JULY
Has Beetle Mania Got You in a Dither?

For most rose growers, this has been a banner year in our Kentucky gardens. No frosts or freezes in April to kill the emerging new growth. Rain supplies were at weekly or longer intervals. Quite different from two and three years back when it rained every few days drenching the soil, filling the air spaces between the soil particles with water on a continued basis for most of April, all of May and even into the first half of June. Consequently, the roots of our plants that developed from the previous season were lost…that is they rotted. New roots were slowly formed from just beneath the bud union in the top two inches of the soil if they did so at all. Without feeder roots, plants can't take in the available nutrients and the top growth (stems and foliage) was very small.

The roots being in the top few inches of soil, made it difficult during the heat of summer, if not impossible to maintain a cool temperature in the root zone which is needed for continued root growth. Similarly, it did little good to water deeply once a week as is usually recommended. What was needed was to water daily, sufficient to keep the top two to four inches of the soil moist.

Not being able to adjust to this "summer" discipline, our weakly rooted roses sulked. Produced few, if any, blooms or new growth. It wasn't until the cooler fall temperatures of September that the roots began growing again and we had a few stems and blooms.

Whew! What a scenario for growing roses when they had done so well the year before. But nature has a way of providing positive values even when we at the time can only see the negative ones. Yes, roses died and many needed replacement. But do you remember what took place at the end of June, those dreaded Japanese Beetles did not invade our plants as we were accustomed to seeing. Well, what happened? We found out that the Japanese Beetle larvae (grubs) can't swim! The saturated soils in areas that were flat caused these grubs to die. They never got out of the ground, so therefore, people living in generally flat lands will no longer be subjected to a serious number of these pests.

I'm sorry, but those persons living on "rolling hills" are still subject to Japanese Beetle destruction. Let's see what choices or alternatives they have.

• Using an insecticide (usually Seven) to kill them is not recommended by our State Agricultural Department. You won't dent the population. You will kill the bees and other pollinating creatures. Also, the blooms of roses never look that good after applying this material.
• Since the eggs of the female are laid every night, it may prove of some benefit to shake off the beetles in a container of soapy water in the late afternoon, preventing perhaps an increase in Japanese Beetles next season.
• We have done some rather extensive tests with the use of milky spore and have observed no corresponding benefit in the reduction of Japanese Beetles.
• You can save your plants from Japanese Beetles invasion by cutting back (pruning) all stems of each plant to a five leaf-leaftet when the beetles begin appearing…..usually late June/early July. The repeat growth and resultant blooms will take six weeks or more and by this time, most of the beetle population has gone away. You will still have time in late September for another cycle of bloom which will last until frost.
• Obviously, in the above paragraph neither the beetles nor you will enjoy any roses. Other than protecting your blooms with a covering of remay, cheesecloth, or nylon netting, which my wife makes for me from a thirteen inch diameter circle cut from the netting with a five inch square of remay sewn in the center. A ten inch long plastic coated wire which may be purchased from a florist called, "pigtail wire" is woven along the outer edge of the netting. These we call beetle bonnets and they work really well when put over an opening bloom, so long as this is done prior to the beetle getting inside. Sometimes to my disgust I'm too late.
• The best option to save your blooms from the beetles is as follows:

Leave a few tall stems with fragrant open blooms that the beetles love and cut the stems of buds once they show color (that is the "sepals") green covering has turned down. The beetles will go to the fragrant and light colored open blooms even when the petals have been chewed off and will leave most of the buds alone until they start to open. Re-cut stems in the house under water and place in warm water. These will take a few days to open, but, open they will and out of reach of you know what! If you are still having "beetle mania" maybe this year's attack will now be less painful.

If your roses are tall and bloom in July, when removing the old blooms or cutting stems with a bloom, the height of the remaining stem on the plant should not be above your waist. Otherwise, the fall bloom cycle will be above your head and rain water getting into the blooms will cause the tall stems to bow.

July is a good time to prune (remove) non producing twiggy stems. Also remove those that are smaller than a pencil or damaged stems from borers. Remember, after the first bloom cycle and for the rest of the season, PRUNING CREATES VIGOR…..the more you take off of a rose plant, the more vigorous the plant becomes to replace it.

Another application of Epsom Salts is helpful following the second bloom cycle….two tablespoons per plant.

If you have not been spraying regularly to prevent disease in this summer's heat, you will need to do so prior to days that are still hot but night time temperatures drop below 65 degrees F. Mildew and blackspot become prevalent under these conditions. Two sprayings of a systemic material are needed before enough can be absorbed into the plant to yield desired protection.

In closing, these hot days you enjoy a nice bath and so will your plants. Wash through them any time of day. They'll love the cooling effect and cleaning the leaves.