Why I don’t grow roses....

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The included photos in this blog will show you why I gave up growing roses. The reason is that brilliant jewel of an insect, the Japanese Beetle. If there was a garden version a paper shredder, this insect is it. Over the years I have learned through trial and error what plants they readily find appetizing and what they do not. It appears this time of year just when the gardens are going into their full glory. One of my photos shows an ornamental plum tree which will have a majority of its leaves skeletonized within several weeks. The other photos show a yellow Lilly being host to mating and feeding activity. Other Lilly’s are passed by as shown. There are traps sold with a sexual attractant which happens to be Eugenol which is used in dental offices and give the office its peculiar smell, more so in the past. The traps are falling out of favor since it is a calling card for these voracious scarabs to come to one’s garden. There are sporicides that one can apply to lawns to kill the beetle grubs but it takes a few years. Since most homeowners in the USA have lawns and all they are interested in is growing grass, they don’t care about controlling this insect. Is this Beetle in the UK and do you have a similar problem?

• 30 Jun, 2022
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