Japanese beetle damage

These Easter lillies in my front yard smelled wonderful when they first opened about a week ago.  The petals are starting to fall now.

I thought for sure that I had written about these invasive Japanese beetles before, but I can't find it now on a search.  They're actually a nice looking creature, but they're just so destructive.  I've seen them for years feasting on the leaves of native grapes.  Unfortunately, they like all of the same plants that I do: roses, mint, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, blueberry, carrot.

Here you can tell that I've lost half of my thornless raspberry plants (not just the fruits and leaves) this year.  The remaining plants look none too healthy. 

I lost my beautiful blue rose this year.  That same bed lost much of the peppermint that was growing there too.  Stupid beetle grubs.  I thought I lost one of the nearby white roses too, but it's trying to survive this year, putting on far less growth than last year.

I avoid chemical treatments as much as possible.  Not just for the sake of pollinators, but also because many of the plants in my yard produce edibles that I consume too.

I wish Mother Nature had an effective way to destroy these beetles.  I like my plants much more than I like these pretty golden beetles.

Allergies are still hitting me hard.  I'm doing slightly better after flushing my sinuses on Friday, but I'm still a zombie on antihistamines.  My eyes are completely free of the THC sandpaper problem, but now they have that familiar allergy burn instead.  I wish I knew what was prompting it.  It's usually molds that trigger me so badly, but we've had little rain for a long while.