Japanese beetles…the bain of every rose lover. They can decimate your flowers in minutes, spreading their pheromones all over and attracting even more beetles to join in the love feast. This year hasn’t been too bad as the brutally cold winter we had seemed to have delayed their emergence until after the first flush of roses. However, they are here now and I’ve been hand picking every day. A few tips, carry a small container of soapy water and hold it under the flower, jiggle the flower or tap the beetle. Its defence mechanism is to drop to the ground and fly away so they will fall into the container and drown. Do not squish the beetles as they will release their sex pheromones (weird or what) and you will get more beetles. However, their scent will be on the flower and other beetles will be attracted to that flower so pick it it off if you can bear to do so. I try not to touch other flowers until I’ve washed my hands. They work on scent chemistry so I am trying chemical warfare on them ( the smell kind) I will keep you posted 🙂
