This is the work of a creature known to me as a cutter
bee. I have never seen one. Apparently, they are very small. I have no idea what purpose they serve in the
garden other than destruction.
This rose is the magnificent Dark Lady by David Austin. By the time this bee is done she will have
lost over 75% of her leaf surface by my reckoning. Exactly how an herbaceous plant that feeds in
part through it leaf is not harmed by losing leaf tissue is beyond me, but
there are people who will swear that this bee does not harm the rose. But hey, I am not an entomologist, a botanist
or a biologist. I am just a rose
gardener who has spent the better part of 50 years growing and caring for
roses. I can honestly say that I have
finally met a challenge that makes me wish I had never planted a rose on the
High Plains of Colorado.
As near as I can tell this “bee” is active from mid-June to
mid-August by which time it has completed its nest and becomes dormant. It appears to engage in leaf cutting – the
perfect semi circles you see – throughout most of the day. It seems to attack two or three roses in a
garden most viciously. I have not been
able to discern which roses are immune save miniatures. Perhaps it is the proximity to the ground
that discourages the creature from praying on the smaller roses.
If you are planning a rose garden, check with your gardening
experts to see if this pest is indigenous in your area. They may have more information about which
rose to select to discourage the cutter bee. Once they start there is no
getting rid of them, and for my part I find this heartbreaking. While the bloom is intact, the beautiful
foliage is disfigured, and the rose appears to my non-expert eye to be weakened
in subtle ways from season to season.
