After several months of below average precipitation, this July is already shaping up to be another brutally hot one. At this time most plants are pushed to their limits, and it now pays to have invested in drought tolerant native plants, not only for their beauty, but their ability to weather the storm, or in this case lack thereof...
Of course this doesn't leave room for disruptions from invasive species which further push their limits, often past their ability to survive. So sometimes a native gardener needs to step in to help!
the invasive Japanese beetles (popillia japonica) have wrecked havoc once more - the virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and the wild grape are among the most severely damaged...
the beetles "skeletonize" the leaves and only the veins and outer shape remain...
like last year I tried to collect them into a soapy bucket, but really I would have to be doing this every day several times as there are just so many!
typically gardening books say to let them drown slowly, but instead I will stomp on them...
supposedly the rotting corpses of the beetles are a deterrent to the rest of the "flock"...
but within the hour the ants had begun to dismantle them piece by piece and take them to their nests...
the flies arrived shortly after to scavenge the rest...
