The ickiest topic of all, but you handled it like a champ, Mike.

Thanks Mike. We can now all recognize our enemies.

Thanks for the great article Mike!

Since moving here 2 years ago, I added two new pests, the rose slugs were relatively minor, so far, and the gophers, which are very plentiful here. So many that even some of Zuzu's kitties are bored with them, although one eventually got tired of it's false bravado and dispatched it.

Look at the teeth on that monster! Chantilly saved some plants that day.

The claws look pretty scary too

I guess it's tit for tat on pests because we don't have these critters bothering our roses but living on this side of the country, we do have Japanese beetles.

Great article! Thank you!

Before I forget, I need to mention that Zuzu is the one who provided the "visuals" for this article as well as the one on diseases. Thanks, Zu !
Granted, this isn't the most interesting or thought provoking subject to talk about, but hey...insects are a horticultural fact of life.
Originally I included grasshoppers and katydid's in the rough draft but didn't think most people are bothered by them like I am down this way. I have an old pair of those ancient tailors scissors that I arm myself with and sneak up on them and chop them in half when I spot them. If nothing else, the cats like to play with the "parts".

Great article! Well written and informative.

Mike, I really like your personal approach to ridding pests.

We have plenty of grasshoppers and katydids here too. Although, the grasshoppers are always the worst during dry summers.

I never had any trouble out of Japanese Beetles until I planted roses. There is nothing that works against them. I have tried Milky Spores and all the other products. You can spray poison on them, but more come the next day to start the process again.The only thing I think that will work is to remove the roses to stop attracting them.

My best pest control is my chickens. I know not everyone can have chickens where they live but if you can they are the best! Chickens love Japanese bettle larvae, and other larvae they find while scratching in the garden. Last year I discovered the chickens picking aphids off of the roses, that surprised me. They keep my roses pretty much pest free and they don't bother the plants.

My Aunt has chickens and they eat the blooms of her plants. She has to put wire cages around all of her plants. I don't know if she could train her chickens, but the wire cages look bad to me. The main thing about Roses that makes me not want to grow them is the Rose Rosette disease that is spreading around here. I had to remove 3 bushes already for that. I love the looks of Roses, but there are too many drawbacks to them. They really do attract Japanese Beetles though because I had tons of other plants and the Roses would literally be covered with those beetles. They don't touch anything around them either.

They get on my roses and crape myrtles

Do you grow many roses Vic?

The roses are attracting them to your yard. They do like the Crape Myrtles too, but not half as much as the roses. They also love hardy Hibiscus plants. They even attack the rose blooms that have no fragrance so I have no idea what draws them in to attack the roses. It's like they know exactly where they are!

Hmm.. they don't bother my roses, I guess I'm lucky about that. They will eat all of the tomatoes and cucumbers so now I have to put wire fencing around my veggie garden! I guess there are pros and cons!

I know I felt the same way about the squash beetle. I had never seen them around until I grew squash! They were all over the squash plants (and then they moved to the tomatoes too). I love squash. But, those icky bugs can multiply so fast and destroy the plants and its fruit. Last year I tried one more time to grow squash and there they were!! Argh! I was out every morning picking them off and spraying with soapy water but, I couldn't figure out why I wasn't finding many eggs which can usually be found on the underside of the leaves. Alas, I discovered two little leopard frogs hanging out in the squash plants. They were eating the eggs!! Soon there were no more squash bugs and I had my squash to eat! I love frogs.

I have 7 roses Sue - I would be in rose heaven if I had as many as ZuZu

A pest that bothered my mother's roses in Massachusetts, in addition to the Japanese Beettles was the Rose Chafer. Does anyone have trouble with them?

These things were all contributing factors when I got rid of my roses. I had mostly shrub types, with a few spreading groundcover ones, and a few hybrid teas. Most I bought because they were supposed to be easy care disease resistant ones. No so in my yard. They required weekly spraying with fungicides and pesticides, and would still succumb to black spot.They became eyesores. I finally decided I'd had it with all the chemicals and got rid of all of them.

I know the KnockOut roses are the source of disdain by many, but I'm thinking of trying some next summer. Even my non-gardening neighbors grow them with no care, and they are a beautiful addition to their landscapes.

Karen

Porkpal: "Rose Chafers" appears to be a common name or a synonym here for Rose Slugs. It just depends on what nursery you go to and who you ask. I've been "guilty" of interchanging the names myself.

Whatever "they" are, the usually appear here around mid June and they chew a lace-work pattern in rose foliage. You can see their tiny black droppings under the damaged foliage. Yhe damage they cause aint pretty.

What we called rose chafers were brown beetles slimmer than a Japanese Beetle but about as long. They also dined on the roses in much the same way.

Help! This is eating the bejeebers out of my Knockouts. What is it? I thought maybe aphids but it's the wrong color. Then I thought maybe mealybugs. It leaves a white powder behind. Is that it? I would really appreciate it if some of you experts would give me your opinion. (If you double-click the photo it will get HUGE and you can see the little critter with amazing clarity.)