the garden last week of July

The poppy. I thought I would miss it in bloom, and I did miss the one, but happily there turned out to be more than one on this plant. Very pink shirley is.
Butterfly bush is finally in bloom. Gourd vine, planted itself, is taking over everything, but the little yellow gourds are cute. I am also pleased by the two sunflowers (different kinds) that planted themselves. The cosmos look more like evergreen trees, some are just getting too big and bushy. Columbine are finally spent. Hollyhock faded away. Clematis seems to have woken back up. Russian sage, rose of sharon, hydrangea, zinnias (all purple) are in full swing. Plenty of this and that, I wont mention. Some daisies are doing great, some aren't.The roses are trying so hard, and keep coming through with new growth and buds, but the beetles are winning the war. They took over in the week I was away, and I am fighting being despondent over it, as they are destroying all leaf and petals on these plants, or should I say barren green stems. Some of the roses are doing better than others ( I wont say which for fear the beetles will hear me, and then target those plants). I got stung, or pinched, or bitten, by one of the Japanese beetles today, clustered everywhere they are, as I was trying to knock it/slide it, into the water bucket, I stayed calm, but the next one that clung on to me, unnerved me as I feared it too would hurt me, and I flicked my hand about too vigorously and knocked the bucket out of my hand, and into the grass, and had to scramble to recapture the beetles before they could escape. It was great fun. It is too hot and sticky outside now, I wont do more than press my face up against the window and curse at them. It makes me think of war. Of picking one off at a time, a never ending line, no way to win. Makes me want to bomb them, my own plants even, that is how frustrated I get. Good thing I am not in charge of actual wars. I need a new strategy. They are also quite fond of the pontilla (sp? I'll look it up later). My son seems to feel it is time for me to make him lunch.