Azaleas thrive here so well that some gardeners get the impression you can simply stick them in the ground and walk away. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Choose less susceptible plants for future plantings. There’s no guarantee, but some plants are less likely to be damaged by Japanese beetles, such as red maple, boxwood, flowering dogwood, holly, ...

We go back to the wee hours of May 11, 1965, when Johnny Cash was picking up material for his song "Starkville City Jail".