The Good:
First harvest of faultless little bell peppers and a few tomatoes. I picked them a bit undersized because I wanted the plant to focus energy on producing even more! They are dense, delicious, and dainty. I’m very pleased and looking at them gives me a huge sense of attainment, it is what makes gardening worth while!
I have already posted pictures of the Snowball Hydrangea, but I couldn’t resist one more photo. They are at their peak. The flowers are the size of basketballs!
The beautiful cactus flower is as big as my hand and just keeps showing off more blooms!
This lily is crinkling a little around the edges but still manages to take my breath away!
Potatoes are at the producing and developing stage. They have been mounded several times and are now at the top of the bed. Now I just water and wait. I want to peek under the soil and sneak a look at how they are doing, but I will try and resist!
The bad:
The Thornless blackberry received tremendous damage and is left with quite a bit of skeletonized leaves. I think I will be able to rescue it in time.
The tropical Peace Lily is also struggling. Just look at those little buggers feasting away!
The downright hideous:
While there are some good and bad things happening in parts of the garden, other areas have been utterly invaded with army after army of hideous Japanese Beetles.
This pest was detected in New Jersey in 1916, having been introduced from Japan. Why was it introduced? By accident? I certainly hope it was not on purpose!
The adult beetles eat the leaves and flowers of over 300 plants by eating the tissue between the veins, a type of feeding called skeletonizing. The larvae, “grubs” feed on plant roots and organic matter in the soil.
As you can clearly see, they have feasted on my roses. Every bloom has been decimated. I am finally giving up on natural concoctions and am ready to strike back with chemical warfare. They are not near any organic food crops so I am declaring a blitzkrieg of carnage against those little bleeper’s!
I hope you will stay tuned to see the onslaught of my crusade against them. I’m on a serious mission here and I will not be defeated.
createityourself 
OMG!! Thanks for posting the hideous photo of the beetles. Now, I know what to watch out for. YIKES!! Is the damage to the blackberry from the JB’s? And how will you rescue it?
I was going to ask the same questions!
Yep, the Japanese beetles have gotten to the blackberry. I have been spraying it with organic “pyrethrin” and it seems to be doing the trick. The roses are a different story. It doesn’t even seems to phase them! That’s why I’m breaking out the big guns now! This is war!
I am so jealous of your produce!!! My veggies are just now getting their true leaves. sigh.
Thanks! I’m pleased overall and hope for A LOT more to come. Happy harvest to you very soon!
love it,i can not believe all those bugs. I say kill them all and let god sort them out!
wow..incredible amount of damage from the JBs….we have lots of damage from aphids this year, the most I’ve seen because of the very mild winter but you’ve got it bad. I like hand picking myself because then I can watch them drown in a soapy death. I know, it’s evil but look at what they can do.
Yeah, It’s nice to see them suffer a horrible death, but I can’t keep up!
Last year I had to battle those little leaf wreckers and save my grape vines. Too bad they where just a distraction so the turkeys could sneak in and eat my grapes!
I can’t say that I’ve ever had a turkey problem, but I wish there was a predator out there to come over and eat these little beetle bastards!
That hydrangea just makes me feel pure and pretty! They spare Huge!
That weird beetle orgy made me a bit queasy…they must be exterminated. Darlek style.
Yes indeed.
Sorry to hear of your beetles. zap them with all that you have, you don’t want them spreading around.