Gardening Angry

In my attempt to rid the army of Japanese Beetles that stormed my yard this summer, I did something one should never do…garden angry.

One beastly hot day in July after pulling hundreds of beetles off my beautiful butterfly bushes for the umpteenth time, I snapped. I wanted the destruction to end, and I was prepared to do anything to stop it.

Before I realized it, I’d turned into the Tasmanian Devil. I was yanking out plants left and right. The dirt was flying, the sweat was trickling down my face, but I wasn’t stopping. If it had beetles on it, it was in danger. I dug out butterfly bushes, coneflowers, morning glories, and every marigold in sight. I completely lost judgment at one point and destroyed three beautiful, well-established butterfly weeds (pictured below). They’d never attracted a single beetle. Instant remorse set in as I looked around at the gaping holes in the garden.

I retreated to the comfort of my air conditioned house to cool off. I felt terrible about the butterfly weeds, especially since the native plants were a favorite of honeybees and monarch caterpillars. I wondered if getting rid of the other plants would even accomplish anything in my battle with the beetles.

For the next few days, I was delighted to discover that there were fewer beetles in my yard. Unfortunately it came at a price. The remaining beetles were now taking aim on plants they’d never bothered before like zinnias, daylilies and globe thistles. I should know from past experience that when you mess with the balance of nature in your yard, nature usually wins. Had I made things worse?

I did some research and discovered it wasn’t my imagination. The more beetles you have in your garden, the more you attract. Japanese Beetles give off aggregation pheromones that announce to other beetles where to come for good food and members of the opposite sex. My garden was a Friday night campus bar for beetles. Suddenly the decision to get rid of their favorite flowers wasn’t so crazy, although the way I went about it probably was. And while I don’t enjoy pulling beetles off my flowers several times a day, it was reassuring to learn that it actually stops the word from getting out to other beetles, and is not just an exercise in futility.

First on my list of new plants to buy next spring are three new butterfly weeds. And when the first Japanese Beetle appears next year in late June, he’ll see the inside of a soapy bucket of water so fast it will make his tiny head spin.