I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’m worried; my sweet home is under attack by barbarians. This hasn’t happened before and now I am almost paralyzed with fear. It is my duty and pleasure to supervise and encourage this garden to bloom and grow, and with the help of good rains, I have done a magnificent job. The hostas are green and lush, the rhododendrons had spectacular flowers and are now resting. The daisies, wide-eyed, are blooming brightly and the echinacea has grown very tall; I have even taken extra care to dress their petals in the most delightful pale purple.
When you look out over the garden, you probably don’t see why I am worried; the grass is lush and green, the cedar hedge is thick and solid, and even the Koi in the pond are big, fat and happy; but I’m not a “Nervous Nellie”, disaster has just arrived, barbarians are at the gate.
The roses know what I’m talking about; they are not their usually glorious self; the barbarians have attacked them mercilessly and now their lovely fragrance and their beautiful blooms are gone. These barbarians, in their blue-green head covers and copper coats, have attacked the defenseless roses like drunken samurai. They nestled their faces into the flower in search of the most tender petals and then ate their fill… the blooms didn’t stand a chance; dead petals are strewn all over.
Deflowering the roses was not their only crime, it was just their first; they next went after the clematis and the dahlias … eating both bloom and petal… where will it stop! If there were only one or two scoundrels who taking a little and moving on, it wouldn’t be a disaster; but no, these are rapacious barbarians that arrive in hordes, and that is the most frightening part.
The owner of this garden is my only hope to stem off complete disaster. She can turn the tide of this horrible invasion… It is a wonder she hasn’t seen the destruction herself yet. She must be away. When she comes back, I will whisper in her ear, soft like the wind, “Look into the roses”. Then she will see. Then she will know the danger; we have been invaded by a huge horde of ugly, rapacious, Japanese Beetles.
Author’s Note: This picture was taken in my sister’s beautiful garden where I had spent a good hour helping her pick Japanese out of her roses.