I grow wormwood among my iris, it's been effective against iris borers. It might help with the beetles. It's attractive. It looks like the silvery mounds in the foreground.

Suburban woodland garden · More Info

I don't have many suggestions but I'm here to commiserate. Those darn asiatic beetles have dogged me all the decades I've been gardening. They get into blooms and even if they don't eat them, the blooms all look brown and dirty and ratty. My daisies were so bad I was considering ripping them out - and then suddenly last year they were gorgeous and almost untouched! I thought maybe there was some miracle lol, but the beetles are back at it this year. They do love daylilies but that doesn't bother me as much since the blooms only last a day anyway, and aren't too affected.

Years ago, in a desperate attempt to control them, I put down Bt. I followed the directions and walked around the half acre or so of my property that is not wooded, and every two feet dropped the prescribed amount (a tablespoon or two). This was recommended for Japanese beetles, which I didn't have, but I thought I'd try it for the Asiatics. I guess it didn't work.

And ironically, it seemed to be after that when I got Japanese beetles! I stopped growing roses for many years (with only about 4 left in my yard) and then last year started adding a few more. This year, the JBs are horrendous. My rose blooms are decimated. Sometimes there are upwards of 10 JBs in one bloom, often with an Asiatic squeezed in. Gross and discouraging.

I also had some skeletonized perennials and basil - I posted here about it and got a probable reason (some bug I can't remember the name of off the top of my head). Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to be out in the garden and can't really patrol but it looks like things are recovering.

I'm sorry I can't be of any help. I hope someone here can offer some suggestions to you!

:)

Dee

Oh, my shastas are eaten too. I have only seen 3 japanese beetles this year…on cosmos, of all things!

Barrheadlass, I am organic too and don't use pesticides. Most bug problems I deal with by knocking them into a plastic cup of soapy water. I don't have a large problem with the oriental beetles and the Japanese Beetles are very few, but this year they are on the increase from previous years. When I am working in the soil, digging, moving, planting....every time I see one of those white curled up grub that turns into a beetle I get it out of there. And right now I've only noticed the beetles on roses and I had a whole first flush of blooms before the beetles and they showed up just as Julia Child was finishing....Julia went right into a 2nd flush and so now the beetles are focused on that. I kill a lot of beetles every morning when I inspect for them. They are usually in the older blooms which makes it convenient, because I deadhead those any way. I just squeeze the bloom together to trap them in it and shake them onto my cement walkway and quickly and step on them. Seems to be working just fine for me. Of course, my roses are in the front by the walkway, driveway and street, so I have a solid surface to step on them. You can try to knock them into a plastic cup of soapy water or shake them into it, but I found some of them escape and fly away as I'm trying to do that. The rest of the roses are forming new foliage and buds for a 2nd flush of blooms that I'm hoping the beetles will have moved on by then.

As for Basil and Daisies etc, consider if it could be earwigs. Do you actually see any bugs eating them during the day? That was a problem for me one year, big time. They were eating every thing and I was scratching my head because during the day I could not see any pest. So I went out at night with a flashlight and a plastic cup with soapy water and sure enough there were earwigs eating all the plants that were damaged. It took me a week every night getting out there to reduce the population to manageable levels and then things improved and I haven't had an issue since then.

Another thing you might try is a home made spray. I have mixed garlic and red pepper flakes in some water in a blender/food processor and then filled a spray bottle with that and a drop of soap to help it stay on the foliage. You do have to filter it into the spray bottle so it doesn't get clogged up. Maybe a coffee filter? Or Cheesecloth? And I had a lot of success with that. And it's an all around help for many pests.

"... I have only seen 3 japanese beetles this year…on cosmos, of all things!..."

LOL barrheadlass, I just saw this yesterday:

I took a picture because I thought it was kind of odd lol. I guess on the bright side there was only one on this flower. My roses are absolutely congested with these darn things. Like I said, 6-10 on one bloom. Considering I have barely seen that many Japanese beetles in the last 20 years combined, it's kind of weird and discouraging how many I am seeing this year!

:)

Dee

OMG but your garden is beautiful! No visible insect damage from a distance at least. Mine is the rattiest looking thing you've ever seen lol. That's why I only show close-ups of blooms haha!

:)

Dee