If you’ve noticed damage to your rose bushes, with leaves and flowers chewed or stripped off overnight, you likely have some nighttime pests feasting on your roses. Determining the culprit is the first step to protecting your roses.
Common rose pests
Several insects and other creatures enjoy munching on roses after dark. Here are some of the most likely suspects:
- Japanese beetles – These metallic green and copper beetles feed on over 300 plant species, including rose flowers and leaves. They are most active in summer.
- Thrips – Tiny winged insects that rasp plant tissue and suck out the contents, leaving silvery patches. They particularly enjoy flower buds and petals.
- Earwigs – These creepy-looking insects chew irregular holes in leaves, flowers, and buds. They are active at night.
- Slugs and snails – Leave shiny trails of slime on leaves and can skeletonize leaves overnight, leaving only veins.
- Rabbits – Rabbits nibble on the lower parts of canes, leaving them damaged and vulnerable.
- Deer – Deer browse on rose bushes, eating leaves, buds, and young stems. Damage is usually above rabbit browse height.
Inspecting for clues
Take a close look at the damage on your roses to get clues about the culprit:
- Are there jagged holes in leaves? Caterpillars or beetles likely chewed them.
- Are there rounded notches taken out of leaf edges? Probably slugs or snails.
- Are whole leaves stripped off stems? Suspect deer or rabbits.
- Are flowers cleanly clipped off? Earwigs often slice off flowers.
- Is plant tissue dried or desiccated? Thrips are the likely cause.
Also look for droppings, slime trails, chew marks on lower stems, or signs of chewing insects like caterpillars. Evidence combined with the damage clues can confirm which pests are helping themselves to your roses overnight.
Catching nocturnal nibblers in the act
For definitive proof of what’s munching your roses at night, you’ll need to catch the perpetrators red-handed. Here are some tricks to reveal and identify rose raiders:
- Inspect plants after dark with a flashlight to surprise night feeders.
- Jiggle branches to make pests drop or scurry away.
- Spread smooth foil or plastic below plants to track slug and snail movement.
- Set up a night vision or trail camera aimed at susceptible plants.
- Place a wide, shallow pan of beer near plants to attract and drown slugs/snails overnight.
Protecting roses from night feeding
Once you’ve identified the nighttime rose nibblers, you can take steps to protect your plants:
For chewing insects:
- Apply insecticidal soap or neem oil sprays to kill larvae and repel adults.
- Use pheromone traps to capture adult beetles like Japanese beetles.
- Encourage natural predators like lady bugs and lacewings.
- Hand pick caterpillars, beetles, or other insects and drop them in soapy water.
- Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) spray to kill caterpillars.
For slugs and snails:
- Use diatomaceous earth around plants to shred soft slug and snail bodies.
- Set out shallow beer traps overnight to attract and drown them.
- Improve drainage and remove hiding spots to deter them.
- Encourage predator beetles, frogs, snakes, and birds in the garden.
For deer and rabbits:
- Put up fencing around the garden, at least 3 feet tall for deer.
- Apply commercial repellent sprays made with rotten eggs, garlic, or hot pepper.
- Scatter human hair, blood meal, or predator urine granules to deter them.
- Add motion-activated sprinklers to scare away unwanted visitors.
Conclusion
Uncovering the source of rose damage allows you to implement the best defenses tailored to that pest. Persistence and a variety of deterrents are needed to protect roses from becoming an all-night buffet. With some detective work and strategic control methods, you can catch the culprits and let your roses bloom in peace.