some late starting Cleome finally bloomed.

This is my favorite time of year!