I've been able to handle my rose slugs with hand picking them off and I haven't resorted to pesticides (yet) so I'm not sure how effective they would be on them. You may not be seeing them because of how much damage they have done. They ate what they could and have probably moved on. Watch the new growth. The first noticeable sign of a rose slug is a very small clear patch in the leaf. It's like the pictures you posted but small clear patches on just a couple leaves. With my bushes I spot the leaf with the small clear patch, flip the leaf over, and the rose slug is usually right underneath or only a leaf away. I also found some ways to control rose slugs. One point it makes is that if you apply the foliar sprays, you have to make sure to spray the undersides of the leaves. Control for the Rose Slugs - 1.) Hand smashing the rose slugs as you can find them on the undersides of the leaves (look early morning). 2.) Repeated foliar sprays as needed, using Insecticidal Soaps or Horticultural Oils, but making sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where the rose slugs are feeding, not the tops of the leaves. 3.) Apply a systemic insecticide such as Bayer's 3 in 1 Rose Care, where the insecticide is taken up inside the plant and the sawfly larvae are killed as they feed on the leaves. Note:) The foliar sprays are usually the most effective and most immediate control, but a combination of systemic and foliar sprays works quite nicely. Here is a link that might be useful: control for rose slugs

Don't you just love Harry's picture? Connie had mentioned we talk about JBs and roses because this is a rose form. This is very true. JBs are destroyers of many other plants besides roses. There are a few I keep around just to let them feast. Pussy Willows do come to mind right away. Linden trees, Crabapple trees are all plants that the JB will consider much more tasty. I've found that Neem Oil does help to dissuade JBs a good bit from the roses. It also helps with fungus disease such as black spot. I used it a lot last summer with fairly good results. Also, geraniums is a good distraction for JBs. I will often plant seed geraniums around my rose beds, or near them. The JBs enjoy them, but the plant sports a chemical that the JBs can't handle, giving them a belly ache and killing them. However, I don't suggest you go spend hundreds on seed geraniums but try them first. I've also put milky spore down. I've heard reports that it really doesn't work anymore, but I beg to differ. I still get JBs, but they aren't destroying my yard like they did in the past. Nor do I get visitors such as opposum and skunk like I did. Being out in the middle of farmer's fields, there's not a lot I can do against the JBs, but they don't like to go to far to lay their eggs and my lawn is a nice place to do that. Each year, you can see the swarming females preparing to lay their eggs in my lawn. At least the milky spore will stop those grubs; and with those grubs maybe millions more. The only other chemical besides the Neem Oil that has worked for me is Sevin. But Sevin is such a strong contact killer, it kills everything. I have a wildflower/English/American Country garden and it's full of birds, butterflies, bees and any assortment of wildlife. Husband likes to use it and I will tolerate that during the densest population of the JBs (only about once a year). I also told him to be sure to do only the rose bushes and keep it off the rest of the plants. Since I've put restrictions on it's use in my garden I've noticed more honey bees and other forms of wildlife more frequently. JBs are a pain in the posterior, but I'm still a rose gardener first.

People have been trying to kill off these wee buggers since the mid 1950's. I can remember the research people from Michigan State College asking Mom if it was okay to put one of those beetle traps in the yard and afterwards haveing the beetles where we had not seen them before that trap was placed. Stores sell you all kinds of stuff to "control" them including poisons to kill the grubs that become the adult beetles, usually without telling you that those poisons will also kill off your earthworms. Do not put any Japanese Beetle traps in your garden. Knock as many as you can into a bucket of soapy water, as often as you can. If they are too big a problem to hand control start with the least toxic means of control you can, usually a pyrethrin based dust or spray. The broad spectrum poisons, Carbaryl, Malathion, etc. have been found in the honey in the bee hives and is strongly suspected in making the bees more susceptible to what ever is killing them off, and if you use any honey at all you are eating more of that poison yourself. There is no one single means of control, except to look carefully at your soil to be sure it is good and healthy so it will grow strong and healthy plants that are less susceptible to insect pest attacks.

I am new here but found this thread most interesting. I am a huge fan of George Harrison and am currently designing a tribute garden to him. By referencing video footage of George at Friar Park from variuos EPK's that have been issued I have been able to establish some of the ornamentaition used in the grounds. Also from a web chat he gave on 15th February 2001 I have some of George's own recommendations of plants for gardens his suggestions were Miscanthus Zebrinas and Malepartus and a ginger by the name of Kahili. Whilst searching for plants to add to my garden I have made a list of over 200 varieties of differnet plants that could be seen to represent George and his work some of the links are a tad tenuous but some that might be helpful to you are A Rhoddodendhon - George's Delight A minature Lilly - Sweet Lord Various plants with the variety name of Midnight Blue Whilst I would dearly love a plant to be named after George in the abscence of this I have looked for plants that have the same name as a song lyric or can be seen to represent important people in his life such as the Dark Lady Rose to represent Olivia, The Little Leo Sunflower to represent his son, George's son is s Leo and he's not very tall, The Rhoddodenrhon Patty B etc etc. As part of the hard landscaping a mosaic of the Dark Horse record lable logo will be included. I hope this gives you some ideas for plants and themes to represent George in you Beatles themed gardens Looking forward to corresponding with you all on this forum. I will be setting up a website once I start work on the gardens and will pass the link onto you all when it is ready.