The garden is literally teeming with life. This is the time of year when I must be diligent about going out every few hours to pick the Japanese beetles off the plants. One year they decimated the yellow dogwood in what seemed like one day. Now I watch for them as soon as true summer hits, and I am ruthless in my pursuit of these shiny winged creatures. They're not the only ones cluttering up our airspace. The bees can't seem to get enough of the honeysuckle that lines our front path, and they also love the wild raspberry flowers and the bee balm, naturally. So distracted is everyone by the intoxicating pollens and nectars around, that I was able to get close enough to snap a few portraits. (If you're a subscriber and got a weird "Test Post" email today, my apologies. We're trying to fix a few glitches on here and it's a little frustrating. Bear with me!)

Japanese beetles are serious pests that can be extremely destructive in the garden. They turn plant leaves into a lacy filigree which sounds pretty but spells ruination. I find many of them in full-on coitus and it's my pleasure to interruptus.

This is what revenge looks like...

I went back and forth over showing you this photo of the dead beetles, but I want you to know it's not all hearts and flowers in this piece of paradise. As Werner Herzog so eloquently put it, "Nature here is vile and base..."