easycare gardening

Well, it's been a month since the invasion of the Japanese beetles, and they still haven't touched my Flower Carpet roses. I saw one or two at the beginning of the season, sprayed the shrubs with neem oil and haven't seen any since. The Flower Carpet roses elsewhere in our yard, which I never sprayed with anything at all, also got passed over by the Japanese beetles.

The one exception has been some slight nibbling on the Flower Carpet Scarlet roses I'd planted in a container along with one of my dad's cannas, but the beetles went straight for the cannas and left the Flower Carpet roses alone. Only after I removed the decimated canna and threw it out did some of the lurking Japanese beetles in the area give the roses a try. They soon lost interest, however, and seem to have disappeared altogether. I find them occasionally drowning in our swimming pool or hopping a ride in on some veggies I've brought in for dinner. But other than that, they've been a real eat-and-run kinda gang.

My gardening friend documented a similar situation, in which she'd planted Flower Carpet Scarlet next to other easy-care shrub roses. As you can see, the Japanese beetles devoured the shrub roses while passing over the Flower Carpet Scarlet.

Shrub roses (left) Flower Carpet roses (right)

She does have some Japanese beetles eating the blossoms of her Flower Carpet Yellow and Flower Carpet Amber, she says (although mine have remained unscathed). But again, she notes, they're just nibbling on them and it's just a few leaves here and there, whereas almost all her shrub rose varieties are a mess, some more than others.

When it comes to deterring Japanese beetles, I prefer the neem oil spray. When I first began growing roses several years back, I tried the handpick-and-drown strategy I'd seen employed by my best friend's mom. But I guess I'm just a wuss. After my first two drownings, I felt so guilty I just couldn't do it anymore. Plus, I was too impatient to wait till the next morning (when they're all groggy and too slow to fight). The beetles were eating my plants THEN!

I know, I know, neem oil ALSO kills beetles (similar to hormones in their body, it makes them "forget" to eat, breed and even fly) but then again, I'm not physically holding them down and watching them implore me with their little shiny, Japanese beetle eyes to let them go home to their little Japanese beetle families. 

My friend has luck with the Bonide^® neem spray on the Flower Carpet roses, as well, but says it does nothing for the shrub roses, evening primrose, sundrops and some cranesbill geraniums.

Flower Carpet roses' Japanese beetle-defying ability has also been noted in an article by Associated Press garden writer Dean Fosdick. The article, which talked about using shrubs as "green furniture," ran most recently in the July 24, 2010 edition of the Nevada Appeal (Carson City, Nevada's daily newspaper).

"Flower Carpets have glossier, disease-free leaves," wrote Fosdick, "and seem to be more resistant to Japanese beetle infestations than do other rose varieties." 

Good news for those of us looking for low-maintenance plants and easycare gardening!

So, how do Flower Carpet roses hold up against Japanese beetles in your garden? How do other shrub rose varieties do? Post a comment, and tell me all about it!