What's eating my angel face rose?

Angel Face, a lavender floribunda with highly fragrant blooms, is particularly attractive to aphids and thrips outdoors. Japanese beetles target the open flowers. Its fragrance can also draw caterpillars in some regions. Protect the distinctive blooms with weekly scouting and act at the first sign of insects to preserve flower quality.

Curled, distorted buds and shoots; sticky honeydew; dense soft-bodied insect colonies on stem tips Blast with water; neem oil or insecticidal soap; release beneficial insects such as lacewings

Silvery streaks and brown edges on petals; blooms fail to open; tiny narrow insects inside flowers Remove and discard infested blooms; apply spinosad; use reflective mulch below the plant

Skeletonized leaves; adult beetles feed directly on open petals in midsummer, rapidly destroying blooms Hand-pick into soapy water at dawn; pyrethrin spray; remove fallen petals to reduce beetle attraction