It's really bugging me!

The wild grapevine, virginia creeper, and honeysuckle on my back fence is being ravaged by Japanese beetles. Other than being creepy and icky, this might not bother me so much, except they have decided to move on and munch on the trees in the front yard. I've been spraying them with poison, but this seems to be such a temporary fix. Anybody have suggestions on how to eradicate these creepy-crawlies?

Garden Goodies

It continues to be unbearably hot and muggy here. Now, the humidity is punctuated by semi-regular torrential thunderstorms.

I have mostly given up on growing anything on my desert of a deck when I found the succulent section at Lowes. Clockwise from the top, a Love plant, Rock plant, and finally, baby toes. You just have to love a plant named after such a sweet little body part. That cool daisy-like flower popped up after the latest rainshower. Bonus! The tag didn't mention a thing about baby toes blooming.

Nearly a month ago, C and I built a new flower bed to the east of the garage. Most of the perennials are starting to fill in. If I'm lucky, a few might bloom this year. The annuals around my tiny little water garden look fabulous and lush though. This whole garden should be pretty impressive next year.

My pansies finally gave up the ghost in the heat. I replanted this with sweet potato vine and some random red flower than I can no longer remember the name of. Any guesses?

Purple coneflowers came up randomly in my front garden. The bumblebees love them. Any idea on how to extract the useful echinacea from the plants?