Agree that it is asparagus beetle larvae damage. It is the classic appearance. Adults will usually skin away round patches while the larvae do narrow trails as they inch along. It is far more apparent on the purple spears but on green spears you may not even notice it. So the issue is how aggressive you want to get in eliminating it. Organic controls are limited - hand picking, earlier harvesting, botanical sprays, importing beneficial insects, etc. - so usually some percentage of damage such as you see is accepted. Otherwise it means bringing out the chemical insecticides. That is a choice only you can make. Dave

I do not like to automatically blame teens for things like this, but the girls may be your culprits since they were in the area and may have seen the pumpkin patch. But, without proof, you can't accuse them. If you see them again, you might mention that a pumpkin was stolen from your patch and ask if they saw anyone hanging out in the area. Might make them realize what they did was wrong - if it was them. One of my neighbors looked out her window one day to see a man and his young son cutting branches off of her fir trees. She went outside and asked them what they were doing. "cutting branches for a wreath" they said. She replied that the area was clearly mark no trespassing, that the trees were on private property and that they did not have permission to cut branches off of her trees. "We're not hurting anything, you have lots of trees" the man replied. When she further objected, he started swearing at her and calling her a b*tch. At that point, she ordered him off of her property and threatened to call law enforcement. The thing is, if he had been nice and polite about it and asked for permission first, she would have let him have all the branches he wanted. Honestly, the entitlement of some people - it boggles the mind.

Thank you . As soon as I read the "firecracker" moniker I knew it was the plant I have here . I remember the firecracker part. . I also thought it was lysmachia but could only find images of green leafed plants searching for that without the firecracker name. Appreciate your help

I have this Asian jasmine and I hate it! It looks like yours is in a contained area, which might be better than mine. Previous owner planted it as a groundcover here and it is unmanageable. It goes up adjacent hydrangeas and into hedges. It grows so fast. I trim and it grows more and more. As soon as I can get rid of it (if even that is possible??) I am going to plant something else there. Hard to see exactly, but looks like it is growing up your tree already. watch that....