the cherry tree and strawberry leaves look healthy...no signs of damage from japanese beetles ( notorious for devouring fuit crops...ask me about my grape experiences some time ) and i'd like to keep it that way...so i picked up half a dozen geranium plants this morning and split them between the tree and the bed...they act as a trap crop ( although my experience shows me they are more of a repellant )...usda sponsored research shows that in lab conditions the beetles are paralyzed for twenty-four hours or so after eating the flower petals...in the wild they have a much better chance of being eaten by predators while paralyzed or destroyed by irate gardeners...typically research is under way to isolate the active substance(s) and use them as a sort of insecticide/repellant...one wonders how much better than the flowers that compound would be... they add a nice bit of color to the garden and are far more friendly to the eco-sphere than another chemical would be...now all we have to do is keep our eyes open...so many predators want a share of the garden's produce...gardening is all about human intervention.
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