Thanks Straw!

I have this Memorial Day on my porch in a pot and I wonder if I should take it an acre away with the other MD's and maybe the beetles won't come any closer? But I have a lot of other new roses arriving that are supposed to have fantastic scent so they could presumably like them also.

I use nematodes and am calling Arbico today to see if they have anything that will eat the larvae.

Hi Lavender: Since "cucumber beetles are attracted to host plants by a chemical called cucurbitacin" ... Something stinky like cheap curry might confuse and deter them. Curry is composed of many smelly spices & herbs.

Rabbits kept eating one short rose, so I bought $3 HUGE bottle of curry-powder from ethnic store and sprinkled around the bush. I could smell the curry one foot away .. no more rabbits !!

Below is an excellent link on what herbs deter what insects:

http://spartanburgimagery.org/id179.html

1. Basil It is one of the best ways to keep flies out of your house. Plant basil next to the doors or use as a foundation planting mixed in with flowers. Flies will stay far away. Mosquitoes don't like it either.

2. Bay Leaf Grow bay outside in S.C. Buy dried bay leaf if you are unable to grow it; Dried basil works for keeping pests away. One bay leaf in white flour keeps weevils out. Scatter a few leaves on shelves to repel moths, roaches, earwigs, and mice. Flies hate the smell of bay leaves.

3. Lavender It repels moths, mosquitoes, and fleas. Grind and sprinkle on your pet's bedding. It repels mosquitoes, keeps rabbits out of your lettuce and spinach.

1. Mint, catnip, and pennyroyal planted around the foundation of your house will keep ants and mice out. Pennyroyal is repugnant to fleas, ants, flies, and mosquitoes. Large amounts of pennyroyal can be toxic to pets and children.
2. Rosemary repels mosquitoes and keeps moths out of clothing..
3. Sweet Woodruff is used to deter carpet beetles and moths. Lay it beneath wool carpets. It releases a sweet scent when you walk across your rugs.
4. Tansy repels flies, ants, fleas, moths, and mice.

Also 5 herbs to repel mosquitoes:

1. Citronella is a common natural ingredient in mosquito repellents. Citronella is a perennial ‘clumping’ grass, which grows to a height of 5 – 6 feet. It can be grown directly in the ground in climate zones where frost does not occur. They do best in full sun and well-drained locations.
2. Horsemint (or Bee balm) is an adaptable perennial plant that gives off a strong incense-like odor that confuses mosquitoes by masking the smell of its usual hosts. Its flowers will also attract bees and butterflies to your garden.
3. Marigolds are hardy annual plants with a distinctive smell that mosquitoes find particularly offensive. Marigolds contain Pyrethrum, a compound used in many insect repellents.

4. Ageratum emits a smell which mosquitoes find particularly offensive. Ageratum secretes coumarin, which is widely used in commercial mosquito repellents.
it is not advisable to rub the crushed leaves directly on the skin.

5. Catnip is a natural mosquito repellent. Entomologists at Iowa State University reported to the American Chemical Society that catnip is ten times more effective than DEET, the chemical found in most commercial insect repellents. Catnip, Nepeta cateria, is very easy to grow.
Many commercial insect repellents contain from 5% to 25% DEET. There are concerns about the potential toxic effects of DEET, especially when used by children. Children who absorb high amounts of DEET through insect repellents have developed seizures, slurred speech, hypotension and bradycardia.

Excellent suggestions! Did you find that they affected the scent of your flowers?

I have a basil plant growing very close to a couple whose scent now has a bit of a "bite" to it. I don't know if it's because the weather cooled off or if it affected it.

If so, then I want to use something that smells "flowery" if possible! I think that we're too hot to grown lavender but maybe I could find some dried and organic?

And probably should stop buying so many roses, LOL!

The curry didn't affect the scent of my roses. I did that to Radio Times & La Reine, and blooms smelled great. I sniff NOW Lavender oil when my nose is stuffy, right before bed. I sprinkled a few drops on a tissue, and sniffed for 5 minutes, then threw the tissue into the trash bin . In the morning, the entire room smelled like lavender. And when I emptied the trash bin, many days later, the trash bin reeked of lavender.

One bottle of NOW lavender lasts me for at least 3 months, if I sniff that daily. It's only $8.50 on Amazon. NOW's corporate headquarter is in Chicagoland, and I went to a local store to sniff NOW many essential oils: the lavender is best, next is peppermint oil. I'm in blissful heaven when I sniff those. The Frankincense oil is expensive, but that lasted me for 5 years, and the smell is still strong.

https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Lavender-Oil-ounce/dp/B0009RSP38?th=1

That's a good tip on the lavender for me! Now I need to figure out what to do with 150 roses (and counting, yikes)!

If these darn beetles like MD, do you think that they will stay on it only or will I have a huge problem next year? They could be sacrificed for the good of the rest, LOL! Was that you Straw that posted about making a rabbit garden to keep them out of the roses?

Talked to Arbico. I use a lot of nematodes and apparently they are good for the larvae. I didn't use it where the MD's are so maybe there is hope for them yet. But Straw is right about the beetles hiding in the big blooms.

I'm also going to add green lacewings to my line of attack!

Lavenderlace: That was someone else making that funny post. That Arbico site is so neat ... thank you !! Good to hear about nematodes to control beetle's larvae. There's this company in Texas which sells nematodes to horse-owners. Horse owners use nematodes to control the fly-population that bother horses.

Where I get horse manure, the pile is taller than a ranch-house, and it's in shade, but I never see any flies, even in hot summer !! One time I accidentally threw some horse manure into my bucket of rain-water. Within a week, I saw lots of nematodes swimming in that bucket. Nematodes are different from mosquito larvae .. nematodes are like smooth little worms.

Purple Alyssum and dill attract green lacewings. Same with Calendula. Green lacewings are known as "aphids-lion". But the white grubs of Japanese Beetles here are so big, and they hide under the lawn, so no one can get to them. The predator I saw eating Japanese Beetles here are birds. Every year I set a beetle-trap FAR AWAY from my roses, catch dozens of beetles and fed them to the birds ... so birds developed a taste for the beetles.

The below site stated "Our bird friends can save us lots of headaches by combing our gardens for cabbage worms, whiteflies, aphids, earwigs, grasshoppers, cucumber beetles and grubs!"

https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/attracting-bug-eating-birds/8103.html

We have bought the fly predators for years and have way less flies than the farms that have pesticide misting sprays running all season. They don't work on adult flies, but every year, you will see less. They have to be spread every two to four weeks though through the entire season if you have livestock.

That's great to hear about Purple Alyssum, want my new green lacewings to hang around!

I have outdoor cats which aren't fond of birds but there is a bird's nest in my porch that we keep trying to get rid of. I think that I'll let it stay now!

Arbico also said that the praying mantis was an excellent enemy of the beetles. Though my dog has learned that grasshoppers are the enemy and takes great joy in eating them! I hope she will be able to tell them apart as I might get some of them also.

I'm afraid to use Neem because of killing the good with the pests so I'm going to have to hope that the roses can stand all of these adult beetles until next spring.

I saw that you wrote that La Reine has a great scent. I wonder if it would grow tall by my wall where I'm trying to remove some of the New Dawn's? There is clay because of the foundation and a lot of shade in the fall.

I've given up on climbers for this area as they are too time consuming to keep under control!

lavenderlace, perhaps you could consider some of the Austins that are also grown as small climbers. Since they aren't the huge climbers like ND they would be much easier to manage and not much different to a bush. I'm growing Falstaff that way in morning sun and Cori Ann in Ca is doing the same in partial shade. Check out the DA site listing for climbers.... they're the same plants, it's only a matter of training Just a thought. I'm in hot and humid Cincinnati.

Also, please keep us updated with the spotted cuke beetle solution. I had them this year, as well. Definitely not as destructive as the JBs, but they will eat the flowers. I just killed them as I saw them. They're an equal opportunity beetle, hiding in the petals of ALL my roses.

Vaporvac,

Which DAs are you training as climbers? Just Falstaff? I am thinking of doing the same in the spring on my terrace, as they have to live in a container - albeit big ones (30-40 gallons), "small" climbers would be much more manageable...

I am in NY zone 7, hot and humid summers, wet spring and winters, sometimes freakishly cold but generally not for long stretches. I have been intent on getting Nahema, so she may have 1-2 more DA climber buddies!

Thanks in advance.

I have Falstaff and TessOTD. Also another one potentially, but I'm waiting on a positive ID. I think they will be what's termed "mannerly" climbers.

Vaporvac, I have Heritage and was thinking about adding them on the side of the wall where it would be nice not to have thorns. Heritage does great for me in the shade and in sandy soil. But the one I have in clay wasn't doing much, though it looked healthy, but now is growing as the weather cools off.

Straw and others have commented on Heritage not liking clay and the wall has a clay foundation. Falstaff would be great except the color doesn't work, looking for pink or violet if possible.

I have the other 8 ND tied up and have to admit that it looks great from a distance, though it's probably going to refuse to make flowers since it's not so horizontal now!

Just measured some of the canes at 12 feet long already and I just didn't expect that kind of growth for years, not months! But 2 of them have to be moved as they are attacking people, LOL!

Heirloom's site said that ND could be a shrub also but with 12' canes all the way around, that's a 24' diameter in a first year plant. It's very hard to mow around so now I'm convinced that I need a shrub.

I wonder if Rein de Violettes could deal with the shade and clay? I do like your advice of Austins because I've had such good luck with them though. I do give them an obscene amount of water in the heat.

Nahema is gorgeous! Oh, and I did see the beetles hiding everywhere during a very windy day yesterday, not just Memorial Day.

Lavenderlace: Shade and clay? Hybrid musk would love that spot. Burlington rose in CA can ship 6 band-size roses ($14 each) in a flat-rate-medium box (only $13 shipping cost).

Burling has lots of hybrid musk like pink Cornelia, yellow Buff Beauty, other thonrless climbers: Reine de Violettes, Sally Holmes, Veichenbleu, Zephrine Drouhin, Super Jane, Annie L. McDowell, Belle of Portugal, Lady Banks, Lyda Rose, Clymnestra.

I grew Annie L. McDowell and Lyda Rose ... wonderful wafting scent, and almost thornless. Many people really like Cornelia, so that's a good pink for shade.

Burling doesn't have Felicia, which is the best smelling musk rose .. but Linda of LongaAgoRoses has Felicia & Nahema & Annie L. McDowell (thornless pinkish/lilac with musk & lilac-scent short climber). Linda sells band-size roses at much lower cost than Heirloom & Roses Unlimited.

Lavender Lassie is a lilac color musk rose. Renae is a pink & thornless musk rose that Burling has. Jess in hot & dry South Africa once posted a fantastic pic. of climbing Renae in this forum.

Burling sells La Reine, but that's a slender & short bush, the scent is nice, and the rebloom of La Reine is good. If I want a tidy hedge, La Reine would be perfect, it doesn't have the octopus canes nor nasty prickles that Austin roses have.

I'll look these up, thanks Straw!

I think that I want a hedge that is tall as possible, without needing a ladder to deadhead. I don't want to have to attach canes to a slick wall in the future if I can avoid it!

The above pics. are blooms of thornless Annie L. McDowell climber when I grew it for many years .. it died during a dry winter. It's a fountain-shape small bush in my zone 5a. The leaves are pretty, highly recommend for a pot.

Acidic clay or dense & wet potting soil is best for Annie (really likes acidic alfalfa meal). Japanese beetles don't care for the musk scent & zillion petals .. never see a beetle on this one. Never see blackspots either, very disease-resistant like Nahema, but much prettier in a pot, and less thorns.

This rose is a water-hog with its many petals. If I grow this rose again for my zone 5a, I would need tons of leaves on top to keep moist. The scent is so strong, that one cluster can perfume the entire room. It smells like lilac and musk.

Reine des violettes is shade tolerant & thornless &purplish but IT DOESN'T LIKE ALKALINE CLAY. Those purplish & thornless roses have multiflora parentage and HATE ALKALINE CLAY. My Kordes Deep Purple rose was thornless, and it was a wimp in my clay, but bloomed great in loamy & acidic potting soil.

For clay, Annie L. McDowell will do well, but not Reine des Violettes (prefer loamy soil, plus it's a once bloomer for cold zone, versus 3 flushes for Annie).

Below is Golden Celebration bloom compared to a cluster of Annie L. McDowell .. both like clay and tons of rain:

Beautiful pictures!

Thanks for the tips on RDV. I have her in sandy soil now. She arrived with some blackspot in October but looks good now, though no buds yet.

This week we had near 90 degrees and an unexpected freeze last night with another tonight. So another learning curve! What will happen to all the buds after a freeze and then a warmup?

Annie L.M. is really pretty!

Ebb Tide being eaten by cucumber beetles so it's definitely an equal opportunity offender here, yikes!

Lavenderlace: I am curious, if someone douse such bloom with a weird scent like Lavender oil, or peppermint oil, will cucumber beetles care for it? Ebb Tide has clove scent .. I also see Japanese beetle in Stephen's big purple (clove scent).

I don't know but I should probably try it on a few to see! But Ebb Tide has hundreds of blooms so that's why I panic when I see these beetles. Maybe when the scent gets stronger, they will move on hopefully?