Dewdrops on Roses and a Bouquet of Beetles

It has been five weeks since I saw the first Japanese Beetle of the season.  I rely on my system of strategically placed traps in the yard and morning and/or evening trips to the garden with my Bucket of Death (soapy water) to drown any beetles that I find on the roses.  I would like to say that the beetle population has peaked, but I'm not sure that that's true yet.

"Aunt Louisa" from the Leonie Bell Noisette collection at Tufton Farm.

'Tiara'

Fortunately, the high beetle concentrations are only in isolated areas of the garden.  Some roses are eaten practically to nothing on the new growth, and on any flowers that I have neglected to remove ahead of time.  Most plants have a few beetles, and some have none at all.  I am thankful for small blessings like this.

'Pat Austin'

'White Cap'

This morning, I took my camera with me on my beetle hunt, to capture the sparkling dewdrops on the roses.  Beetle hunting is a nasty job, so I try to distract myself by concentrating on the beautiful things around me ... and by taking sadistic satisfaction in how many beetles end up in the bucket and how few escape.  Japanese Beetles have no major predators in the US, which is why they are such a plague.  I wish with all my heart that some type of bird or bug would learn to look upon scenes like this as an opportunity for an easy and tasty meal.

Rest assured ... every single one of these beetles ended up in the bucket after I took this photo.

Let's not dwell on the nastiness of Japanese Beetles ... let's look at another pretty rose to take our minds off of it.

"Unrootable Red China" which, despite its study name, is quite easy to root.

Five weeks of Beetle Season down, probably three or so more weeks to go.  I can't wait till it's over.