I love your red/purple NOID. I have no idea what could make a hole that big. Maybe a squirrel? Marg

Geez, I have no idea what chewed on your daylily bud. I hope it is long gone from your garden. The blooms are really pretty. Dream Legacy is my favorite. Really I can't tell from the picture that it is a small flower. Don't know why your flowers would get smaller.

I've never seen anything eat my daylily buds like that. Maybe a Japanese beetle? They chew holes like that in my hibiscus.
I really like Dream Legacy, your purple NOID, & Leaving Me Breatless. I have S. Merle Kent, wasn't impressed with it in the least for the first couple of years, then the next couple of years it was simply covered in blooms. I divided it last year & it is really peeved with me. Not a single bloom this year. They aren't big blooms, & nothing unusual, but when it is having a good year, it is really pretty.

Flowers here are getting smaller because of the heat; also, the FFO is nearly always the largest. An additional factor may be moisture; we have not had as much rain as we did earlier. Yes, Siloam Merle Kent is more of an orchid-mauve color than the pink in your picture. It doesn't take full sun well, but I've seen it look very good; it may not deserve the ragging it has taken in some posts here.

Yes, the beetles are getting to the hibiscus here too, but soon, the beetles will subside.

Have you seen any big grasshoppers? I am somewhat amused at the changes I have noticed since I became a serious gardener. whereas I used to almost squeal and shudder when I saw the big black and yellow grasshoppers, I no hunt them doen and grind them in the ground.

They ate several daffodil bulbs in their entirety last year, (I caught them in the act) and I became "the grasshopper hunter":)

kay

I forgot to tell you I really like your purple NOID and Leaving Me Breathless.
kay

To the best of my knowledge, a wasp sting isn't dangerous, just painful. It should go away relatively quickly on its own.

Nate

Nat4b, Cameo Luster is my favorite!
~Natalie4b

Thanks, everybody!
Marg, I don't think it's squirrels, kinda high for them.
Rita, unfortunately I found several more buds like this in different areas. Also when I went outside at about 2 to look at this bud a cicada flew out of there, not from the bud, but somewhere in that area. Do they eat buds?
Nancy, I thought maybe JBs too.. I don't know.. Right now as they are done with the roses they started on their grapes.
Mantis, thanks!! That's probably it, heat and lack of rain. But not all flowers are getting smaller, these two especially.
Kay, I think you are probably right. I was liveheading and saw a big green grasshopper on one flower and after I snapped that flower the bud right near it had the same kind of hole. That grasshopper was different from any I saw before (there are a lot here), it had it wings in the form of a blade, kind of. I returned to spray it, and it was still sitting on a daylily. Jumped away and the spray only got on DL leaves.
Thanks, Nate. It is painful, my DH can't even do anything with this hand, it's all swollen and it hurts.
Hi Natalie4b :)

Might be an allergic reaction to the sting-if so, antihistamines might help or may need shot from the doctor!
As for small blooms, any of my flowers that didn't start out early this year have had smaller and fewer blooms than usual because of the heat and lack of rain. THe ones that had a good start in the spring weren't really affected.
Love your NOID-but while it looks familiar, I can't think of what it reminds me of.

Try ice on the wasp sting. It really helps with the swelling & itching. Since I'm allergic to bees they've told me not to use Benadryl cream, but only the hydro-cortisone if you need a topical to control itching. The ice works best though.

Thanks Lisa, Corrine. I'll tell him to try the ice. We don't really have any antihistamines or anything else, and the red streaking went up the arm already..

Lisa, that Cameo Luster started quite early and still blooming that's why I noticed that the blooms got smaller.

If the wasp sting is red streaking I would really advise calling your doctor. while I am self admittedly paranoid about things like that, I work at a Dr. office as well. :)

Get your husband to a doctor it sounds serious. I had a yellowjacket sting that caused a huge inflamed area with a red streak starting to go up the arm. The doctor gave me a shot and told me it was the start of blood poisoning. Always keep antihistamines on hand in case this happens again also the ice will help...Betty

I've never heard of a wasp sting doing that, but I agree, streaking in the arm is a sign of blood poisoning.

Nate