Whitewatervol's post on the beetles eating heuchera. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/beetles-dsvw-vd~4706780?n=9

Cutworm and or weevils. Weevil damage on my plants notches the edges and they chew their way in. You can find the cutworms by scratching the surface around the base of the plant. They are ugly gray 1/4" thick and 1.5" long (approx) and are easy to find. Wear gloves. Eeeewwwwww.

-Babka

Thanks! Looks like I will have to go out tonight with a flashlight and check, see if it's cutworms or beetles. I'm not good at squishing things, so I'll take a bucket of soapy water with me. If it's cutworms, I'll order some diatomaceous earth, too.

I'm not sure what area you are in but the asiatic garden beetles that eat my Heuchera hit their peak here about 6 weeks ago. I'm still finding a few but not very many. Aside from the asiatic garden beetles I also get some damage from lots of other pests like cutworms, slugs, and other beetles (Japanese, chafer, and leaf beetles). I guess I could spray a wide range insecticide but I'd hate to kill off the butterflies and fireflies that I enjoy in my yard.

I'm also a "he" FWIW.....

i never heard of cutworms as an issue.. other than in early spring .... go figure ... maybe its a regional thing????

though i suppose it could be a common term for a host of different things????

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cutworms&t=ffcm&ia=images&iax=images

i have noticed in the last few days.... many new moths around.. i figured to was time to change to growing some wings ... dont forget.. you still have to hate them.. when they have wings .... ,lol

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cut+worm+moth&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

ken

whitewatervol, the brown beetles you showed in your own post, I have definitely seen around. Had a few in the house. I did not know what they were. I thought they were "june bugs" until I took a closer look. But I won't know if that's the culprit til I get out there at night.

It's not unusual for me to see grubs when I dig. What kind, I don't know. But they usually just lay there, so I fling them away and think no more about it. Daytime, of course.

The Japanese beetles that attack my roses, I see during the day. So I doubt it's them.

Any time I see damage like that on my heucheras, I can always go out at night and find those black vine weevil buggers chewing on them. I have occasionally found them also chewing on hosta leaves.

Oh, my! I never knew what those were called!

I get those weevils as well but in much smaller numbers than the beetles. I'm not exaggerating to say I have drowned thousands of beetles this year. I think the peak night I counted over 150 caught in my watery jar of beetle death. I caught over 100 per night for over a week in mid-June.

I'm not sure if it is related, but our yard was a neglected mess when we moved in 7 years ago.

Definitely black vine weevil on the hosta leaves. Those are their notches.

Linnea, did you find any bugs? I have same damage which is unusual for my garden as well. Life of a bug, different year. Agree on weevil more than other bugs.

I just applied beneficial nematodes, hopefully it will restore balance

I forgot to go out with the flashlight last night. Checking other beds just now, I found many areas are affected, not just my prize hosta bed.

I bought some diatomaceous earth today. I will verify, then apply. Possible rain today, supposedly it loses effectiveness after rain.

I went out tonight with the flashlight, and found...nothing! Do I need to wait several hours after dark? It was full dark, but only 9 pm.

I discovered the weevils during daylight hours. They don't smash very easily. Get out the beneficial nematodes to get their larvae. Once they are hatched they are difficult to control.

-Babka

You probably need to check at multiple different times of the day since you aren't sure of the exact culprit. The Asiatic Garden Beetles seem to be most active around 10 or 11 PM and come out in bigger numbers on hotter evenings in my garden. Japanese Beetles and the Weevils feed more during the day so you'd want to check in the early morning, then every 2-3 hours during the day. It can be really time consuming.

yep, found nothing too. I am also looking into new BT offered by Gardens Alive. Anyone used it?

What's BT?

bacillus thuringiensis