I'm so sorry to hear about your house in LA burning BClark! That is a devastating loss all around and it must be hard to start over. I wish you joy in your new garden and it'll be a new experience in rose growing compared to California. You've discovered the "joys" of gardening with Japanese Beetles, and on the east coast you have to be careful to pick roses that don't blackspot too much. If you want to grow no-spray, you have to be very strategic about picking roses that don't blackspot. For instance, roses like Quietness and Apricot Candy don't blackspot much in prone areas, but most David Austin roses are nearly leafless without spraying. You'll need to experiment to see what does well for you in your new home.

As far as Japanese Beetles go, they do seem to prefer tall and fragrant roses, particularly in my yard those that show their stamens. However, they don't limit themselves to those roses and they'll eat whatever takes their fancy. I wouldn't avoid fragrant roses in the interest of not attracting JBs, because if you grow roses in a susceptible area they'll find you. The most effective methods that don't involve chemicals are to pick and squish them, or knock them into a bucket of soapy water daily (sometimes multiple times daily). If you grow a "trap crop" of geraniums sprayed with BT (I think that's the organic product) they apparently love them and it can discourage them from roses. Well, until the geraniums are gnawed to death. They have made lace out of my hardy hibiscus, and while they can handle it they're going to be attracted to what I grow.

Fortunately Japanese Beetles have a limited reign in the garden - mostly July through mid-August. Some people just cut off all the buds in that time range to not attract JBs and they say it works. It probably makes a really nice fall flush.

Welcome to Garden Web and we're happy to answer questions! You have a lot of benefits of gardening in NY, including ability to grow a lot of once-bloomers and spring bulbs that need winter chill.

Cynthia

@BClark, So sorry to read that you lost your home in the fires last year. My colleagues lost their home to the Eaton fire, it was so devastating.

So thankful that you are able to start a new garden in the east coast.

I’m not sure if fragrance is the key attractant of Japanese beetles, because those I’ve seen recently in my garden seem to be going for the dahlias, which lack the perfume of roses.

I use 5x7” organza bags for my dahlias, I wonder if that might work for roses just in the brief period when the beetles are very active in the summer.

@BClark So happy to hear from you, and best wishes for your garden. Japanese Beetles traps do work if set 30 feet away from roses. Back in 2011, Japanese Beetles devoured even my Knock-outs (no scent) so I set 1 trap and caught thousands of them !! I stomp on them and fed them to the birds.

After over a decade of setting traps and setting up bird-feeders to attract more birds, I saw less than 5 beetles this year, and I grew 160 FRAGRANT varieties for the past decades. I don't even bother to set traps for this year nor the past 2 years since we have so few beetles. We have hundreds of birds with 2 bird feeders, plus the neighbor's bird feeders ... and the birds hunt down the beetles.

Decades ago I saw MORE BEETLES on Knockouts than any fragrant roses. Beetles go after knock-outs with open petals, also fruity scents. Beetles don't care for zillion petals fragrant RED roses in my garden, and they don't care for myrrh scented ones. Beetles can't get into the over 100 petals roses, but they nest easier inside the less petals like knock-outs.

BCClark - you've been through a lot. I'm sorry about that. And now you have JBs. Sounds like Straw has an idea that has worked wonders for her. I'd sure give that a try. You could do a combination of three methods...cut off all rose blooms, grow geraniums and kill the attracted beetles, and put out bird feeders/nest boxes. I hope they never come here, the rotters!! Good luck.

Thank you all for your comments and tips! I didn't have wifi for a few days there. I appreciate your ideas and nice to hear from you all. I decided to take a chance and get my favorites plus a couple of new ones for me. I'll deal with the beetles once that problem arrives, hopefully it won't even be bad here in the end. I will be working from home now so I'll have time to pluck them off. Will try the geranium idea too, couldn't hurt.

I have these five coming:

Bathsheba

Abe Darby

Chippendale

Spirit of Freedom

Poet's wife

First 3 are favorites and the Spirit of Freeom and Poet's wife will be new tries.

I'll post photos once I get them started

@BClark, Good luck!

BClark, I remember when you used to post here several years ago. I wish you the very best in your new east coast home!