I have a friend right here in town that said she may stop growing roses too, because of the **&^&*)()) beetles. Can you say annoying, hateful, chewing insects? Everything will go well and you are excited about the beautiful roses and them BAM. They are here and hungry and I hate them. It's very disheartening. And there's a chain reaction for me. I don't want to go out and spray only to see my roses being defoliated. I usually only water and run in! Sorry for the rant.

Carla

What's not to love?

{{gwi:224808}}

A love in, east coast style.

And harryshoe takes such perverse delight in grossing us out with his JB photos!

Kate

It's not just roses. We lament the damage to our roses because this is, after all, a rose forum. I put up with the damage to my roses, but I refuse to grow other plants that they like: the more rugose hydrangeas (oak leaf and climbing varieties), pussy willow, wysteria, crab apple, etc.

Harry, I have a few photos like yours that I took last year for our rose society newsletter. I changed my mind when I realized that they were just too nauseating to publish.

Connie

I've seen them on my crab apple but not on wysteria.

I was lucky this year, I hardly had any. I don't know if it was because of the drought (but others in drought areas had normal or higher numbers) or because I got rid of this one yellow rose that they were VERY attracted to.

It did make a huge difference in my enjoyment of roses and I had a lot more summer blooms (before it got really hot and dry) than I've ever had.

And they stay crunchy in milk!

I didn't have many this year either, I only sprayed once. I fear for next year, though.

Harry is a stage 6 JB sufferer dealing with his sorrow the only way he knows how.

ignorance
horror
denial
rage
vengeance
anger diffused with humor
acceptance

Isn't there something that can be sprayed that the JBs would not like the taste of? Lemon juice, etc? Just wondering...
It is likely to be an issue next yr, but this year I just saw 3 beetles period! The late cold snap followed by the extreme high temps? Maybe?
I know someone suggested planting garlic w/ the roses. I'm going to try that, maybe some other herbs as well. I expect I will be picking them off into soapy water. (If all else fails, I'll do what my grandfather did- pay the children to pick the bugs!) Brandy

Top Three Reasons to be happy your beetles aren't Chinese.

3. They're prettier than Chinese rose beetles.
2. They come out during the day where you can see them.

and the number one reason Japanese rose beetles are better than Chinese rose beetles:

1. They LEAVE.

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.

JBs do make life hell if you're a rose gardener. Devon, although they prefer the flowers, they will eat the leaves of the rose bush when not in flower.

They were accidently brought into this country sometime in the 1950s, I think. And being without their natural predators, they have run amok in the NE and SE (still can't figure out why they're not in Fla). The last I heard, they have crossed the Mississippi River, so yes, they will eventually make it to CA, but it will likely take quite a while. Maybe once they hit CA and threaten the Ag business, they will be taken seriously and someone will come up with a solution.

I have never seen a companion plant, smelly or non, that has had any affect on JBs whatsoever. Nor are they deterred by smelly/bad-tasting sprays (garlic, etc.).

I also refuse to grow any other plant that attracts them besides roses. Then my neighbors just planted a Rose of Sharon tree next to the new rose bed I am building! grr.

One question I have is: why aren't they in Europe? You'd think by now they would have slipped in either from the East or a shipment of something from the US. The climate would be ideal there.

I've used Jungle Rain Clean Leaf Spray for the JB's and other insects, and really like it. It's made of castile soap and citrus oils. It has a slight scent of citrus, very pleasant scent to it. I like the fact that it's available pre-mixed so it's very convenient and easy to use.

I also like Rose Pharm spray with peppermint oil in it.

This was my worst year ever for Japanese Beetles. The weird thing was that the quantity was down, but they started earlier and lasted longer. I had only 3 weeks beetle-free in June. I was still picking them off the roses in October!! And just when I thought the frosts and freezing temps would have eliminated them all, this past weekend while cleaning up the rose garden I found 2 of them, very much alive! That night I had a nightmare that they had invaded my house and were crawling on and munching on ME, because there was snow on the ground and no more roses to snack on....when you look at these nasty things for months on end they get to you!
No doubt that they cause destruction in the rose garden, but they are the stuff of nightmares....just look at Harry's photo! Unfortunately they are a reality to many of us, and waking up won't eliminate them from our lives.

Celeste

Wow Celeste, I have the same recurring dream. In the photo above, instead of a rose bloom, its my head!

Do you think I need help?

Write Dr. Pill immediately, Harry.

I know one person who removes all blooms when the beetles are out so that the plant doesn't waste its energy on them. Maybe it pains him too much to see blooms being eaten. Seems to me they might then eat more leaves. I have heard that if you crush a beetle it will attract more beetles. This may be a myth propagated by beetles. I sprayed some beetles with BAyer insecticide this year but didn't like poisoning my blooms any better than seeing beetles. I would rather knock some off into a can of soapy water.
Linda

next summer I am gong to try Dr. Bonner's tea tree oil liquid soap

Carla

But, removing the blooms doesn't always help. They will skeletonize leaves when there are no blooms. The danged things have even tried to take a nip or two out of me!