First the good news. The Leon Millot are blooming!





I took these photos on 6/12/07, though I first noticed that the Leons were blooming on 6/6/07. The next photo shows the bad news: Hoplia Beetles love to eat flowers, including grape flowers.





At least I think they’re Hoplia Beetles. They fit the description in Jeff Cox’s From Vines to Wines, they’ve shown up at the right (from their point of view anyway) time, and they’re found mainly in the West.

I’ve been going out to the bonsai vineyard every day with a bucket of soapy water. By holding the bucket underneath the cluster they’re feeding on and giving it a tap, I drown the greedy little bugs. I’ll try to control them this way, but I’m looking into chemical controls in case it doesn’t work.

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