How bright, shiny red ruins my moment of Zen like calm
Today it is sunny and warm 20C (68F). I see that the tulips in pots are fully open so I rush out to take a picture before they close up for the day. How pretty they are.
Tulipa bakerii 'Lilac Wonder'
Tulipa bakerii 'Lilac Wonder' closeup
Tulipa 'Little Beauty'
Tulipa 'Little Beauty' closeup
I sit on the garden chair nearby and rest my feet on a hillock of evergreen foliage. This is Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Compactus’. If you want an outdoor, all weather cushion for bare feet this is the plant for you. It is a dwarf relation of the more common black Ophiopogon.
I stare at the plants. I feel content. Everything is looking just perfect. Sun…bare feet… smug feeling of satisfaction…tranquil serenity.
I notice that my double white Sanguinarias are swamping the nearby clump of Fritillaria meleagris. Hmmm. I must do something about that but not now, I don’t want to spoil the moment. These Fritillaria are so exquisite.
Fritillaria meleagris and feet
In another clump nearby there are white ones.
Fritillaria meleagris (white)
There are purple red ones. But wait, look at the front petal, there is a hole in it (you can see it more clearly if you enlarge the picture by clicking). Has something been eating the flower? What could it be? I move closer.
Fritillaria meleagris
Aaaaargggghhhh! I see two Lily Beetles otherwise known as “Pitiless Destroyers of Lillies and Fritillarias”. Damn and double damn!
Both the adults and grubs eat the flowers and foliage and these two are creating even more chomping little jaws. I find 12 of them on three groups of Fritillaria. Left alone they would decimate the plants and weaken the bulbs.
Lily beetle
I generally avoid killing insects, but for these I make an exception. I will be on Fritillaria patrol from now on.
[BTW. HappyMouffetard mentioned the Lily Beetle in relation to Fritillarias in a recent post - so thank you HM - I would not have been so alert otherwise!]
18 comments
For a moment I was thinking you were going to say red blooms! I’m glad you were able to catch the damage of those pests before they did further damage! I love the photos of your little specie Tulips. I really need to add some of those charming blooms to my garden this fall.
Racquel: I did realise the red tulips could add confusion after I posted! I like the species Tulips – more free and easy compared to the tall ones.
That last picture only lacked ‘Je t’aime’ as a backing track… Give them some privacy please!
Dawn: Very funny!
What beautiful blooms…….!
Darla: It is amazing how many flowers have appeared over the last two weeks.
They’re as bad as those pesky vine weevils. Kill, kill, KILL!
VP: I see a number of us have suffering from the dreaded Vine Weevil!
…and trying to increase their numbers right there in front of you…adding insult to injury. Off with their wings! I love the little checkered lilies! Gail
Gail: Not only bright red but cheeky too!
eeeek
horrid
Actually I didn’t realize they like Fritillaria until HM mentioned it.
Your tulips are divine – particularly “Little Beauty”
I got vine weevile this weekend
K
Karen: Yes the Tulips are beautiful and they always do better for me in pots. I’ve only noticed 1 Vine Weevil so far, but where there is one there are….!
I had vine weevil in my garden, and spent many summer nights stalking and hunting and killing. It was definitely not a stereotypical zen-like experience. Or maybe it was? It was certainly satisfying. I call them evil weevils.
So dear Easy, let us be mindful, and enjoy the fleeting beauty of the tulips and fritillaria while we can. (zen lol)
P.S. love your blog, love your style and philosophy.
Catmint: I’m sure to have Vine weevils too but they are less noticeable so are avoiding retribution for now! Thanks very much for the compliment
Nooooooooo! Tell those buggies to go away. Why can’t they pick on someone else’s garden?
Susan: It is just not fair! Not helped by my neighbours having no Fritillarias of their own
What little horrors those beetles are. We see all kind of beetles here only thing is we are not sure if they are good or bad for our garden.
The tulips are lovely and i love the frittillia but never had much success at growing them.
I’ve given up trying to grow lilies because of those little buggers. Squish a few for me!
I am most taken with ‘Little Beauty’. Those little red beetles are a big pest – I suppose we should be grateful that they are not green or brown but bright red. That plant looks a perfect cushion for bare tootsies
Ouch! That’s early in the year for Lilioceris lilii to be about too. I hate them with a passion, I really do. We’ve had to pot up all our lilies and overwinter them in the greenhouse to stop the beetly depredations, and now I wonder if they did for my purple snakeshead fritillarys too – I still have the white ones, but all the purple ones disappeared. Perhaps they don’t bother with the white flowers? Interesting …
I covet those lovely small tulips. Hopefully I will still be coveting them in August when they need ordering
The evil weevil marauding already?
I was out at 4 am in the rain squashing snails and slugs. Now there is an additional daily/nightly task. Sigh.
My dicecup flowers haven’t even pushed through the soil yet. My J.Parkers order hasn’t been very succesful.
Only the freebies came good.
Oh dear, and everything in the garden sounded so lovely until then. At least you caught them!
I didn’t realise either that lily beetles like Fritillarias, I shall keep my eyes open for them!!
I smiled at your photo of those 2 creating even more lily beetles! I do love your fritillaria and hope they don’t get too many holes! I understand you having to be kind to those 2, though! Your garden sounds so peaceful and lovely. Have a wonderful day! Jan
Oh, and I didn’t comment on those tulips! I love them…haven’t seen either of them before. I need to look for them, they’re gorgeous!!
Oh – I’m only just catching up on blogs after my holiday – what a shame you’ve found the pesky critters on your fritillaries too
Those species tulips are absolutely gorgeous.
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