Mine are doing the same thing! I started out at 7a.m gardening, and had I huge white bloom with a red eye. By 1p.m., I only had 25% of a huge flower left! What is working well for the rest of you? I have a butterfly friendly garden, so I only want to spray my hibiscus.

Its weird how they pick on some things but leave other things alone. One year it might be the raspberries the next year the hollyhocks.

The only thing I do with any sort of success is to go out there every morning before I go to work and every evening before I go to bed and squish beetles. The more you kill the less there seems to be. The mob of beetles sends out chemical signals that attract other beetles. The chewed on plant sends out chemical signals that attract even more beetles. So the quicker you can react to the invasion the better off your garden will be.

Some people cut down the plants the insects seem to be attracted to and let it regrow after the beetles have moved on. Sometimes this works - but most of the time the beetles just move over to something else.

I used to spray. I used to keep containers of soapy water handy. I used to keep small blocks of wood nearby to squash them between. Now I just pinch them with my fingers. I find that I can delicately sneek my hands in between the branches and leaves and not disturb them while they eat. Squishing quietly from one beetle to the next. If you bump into them, they all drop off the plant at once as a defense - so you have to sneak.

The other day I was wondering why the blueberries tasted like the way stink bugs smelled. I realized I hadn't washed my hands....

Eeeeyewww, John...LOL. I can't stand the way they grasp onto your fingers and hang on. I've been using the soap in a bucket method but they are definitely still ahead of me. Nasty boogers!

A sprinkling of Sevin Dust can protect vulnerable plants from Japanese beetle attacks.

Yes, I squish away - or grab a handful, shake them around, drop them on the ground and crunch them with my gardening clogs. Plants of choice this year - Rose of Sharon (big time- destroying the buds), Hibiscus, eggplant of all things, a few Salvia, Ruella, Crape Myrtle...but worst of all, my basil (they've made a mess out of it).

Argggh.

Craig

OMGosh! How funny! Has anyone ever gotten SO much pleasure from killing something else?

The beetles really don't bother my Hibicus...but the Crepe Myrtles and Dahlias...DANG!

Yes, Sevin dust has worked for me, but like washing a car...as soon as I dusted, it would rain.

I've found Milky Spore to work well. Long term.

I went over to a hollyhock bush with my soapy dish. The bush is multi-colored - new to me from last year's seed. As I was knocking a JP Beetle, here and there, from the corner of my eye, I saw - bear with me, now - what I thought was a dark colored flower - Well, it wasn't "dark" it was a white flower totally, totally filled with beetles - to the point that they covered the entire flower as they dangled from it. What a killing I made!! I must have gotten at least 25 in one swoop into the dish! Carrie