There are 2 things that occur here in August besides the icky heat; Naked Lady bulbs bloom and fig beetles are around. Both are beautiful. One is super annoying. Naked Lady is the Amaryllis belladonna flowering bulb. It looks like a regular (Christmas or Spring blooming)Amaryllis but puts out it's leaves in the cool weather, sheds them when the weather warms and then blooms without foliage in August. Hence the "Naked" part of its name.
The Fig beetle or fruit beetle is not really that bad because it doesn't do damage to flowers like the smaller Japanese beetle of the midwest and east. The huge and disgusting grubs that are it's larval state do eat things underground but not terribly that you'd notice damage above ground. This beetle is about an inch long when it's wings are closed and about 3 inches long when it's wings are out. It flies rather awkwardly like it's too heavy to be airborne. It bumps and bonks into things and makes a sort of electrical sound sometimes. And to bare all here, I have an irrational fear of them. I can hear them coming and my instinct is to hide behind whoever is nearest. I think it stems from a long ago trauma that no man can understand(and they will taunt me with them if they can). Once while driving along the 605 freeway near Norwalk about 20 years ago in my old VW Bug with no air conditioning and the windows down, one flew into my car. I freaked out and had to exit the freeway and open the doors and get out as fast as possible. I can't even remember how I got the beetle out of my car. It was horrible and I hate to relive it even while typing.
4 houses ago when I lived in a little rented house in Monrovia, I had no dryer. The back yard had a fig tree, a persimmon tree and a black walnut tree. The beetles would circle the walnut tree all day. I would do laundry as early as I could and hang my clothes on the line. Then I had to wait until dusk or dark to take down my clothes because the beetle was not flying then. Needless to say, all my clothes were faded. That backyard also had oodles of Naked Lady bulbs that flowered every year at the SAME TIME AS THE BEETLES WERE OUT! So, I can't really like Naked Lady flowers because it's all tied together in the trauma that is in my head.
You'd think after all this time working outdoors that I would not be afraid of this stupid beetle any longer. That is not the case :-( And I anxiously look forward to September every time August rolls around. But on a positive note, every day I get through August is one less August day I must endure :-) Come ON September!
I love August and Fig beetles! They're pretty.
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