The Japanese Beetles are back

See the little shiny bug among the leaves? I saw one two years ago on one of my miniature roses and thought, "What a neat looking bug." Oh how stupid I was! Coming from Florida, and having never seen a Japanese beetle in our part of Florida, I thought it was just a pretty bug. However, the next morning when I went to water my roses, they were gone - the roses, not the bugs. Completely gone. That 'neat looking bug' ate all of the leaves off the roses and left me with planted sticks. I had never seen such quick devastation by such a pretty bug! Last year we planted green beans and every morning, the Japanese beetles would be getting started on their daily eating frenzy. We didn't plant a lot of beans, but enough that the bugs were well fed. How happy I was when I didn't see any this year! I have no idea what the tree in the above picture is - we don't know what it is, but it has ornamental plums on it - but last year, the beetles had a field day with it. It was skeletal by the end of summer. They are back. I was so upset. They smell weird. They swarm their prey. And they are very noisy eaters. You can literally hear them chewing. They should learn to chew with their mouths shut! This picture is starting to show some of the devastation. Soon our poor little tree will be bare.
Ah, blackberries. Aren't they growing like crazy? Remember I said many posts back that I would fight the birds for the blackberries? They don't play fair. The blackberries are almost all gone. No, those aren't our plants in the above picture. They belong to our neighbors. Unfortunately, they grow in a drain field and have been sprayed with weed killer. No, I don't think I'll be making cobbler from these berries. Plus, if you look close enough, the Japanese beetles like blackberries too!
This is our blackberry harvest - all three of them. L was asking for a cobbler, but I don't think that's going to be happening any time soon. Maybe next year!

Knitting is still going on. I kind of took a little break when I felt sick, but I'm feeling better and trying a pattern I found on the Crystal Palace website - socks, of course! R made an adorable drawstring bag to hold her knitting, but she is engrossed in an old Pink Panther movie and has promised pictures. Later. Maybe tomorrow. Her words, not mine. So, maybe tomorrow you will see one of my talented kids sewing abilities!