A Stinky Skirmish

The trellis "before"

 The quiet evening peace was interrupted by a click-click-click sound and a faint fluttering shadow racing towards the stairwell light. Upon close inspection, an armor-plated bug was spotted on the wall. Recognizing it as a stink bug, I carefully snatched it with a tissue, quickly dispatched it with sufficient pressure to end its existence and flushed it down the toilet. How could such a bug be in the house I wondered? Another day cleaning a bedroom I discovered to my growing disgust a number of these unwanted insects hiding in strange, dark places such as between the pages of a tablet, between a mattress and box spring, in the clothes closet and in the folds of a curtain. Ewwww!

After summarily eliminating these additional invaders I began to research them. According to the information I found these bugs lay their eggs on the leaves of various plants, including tomatoes, which I had planted under this bedroom's window. They prefer south-facing surfaces, again the bedroom window, and look for places to winter over before heading out to populate the earth in the spring. I left the window open all summer to promote air circulation. Hence the hibernating bedroom population. I took measures to rid the place of all bugs, closed and never re-opened that bedroom window and enjoyed a bug-free house for some years.

A stink bug

A few days ago, while watering on the deck and admiring my wild and crazy yellow Clematis tangutica sprawling on a trellis wall abutting the house, I noticed a stink bug. And then another one. And then realized it was an infestation of prodigious proportions! The leaves, seed heads and stems were coated with all sizes of bugs ranging from newly hatched tiny ones to large adult, egg-laying ones. Oh mercy! I began squishing them in a flurry of defensive action but realized that there were too many to battle and it was only a matter of time before some of them breached the deck door and found winter headquarters in my house. What to do?

 Clematis tangutica blooms

This variety of clematis is a favorite of bees and hummingbirds, both of which are a delight to watch while sipping a morning coffee or an afternoon iced drink on the deck. The vine is a great summer "wall", adding privacy to the deck. It grows constantly until frost, showing buds, full blooms and seed heads simultaneously. It is an unusual and beautiful clematis. To spray poison on it to eradicate the bugs would put the bees and birds in peril. To let it be would only allow the bugs to mature and begin their handy invasion of my house. The remaining alternative was to remove the year's growth completely, leaving a "naked" wall, but ensuring that a significant number of the bugs would be removed to the yard debris container.

The trellis "after"

Option "C" was selected and in a short time, secateurs in hand, I had clipped the clematis down and the foliage was in the trash. A final squishing sweep of the deck eliminated some survivors, and once all was restored to order, the appearance wasn't so bad. A few potted plants replaced the clematis function. I'll be on guard, however, all winter and spring to monitor dark places for hunkered down stink bugs and will be quick to show them who's boss, at least for now. Did I mention they like the color yellow?