I'm in Maine and had to make that decision several years ago. The red lily leaf beetles were something I had never seen until I planted many Asiatic and Oriental lilies. It was disgusting!

The daylilies seem to make it through anything, although slugs enjoy them, they don't harm the blooms.

We smugly assumed the beetles wouldn't survive our winters... boy were we wrong.

Luckily I rarely see a slug. Our climate is quite dry. They don't even bother my hostas so they're sure not going to show up for daylilies.

I have already started pulling out my lilies; it's been a difficult process but I just couldn't seem to keep up with the devestation from the beetles and the larvae despite being out there daily picking and squishing and spraying with Neem Oil on a regular basis like you said Gillian. It's a heartbreaker. Even my Martagons in the shade are under attack but those I can't bring myself to remove yet. I will concentrate on trying to save them for now. The beetles also have done some damage to my Solomon Seal as well.

Gil, did you spray the ground around the lilies? I have a friend who does that as well as spray the lilies and handpick and she has gotten ahead of the ERBs, as she calls them - Evil Red B******S!

I can't imagine having to get rid of my lilies. I wonder how the Lily Nook does it - I've seen some recent pictures of their fields and they're gorgeous!

OH My I feel for you.....damn those ****** red bugs!

Wish you all the best as I know I will have to deal with them sooner than later.

SCG

Marcia, I sprayed everything. Judging by how heavily infested other gardens in town are, I think new adults were moving in. Like I said, the neem worked well against larvae but new adults were eating every day. I imagine the Lily Nook has access to some heavy duty insecticides. They're bound to be hurting when people stop buying lilies though... it's a shame. I'm not too interested in insecticides with all the bees in my yard.

Feeling excited about my daylily order though... It's Vivaces Nordiques turn again. They have some nice new listings this year. :)

Ugh, lily bugs sound really nasty. Never seen any here, but it sounds like the clock is ticking, there have been at least 5 confirmed infestations in Edmonton so far and it seems they can survive an Alberta winter. All my wonderful Asiatics faded a decade ago when the trees got bigger and shaded my once sunny back-border but I still have a small bed of species Tiger lilies, plus 3 Martagons... guess I'll wait to see what happens with those.

I was reading about them last night (ERBs) and one article said that there was talk about importing natural predators for them. I know that can be dangerous too, but it would be nice to be able to control them.

I'm sorry to hear so many have these bugs attacking their lilies. I, too, had hoped our frigid temps would keep them at bay. I've not yet seen any in my yard but since they are now in MB and AB, I'm sure I'll see them eventually.

Here is a link that talks about the predatory wasps that were released in Ontario

Here is a link that might be useful: lily beetle tracker website

Oh my! I have never heard of these bugs, but they surely look NASTY! One very, very nasty bug that I had to deal with when I was in the east was Japanese beetles!!! Oh lord, did I hate them or what!? They would destroy my roses, crabapples etc.... YIKES!

northspruce, so sorry to hear about your lilies.... the silver lining is that you got to S.P. them so you can have some new plants! :-)

Have fun with your daylilies!

Northspurce, I've read that some people dust their lilies with ground pepper. Have you tried that?

No, and they're all dug out now anyway. I honestly can't see pepper working any better than neem, which was just "sort of okay" with intensive, endless upkeep.

Looking forward to my new daylilies!

Good luck then...