Thanks for the info, pirl. I think for now I'll try to continue my battle with the beetles without it, as the bees are having enough trouble surviving as it is - and where would we be without them.
HOLY MOLY - BEWARE!!!!! Lily Beetles up the kazoodle!!!!
We'd be totally lost. We need the bees.
I only use this systemic poison on the lillies and perennial hibiscus...not many flowers. I agree we do need to protect wildlife but after starting the church garden I see a marked increase in bees. We did not have any before.
If we can find a 'happy medium' on using chemicals and fetilizers on plants it would be great.
We do need more scientists, my granddaughter is majoring if all this in college.
Hopefully we can find other ways to get rid of damaging insects without affecting water quality or being absorbed by bees or humans.
So far this is the only solution to save my greatgradma's lillies. I can't go the church everyday to pick off beetles.
It is unseasonably cold here for this time of year. The lilies love it, but the beetles are too cold to dine.
The reason I use topical, safe sprays to make the leaves unpalatable is that we also grow veggies. More work to keep up, but much safer. Also when the plants are bitter tasting, it keeps away deer, rabbits and a few other peskies.
If I do not stay on top of spraying, they decimate the plants.
OK, this is anecdotal, but because the japanese beetles were decimating my roses and lindens (they almost killed the linden next door), I used a Bayer product and a clone from Ace Hardware to protect the plants - the systemic stuff in which imidacloprid was the active ingredient, and I have tons of bees of several shapes and sizes, as well as hordes of butterflies. I also used Milky Spore, and it's terrific. I prefer to garden organically, controlling aphids with a sharp spray of water, using tons of compost, seaweed and fish emulsion, and weeding by hand. I agree with Ladyslipper - sometimes these products are our last resort.
A caveat about Wikipedia - anyone can add to it. I read an article about the problems they are having with screening information. Sometimes groups that feel strongly about an issue load the pages with information that supports their views. It's a good source, but I have read information on it about people I know that is distorted to create puff pieces about them. I like to go to state or federal sites and get their input as well. A USDA site was the one that convinced me of the usefulness of Milky Spore.
I've found that pyola has worked well on the lily beetles, you just need to spray every so often as the lilies grow. :)
I fully understand, ladyslipper!
Cathy, any recipes would be much appreciated! I even hate using the neem because it smells so bad.
Donna, I'm really glad your bees have survived the imidacloprid. I've really been surprised at how few bees I've been seeing, considering how much I have in bloom. Makes me start thinking doom and gloom, especially with all the other natural disasters happening.
Thanks, Niere. I'll look up the pyola.
I should say NOTHING, but instead I'll knock on wood and say I haven't seen any lilies beetles the past 2 days.
Would never want to hurt the bees. I'm quite fond of working side by side with them. I'm deadheading, and they're buzzing. Amazing that I was afraid of them as a kid. Now they make me smile.
Do you know that they are wondering if colony collapse disorder (the term being used for the disappearance of bees)is being caused by bees sent to Europe and then brought back, having picked up something there? Or are we just trying to blame everyone else for our mistakes?
So the bees go to Europe but we get to stay home. Something sounds unfair.
Beware of lily beetles. If you have not seen them or their disgusting activity, here are illustrations.
You can see the damage they do to the leaves, but keep in mind that they do other damage by directly eating the entire leaf and/or bud. They lay their eggs, cover them with their tarry excrement generally on the underside of the leaf where they are less visible. I have taken to cutting off the part of the leaf with the grubs (they are like orange worms under the tar).
This is the culprit. The underside is black, and the tend to fall on their backs to camouflage themselves in the dirt.
Thank you for the photos. I've saved them in my photo file so I can be alert to the problem.
I thought they were gone but now they're back! I didn't notice any red beetles but I found the black tar substance all over! For me it was really hard to find because it's at the bottom of the plant and with all the other plants I have next to them it's really hard to see. I removed everything I found and sprayed with neem again. I have a feeling that this is going to be a never ending battle.
Definitely a never ending battle. The other day, for the 1st time, one did not drop placidly into my jar, but actually flew several feet away. (I did manage to catch it). Then another one flew. It's the first time I've ever seen them fly. No wonder they keep coming.
These little buggers are gross and destructive 3 years ago they took out 40% of my lilies and stunted the growth of the rest. So last year I tried neem, which worked for a while. I'm a 90% organic gardener.Then they showed up again just before I was going out of town. I went to my local farmers supply and asked what is the least offensive of the chemical stuff to use on these buggers. I used sevin powder on all of them and came home to shorter but blooming lilies. So this year I powdered them around the base once early and sprayed neem weekly. Worked well till I got distracted by my early blooming roses. Then I powdered with sevin again and followed up with neem. My lilies are tall and healthy so far, no gross droppings. Should be blooming soon.
It's a never ending battle, it seems. I had managed to keep them from leaving their nasty deposits on the lily leaves for the most part, but was just sick and didn't go out for 3 days. Yesterday I went out to find lots of deposits on a few different lilies. I need to get back to the battle.
It's so kind of you all through these awful troubles to share your pictures (wow, disgusting!), your experiences and your solutions. It will help us when they reach here, ad sooner or later they will. Ten years ago one rarely saw a japanese beetle here. Now I do a full court press for them (Milky Spore and a systemic). Awful, because I have 2 lindens and lots of nepeta, and therefore thousands of bees. Don't want to hurt the good guys, and you can never be sure you're not.
Donna, I refuse to give in, and today we picked off what looked like japanese beetles but light in color. And they were climbing on my lilies! They don't climb over anything that's not for dinner. I really have to keep after them on a daily basis. I think it's worth it.
I have been pulling beetles off one particular kind of daylily, San Juan Sunset, every night this week, but I'm not sure what they are. They are a little smaller than my little fingernail, and are a dull pale green-ish brown (brownish green). I am finding them on the flowers (not leaves) Are they bad? I made that assumption and I've been squishing them, but it occurred to me I haven't actually seen any damage.
Thanks, Tamar in Norwalk CT
I have them, too. They're similar in many ways to Japanese beetles but don't wreck the blooms, thankfully.
I think the beetles that resemble japanese beetles but aren't japanese beetles may be oriental beetles. They tend to be brown and black and while usually aren't tremendously destructive they do seem to be ubiquitous. They particularly love my nicotianas.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/4694/
Here's a pic of the asiatic lily beetle.
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/lilybeetle_red.htm
They're bright red and hard to miss.