“June Bugs and Roses” somehow reminds me of a country music song; I smile pretending to hear this song has quickly soared to the top of the charts this summer!

Japanese beetles and roses don’t have the same musical notes for me, hence the title of June bugs and Roses! While June bugs do picnic on rose leaves, it is the beetles that cause massive  harm. These small invasive insects have made havoc and chaos in the garden and now are the subject of a much belated blog.

I do not like these shiny green invaders from Japan. Who invited them here, anyway?

Evidently, they came as stowaways, hidden as larvae inside the soil of Japanese irises, imported unsuspectedly into New Jersey around 1911… discovered five years later. They have caused problems ever since.

Natural enemies keep them at bay in Japan; we don’t have the necessary native predators, so we must discover ways to rid our lives and gardens from these smelly, destructive pests. They have found homes in over three-quarters of the United States and are now the country’s most widespread turf-grass nuisance.

And they love roses!

As I watched the immediate destruction around me, I pondered the evil of bugs, beetles… insects…, stealing the beauty from rose bushes, transforming perfect foliage into weblike skeletons; I realized how quickly the picture changes. This was a vibrant, fragrant creation two weeks before… full of potential to spread joy in the garden.   I almost cried as I saw the leaves, now almost skeleton-like, and smelled the strong bad odor of a  crushed bug. Yesterday’s beauty is in  ruins.  Not only  do these beetles leave  massive destruction, they also release a strong chemical odor. You don’t want to crush one! There are  different  opinions, but  most experts agree the pheromones  secreted signal other beetles to join the party.

In researching how to rid the bush of the invaders, I discovered the best way is by plucking them off… morning and evening, into a bucket of soapy water. (There are ways to treat the soil and the bush initially, but with all the rain this spring in Tennessee washing all efforts down the drain, this was the only solution.)

One morning when plucking an ugly beetle, clinging tightly in the very center of a beautiful, sweet-smelling rose, I saw a parallel to life.

Can beetles, bugs and insects cheapen our fragrance?  Stain one’s beauty?  You know, those annoying, clinging traits and habits, attitudes… even gadgets, time wasters,  that literally suck the life giving pollen from the petals of our blooms.

Webster defines “pluck” as to snatch; to pull off or out. Daily, several times a day, I got rid of multiple undesirable aggressors. I just snatched them into my bucket of hot soapy water.

Poof!  And they were history.

The scent on the foliage invited more pests, and so, it was an intentional, continuing part of my day… to pluck away.  Now, at the end of the season, there are fewer attacks, and many blooms are staying clean and fresh.

Can you see yourself as this rose, a beautiful creation, designed by our heavenly Father, to spread joy,  a sweet aroma of His presence, to all?  I must be “plucking” daily to keep invasive, often destructive “things and stuff” from my garden.   I must be aware of what cripples my walk;  what has the potential to tarnish God’s design upon my life. Is the aroma I emit fragrant with the knowledge of God in my life?

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph—as trophies of Christ’s victory—and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere. For we—you and I—are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God” (2 Corinthians 2:14–15, Amplified).

Tom and I recently made a decision to turn off all screen lights by nine in the evening. We read for an hour… well, I read out loud until he falls asleep!  This is an offering we give to the Lord, a sweet aroma shared as we listen to words from Ken Gire’s Windows of the Soul.  Other readings will come.  Sometimes we snuggle and share thoughts of the day. I know this quiet hour joys His heart.

As Christ loved us and  gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God,  I want to present  Him with a potpourri mixture of peace and joy, of love and obedience… free of bugs and beetles. (Ephesians 5:2) (my added words!)

Japanese beetles leave a trail of destruction. I want to, and I encourage you, to leave a winsome, sweet path of Jesus-joy behind as we “pluck the beetles”.

“And when we obey Him, every path He guides us on is fragrant with His loving-kindness and His truth” (Psalms 25:10 The Living Bible).

Plucking furiously…