"Ugh, I thought they only liked roses!"

Yea...no. They devour pretty much anything, although they do have their favorites. Over here it seems to be roses, fruit trees, especially the cherries, raspberries, and zinnias. And surprisingly to me, the dock out in the pasture.

What I'd like to know is where are the birds when you need them? Good for nothings don't seem to be the last bit interested in pecking off the JBs. Humph!!

P. polymorpha is my go-to plant when I want to fill a bucket. The other favorites are rose flowers, Japanese wisteria, and Linden, and between those plants I can round up the bulk of the beetles, except for the Linden which is out of reach.

Give the birds some time. House sparrows and chipping sparrows here like to do arial battle with the beetles or pick them up on the turf, and the numbers start dropping after a week or two.

Okay, so sounds like I need to wait for the birds to start doing their thing?? I hope that’s soon…this plant STINKS, and I never noticed it until i was up close, flicking beetles off the blooms.

I’m trying to stay on top of this before they start attracting greater numbers to the area. The few rose shrubs I have are between flushes, so I don’t have to worry about that for now. They’re also hanging out on shrubby potentilla, but PP apears to be their go-to for sure. Ugh, so many pests and nuisances in the garden this year; caught this guy on the garden this morning, nibbling on a run-away pumpkin vine. Not sure why these menaces have to be so cute.

Oh for sure - I do flick them into a cup filled with soapy water to kill them. My neighbors drive by and probably think I’ve taken to day drinking, since i’m out multiple times a day making the rounds in my garden, red solo cup firmly in hand, ha ha!

I was being smug thinking that my PP had no such infestation and yet just this morning I see the little devils.

This plant is 8 feet tall and even wider and not easily accessible for me to get at these creatures. "Poly" will have to fend for itself.

They like my Salix Caprea Pendula, but so far so good this year…….. I guess I’ll have to start checking daily.

debra

I smish them with my fingers as I see them so the others can smell their mangled bodies and flee in fear.

It's mostly just cosmetic damage, the worst affected plants I have are my cannas and hardy hibiscus. They'll be gone soon enough.

Cearbhaill, your post cracked me up! I did read that the scent of their decaying corpses would repell other beetles, so you could be onto something here!

"It's mostly just cosmetic damage..."

They decimated two newly planted fruit trees of mine last year, which did not survive.

I’ve been battling japanese beetles for years. they say to prevent them, you need to kill the grubs in your yard, because that is the larve that becomes the beetle. Ive religiously treated for grubs and still have beetles. They really seem to love my climbing hydrangea, and can destroy the top of it in a day. I use the Seven spray that connects to a hose and drench the plant. That kills the beetles and keeps them from coming back.

The problem is that even if you put down the stuff that kills the grubs, unless your neighbors do the same, they'll just travel from over there. Although, the numbers will be reduced if you do your part (at least in theory...).

I’ve been having some success by just going out and killing them multiple times a day. There’s never more than a few on PP, and then a few more on my roses that are starting to bloom again. I don’t want to use a systemic like Sevin because of the potential for damage to beneficial insects.

I’ll have to look into grub control, I certainly have them, if the mole tunneling is any indication. We’re very careful what we use on our lawn because the runoff makes its way into the creek on our property, which is part of the Rouge River watershed.