i dont know if its helpful for the bugs you have but i grabbed a bag of live ladybugs at the garden center yesterday that is supposed to eat the bad bugs.

That would be so frustrating. My main passion for many many decades was roses; and every bug, every disease known to man seemed to like roses here. The only pest we never had was Japanese Beetles. I'd seen pictures of them swarming roses, almost standing on top of each other to devour all the blooms. It was sickening. I always have sympathy for anyone that has them. Rose Rosette Virus has killed out most of my roses (fatal and no cure- just lost another one 2 weeks ago), so daylilies are my wonderful new passion now. I just hope never to see a Japanese Beetle on them.........Maryl

Interesting. Yes, there seem to be fewer Japanese beetles, but the earwigs are a plague. On another forum, it was suggested to livehead every evening, as they hide deep in the flowers. Unfortunately, I have too many to do that. Neighbor's compost pile probably doesn't help.

Maryl, my roses look like hell too. :-( I never had Japanese beetles here until last year, and they completely decimated my roses. I don't treat my yard with insecticides because I don't want to kill the beneficials, bees, or butterflies. But the beneficials obviously can't keep up with the onslaught!! We had an extremely mild winter - the ground never even froze, and I'm in zone 5b! We also had a milder than normal winter in 2015/2016, but it wasn't nearly as warm as this past winter. Consequently, the bug population is through the roof! Last summer my veterinarian told me the fleas were worse than he'd ever seen them, so I can imagine what this summer will be like.

I want to find out where to get some milky spore to treat my yard to eliminate or at least decrease the Japanese beetles in future years. They're the worst!!!

Deanna

What insect ruins the daylily buds to the point that they stop developing, or they open deformed or won't open? I haven't had a problem with that one in the past, but whatever it is, it's making the rounds in my gardens. I'm ready to declare war!!!

Deanna

I didn't even bother planting a vegetable garden this year. The bugs were so bad last year I hardly picked anything. In fact most of my plants were just killed by early August. Flea beetles, Japanese beetles, Squash borers, striped and spotted squash bugs, stink bugs, cabbage worms, potato bugs, on and on. I tried lots of home made remedies, and milder insecticides, but nothing too strong. If I ever do it again I'll have to abandon my organic approach. Oh yeah there were also deer, rabbits, squires, chipmunks etc...

Deanna, I posted my insect problem on another post but I will repeat what I found out about my dreaded lily insect. Several years ago, several daylily friends asked if I had any problems with "that little red bug" in my daylilies. I began noticing such an insect and one year my entire daylily season was destroyed due to the decimation of my buds. It feeds on the buds and they dry up and fall off or if they do develop, they are deformed as you noted. You don't even know it until your buds begin to turn brown much as they would if you were in drought conditions. I posted pics to a state university site and one of their entymologists emailed me with a name and how to fix. Unfortunately, it involved a pesticide so choices had to be made about whether to eliminate the pest or not have daylilies. Message me if you want more info. It's always something when you garden!

Kate