Scarlet Lily Beetles

I have been trying for years to pay my kids to squish these beetles, but they are still too squeamish. If I didn't love my lilies so much, I wouldn't think they were worth the agony.

I planted my first lilies the year Bronwyn was born, and the stargazers (my favorites) always blossom around her birthday in late July. The other Asiatic lilies bloom all through July, taking turns lighting up the garden in brilliant yellows, oranges, pinks and white.

It might have been only five years ago that I first noticed these beetles. I thought they were a lovely shade of red and didn't consider them a pest. They laid their little red and orange eggs stealthily on the undersides of the lily leaves and I was none the wiser. But I surely noticed when their little grubs started eating up my lilies.

These are easily some of the grossest pests in the garden. You'll notice the leaves disappearing, and when you flip them over, what appears to be a brown bird dropping. If you scrape it off, you'll find the little grub underneath, covered in its own poop! Yucka!

Neem oil can be added to dish soap and water and sprayed on the leaves to deter the beetles and grubs, and I've found that picking and squishing the beetles by hand, then rubbing off all of the eggs that they lay, is sometimes the easiest. But throw a few rainy days into the mix and all bets are off. The end result is lilies with pockmarked and Swiss cheese leaves, not so pretty to take pictures of.

Anyone have any techniques for getting rid of these guys? I don't want to use poisons, but it's hard to watch your favorites get shredded by pests!