Can you believe it’s almost August? Holy canolies, this summer is zipping by! The HH took a photo of the garden from above last night with his drone.
Here’s another view from the porch. I just love how the white picket fence makes all the colors pop.
Anyone know what of bug this is? It pretty much destroyed my pole beans so I pulled them up and removed the trellis from the garden and transplanted some delicata squash to the spot.
Hopefully the bugs will stay away from the bush beans I planted. But only time will tell.
This year I decided to try a new cherry tomato variety called Edox. The HH and I both think they’re pretty sweet and I’ll probably grow them again next year.
Nothing beats a Sun Gold tomato though… they’re the best.
We’re still waiting on the Ace tomatoes…
But we finally harvested our first zucchini and few days ago and will have another one to pick today. 🙂
And the cabbage is coming along nicely as well. I don’t know about you but I just love watching cabbage grow. They seem like such a happy vegetable, don’t you think? Also, when I think about cabbage… Charlie Bucket’s mom and cabbage soup always comes to mind.
We also waiting for all the Jimmy Nardello peppers to turn red. It feels like it’s taking forever, but so far there seems to be between 3-6 nice sized peppers on each plant.
The Round of Hungry peppers are taking their own sweet time as well.
Oregano! I think I’ll harvest a bunch of it and dehydrate it so we’ll be able to enjoy some this winter in soups and with all the pasta dishes I plan to make.
The Bloomstruck hydrangea border is still blooming… and the squash {pumpkin or butternut, I’m not sure} are starting to poke through the fence.
And the mammoth sunflowers are about 5 feet tall right now…
And this patch of wildflowers {that the previous owners planted?} has been buzzing with activity lately. I’m actually not a huge fan of the mass planting so close to the house, but there are so many fat bumblebees in there doing their thing… that we’ve decided to just go ahead and leave it as it’s probably what’s drawing all the bees to our vegetable garden to pollinate everything.
I have no idea what the tall pink flowers are, but I think the smaller white ones are phlox. Does anyone know for sure? The bees are going crazy for them so I think I’ll need to find some seeds so I can plant a few more patches of them next summer to keep the bees happy.
August! It’s almost here. I can’t believe it.
How’s YOUR garden doing these days? Are you swimming in tomatoes and peppers yet? Do tell.
Have a great day everyone,
~Mavis
Mrs. C. says
Those look like Japanese beetles. In addition to beans, they also love roses, raspberries, peaches, cherries, and almonds.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thank you!
Mary says
You can pick them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water to get rid of.
Katie Pearman says
I’m trying to figure out if I’m possibly in the same area as you! What I’ve read says the bitterroot valley is considered 6a but I have now ended up between a rock and a hard spot LOL heeellppp
MEM says
Yep, the dreaded Japanese beetle. They make traps for them but they just seems to attract more of them. I pick them off by hand and squish them.
Kathleen W says
Finally, knock on wood, we haven’t had any problems with the Japanese beetles this year. When I do, I use the traps. I just put them away from my gardens. There have been years where we have to put a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid) with water under them because the traps fill up so fast.
Deborah R says
Yep, Japanese beetle. I’ve also had them destroy my basil. You can buy pheromone traps for them that are pretty effective.
Nancy says
You’re right. They devoured all my basil plants.
Lisa says
And blueberries. They live my blueberries. Jerks.
Mel says
I agree–Japanese beetle. We have them, and they go after just about everything (beans, apples, basil, etc.), but they usually don’t fully destroy anything. You can buy traps, but there’s some evidence that just attracts more. Our chickens eat them if we throw them in their water bowl.
We’re harvesting tomatoes, peppers, and beans, and our flowers (milkweed, cardinal flower, zinnia, phlox, alyssum, portulaca, etc.) are blooming, but I’m done with summer. Our new herb garden design and our new tomato trellis system worked out great, but I’d like to take a garden break for a while. I don’t have as much time to cook everything as usual, and the bugs have been insane this year, so that makes harvesting a real pain.
Rebecca in MD says
Hi Mel,
Sorry to hear about your bug problem. I am also in MD, zone 7a, and except for some Japanese beetles we haven’t had problems with other bugs this year (knock on wood). It’s funny how some years are worse than others with garden pests, and even within the same community some gardens are attacked more than others. For us this year our problem has been with the deer – – – who usually don’t bother my garden too much.
Mel says
We’re in 7b. We typically don’t get as much snow as 7a MD, so I think that plays a role in how many bugs overwinter. But we’ve never had so many bug issues! We have yellow jackets, thousands of black flies, and hundreds of army worms–all for the first time ever. Squash bugs are horrible even though we are not growing squash. The mosquitoes and gnats are always around, but they’re just swarms of them this year (I think all the rain has created a lot of standing stagnant water behind our house). Comparatively speaking, the Japanese beetles aren’t bad at all, but it’s very hard to control the rest of them. We have fly and yellow jacket traps up (inside and out), but we can’t spray anything due to our proximity to the water and the fact that my husband keeps bees. The birds and beneficial insects are working hard but can’t keep up.
I’m glad you don’t have bug issues!
Mavis Butterfield says
I didn’t know your husband kept bees! Do you harvest the honey? If so, how much do you get in a year?
Mel says
Yup! The honey bees produce a good amount of honey with two hives, but we actually don’t harvest it. We keep the hives just to support pollinator populations, so we leave them their honey to eat during the winter. Otherwise, we’d have to feed them in winter, and we already have issues with them surviving the colder months.
We also have tons of bumblebees, squash bees, and native bees around. I typically plant a bunch of brassicas in the fall and let them overwinter and bolt in early spring, and that keeps everyone fed until other things start blooming. They are all currently loving our catmint and birdbath.
Kate says
Mel,
I just had success covering yellow jacket holes in the ground with a large glass bowl. They died after a few days. I did this because I didn’t want to use bee spray in my garden. Place the bowl over the hole at night when they are all in the nest.
Mel says
Ah that’s a handy trick! I don’t know where the nests are, but I’ll keep that in mind if I ever find it.
Jane says
Yellow jackets are considered beneficial pollinators. Of course it can be annoying to have too many around.
Mel says
Yes, many nuisance critters are actually pollinators. I’m normally game for that, but the black flies come in the house if I so much as open a door, and the yellow jackets are plentiful and a little aggressive, so we’ve had to put up traps for both those.
Natalie says
Japanese beetles lay their eggs, and those become grubs that eat grass and plants underneath. They do not bite or sting.
The flower is a tall phlox.
Dee says
i agree with the phlox
Nancy says
If you do use the Japanese beetle traps you need to put them farther away from your garden because they will draw more in. I saw only one on my basil this year but then noticed neighbors two streets over had put up traps. I think they took care of the problem for me!
Marie says
Your garden was a huge success. You always have a great one. I am amazed at the names of your plants you remember them all. My father was a firm believer in the better boy tomato plants heavy producers and delicious.
You and hh have done an excellent job on your layout of your property(great pics) and it is just so fun to hear abut it. We are suffering in the heat Dog Days of summer and not much rain. Thanks for enlightening us on your daily gardening. Love it.
Mrs. C. says
If you use a Japanese beetle trap, which contains pheromones to attract them, the best place to put the trap is as far from the gardens as possible. This works pretty well if you have a lot of land. If you don’t, the pick then picking the bugs off is a better idea.
Robin in WI says
One funny thing I’ve noticed with Japanese beetles, or at least the ones here — when they feel threatened (i.e. if I gently touch one with my fingertip), they stick their back legs up in the air like some type of defensive pose. 🙂
Janet says
The old-school, organic way of dealing with Japanese beetles is to use a coffee can or other container with a cover, fill it with soapy water, then hand-pluck those nasties and send them to a watery oblivion. I keep the covered can outside and near the affected plants. You can dump the can and refill it with soapy water and beetles as needed.
Lana says
The Japanese beetles always find my knock out roses near my mailbox first and I just let them have them. If I don’t try to kill them or trap them they stay right there and leave everything else in my yard alone. If I try to discourage them there they will eat everything they like on my entire acre. It is the only effective means of control we have found.
Julie says
Japanese beetles love ferns also. I’ve been battling them about five or so years now. They are voracious. I’ve read that chickens eat them. I do the hand pick, soapy water treatment. Morning is my best time to go a-picking.
Rebecca in MD says
Your garden is looking beautiful.
We have been harvesting cherry tomatoes for a couple of weeks (Sungold and Black Cherry) and now the Roma (Amish Paste) and beefsteaks (Mortgage Lifter, Tropic, and Orange Wellington) are beginning to ripen. Lots of freezing and canning coming up.
My bush beans are being eaten by the deer, but I keep planting. Cucumbers have been really productive, and although I am making pickles and canning them, eating them fresh, and making lots of tomato, onion, and cucumber salads, I took 9 pounds to the food pantry last night (one day’s picking), to share the bounty.
Japanese beetles completely decimated my basil, but it is rebounding now. They also like the Zinnias somewhat.
suzanne says
I’ve discovered the microwave for dehydrating. Takes about 2 minutes on 30 second intervals. Tastes great and the colors remain vibrant.
I can’t wait to see the hydrangeas double in size next year. They’re one of my favorites.
Joyce says
Japanese beetles destroy my grapes every year, I have tried the traps but find hand picking the best way to remove…they smell awful to me.
Margo says
In SoCal we have a Japanese beetle “cousin”, but they don’t seem to interfere with our gardens or trees like the eastern version. I envy you your pollinators. My fall/winter garden was great, but I just don’t have a lot of pollinators in summer. Planning to plant more blooming flowers for summer next year. This summer my garden is sort of “meh”.
Karen says
The tomatoes look delicious!!!
Ashley Bananas says
I love what the previous people left. It’s actually very pretty and a smart way to induce bees in to your yard. ….might want to do something similar here with a flower garden. In my yard in SWFL the bees come annually for the honey suckle flowers, and they also love the tiny flowers on my seagrape tree that come before the grapes.
Lillian says
A spray bottle with water and just a bit of dawn detergent to spray on plants keeps the Beatles away
Meg B. says
Pretty sure the tall pink flower (hard to tell with the picture) is Fireweed. Honeybees love it. It’s pretty common in the PNW–you probably saw it along the roads in late summer.
Fireweed honey is a delicacy, and again, it attracts bees. I’d keep the flowers if I were you. No bees, no food.
Jamie says
I bought all my seeds from the dollar store this year as an experiment. 4 packets for a $1.
It has been woman versus wild over here. I have kept everything covered as long as possible after something pulled up and ate the 200 tulip bulbs I planted. They left me one.
Fighting various birds, moles, squirrels, rabbits, and some kind of bugs.
Janet Parks says
Jamie, I gave up on tulips and now plant daffodils which are apparently poison. The deer and moles don’t touch them. Look into daffodils!
Cheers!
Sue says
Deer love tulips and after several years of failure I gave up and stuck to daffodils instead.
But this year for the first time I have ordered a variety of “species tulips” which apparently deer don’t like. I’d never heard of them until a friend recommended them this year. I’ll plant the bulbs this fall and see what happens next spring.
At the same time I am beefing up my fence to try to keep the deer out, and if that succeeds then they won’t even get a chance at the tulips. Not very scientific but I just want some tulips!
Gigi says
The chipmunks in my yard pulled all my daffodil bulbs up last year! And they’re supposed to be poisonous to them too! I caught them digging up other bulbs, so I beat them to it and dug them up mid summer to plant in another few months.
Psuchica212345 says
Japanese beetles! The hardware store sells bags and bait…they fly in, never to exit! Sevin dust is also good! The bag traps have the most unique odor! My grand dad…use to pour used motor oil on the bag and light it up in the middle of our dirt road…grandfathers…oh they can be naughty ha!
Candice says
Sevin dust does work but it is extremely poisonous. I would never use anything like that in my garden.
Michèle says
Mavis that bug is a Japanese Beetle. If you pick them off and toss them in a mixture of soapy water KAPOW! they’re gone. If squeamish, have your husband do the deed.
Sue says
I’ve all ways heard not to smash the Japanese beetle because there’s a scent they have that brings more. My daughter had a beautiful rose bush they literally ate up. She was always out in the morning picking them off and putting soapy water. The next day there would be more. It’s funny how they pick certain plants.
Jen says
We also have Japanese Beetles. They seem to love zinnias even more than beans and basil. So, we plant zinnias at least 20 feet from the vegetables and it seems to help. We also pick them by hand and drop them in water (it doesn’t have to be soapy) so they don’t get too out of control.
Lisa says
Hi Mavis,
We pick about 50 Japanese beetles a week, just put a small container of soapy water under them and gently flick them in! A daily practice! Lol. Garden Phlox for sure- the bees love them, this week ours are full of Tiger Swallowtail butterflies! Cabbage! Beautiful cabbage, I just love how they look in the garden too, makes me smile every time I look at mine!
Happy Gardening!
Lisa
Misty says
In my yard Japanese beetles seem to prefer fruit trees (apple and in the past peach), fruit bushes (raspberry and grape), rhubarb, willow, zinnia, flowering shrubs like roses and rose of sharon especially when they are in bloom. I’ve also caught quite a few hanging out on my asparagus ferns and some on my Japanese maples.
Unfortunately, hand picking seems to be the best way to stop them which also prevents the next generation from being quite as bad. If you’re willing to spend quite a bit to put nematodes or milky spore down you can kill the overwintering grubs though you may also be at the mercy of your neighbors who are not doing the same. I’ve used the traps before and I haven’t noticed an increase in the population, but like others have said you have to be mindful where you place them. If you hand pick first put your cup with soapy water under them because often they will just sneakily try to drop to the ground. I also put my free hand above them so they don’t try to fly away.
They are definitely a despised pest in my garden and one of the worst ones that I have to deal with every year along with cabbage moths and squash vine borers.
Linda says
Here in California I’ve been harvesting lots of tomatoes, carrots, beets, zucchini, and our fruit trees are producing so much, especially the plum tree. I bet I have over 40 jars of plum jam in the cupboard. I tried a new recipe the other day called New England cherry plum slump, it was good and easy one pan dessert and also used up more plums!
Susan in SoCal says
Linda, that sounds yummy! I’d love the recipe to that.
Tonya says
If you like sun gold, try sun sugar, they are very similar, but the sun sugar are sweeter! They produce earlier and last later than all my other plants, and have no issues with cracking. They make great (orange) tomato sauce if you cook them and blend them. They’re so good!
Holly says
I agree with everyone who said Japanese Beetles….they live in abundance here in the North East. We just drop them in a bucket of water and a squirt of Dawn.
Sheila says
Gahhh…Japanese beetles…they have eaten my pole beans, the leaves on dwarf apple & dwarf weeping cherry trees, the petals on cone flowers. They decimated my holly hocks and I even find them munching on my blueberries. My chickens love them and instead of using liquid soap when hand picking, I splash a dollop of distilled vinegar in the water. The beetles still drown though I think it takes longer, but I can then feed them to the chickens. (I do the same for stink bugs – the chickens love those too.)
Cathy says
That is a Japanese Beetle. When I was a kid my mom would hang out the white sheets and the beetles would land on them, then I would nudge them into a Ball jar of soapy water and kill them. Today they sell Japanese beetle traps that you can hang in your yard or garden to get rid of them.
Nancy says
Food-grade diatomaceous earth has been our go-to for pest control in the garden. Works really well, you just have to be careful to not breathe it in since it is a lung irritant.
Another Nancy says
Where I live, quite a few years back, we had high populations of Japanese beetles. I’ve seen them nearly defoliate trees (Linden, but they also love birch). The trees survived, to my surprise.
A severe drought one summer really knocked their numbers down. It took several years before they recovered.
Trap crops work well, as someone mentioned above (the roses). The old-fashioned flower four o’clocks will work for this purpose. Good luck!
Anita F says
Yup, the bug is a Japanese beetle. They’re pretty docile in the morning, easier to flick into bucket of soapy water. They love my rhubarb and raspberries! 🙁
Diane Dodge says
After mating, the Japanese beetles lay eggs under the earth–these become grubs and can destroy turf, but also become the next generation. SO—you want to control them before they mate and lay eggs in your yard.
I’ve handpicked them every morning when making rounds for years and it seems to keep their populations in control.
When I kept chickens, I had one that would ride on my shoulder as I walked the rows of beans, okra, and she would get the high ones, while the flock at my feet got the ones that dropped off.
Pat says
The best way to get rid of Japanese beetles permanently is to spread milky spore on your yard. It is harmless to everything else, since it is a spore, it spreads out and it kills the grubs for 20 years. Those beetles will decimate everything! Read up on milky spore. I got it on Amazon.
Colleen says
Japanese Beetles are a pesky garden visitor. As others have said, plunk them down in a bucket of soapy water. They meet the same fate as bagworms at my house.