Aphids come in many colors, Milkweed Aphids are orange, many others are green and on Heliopsis they are red. The best way to control them, if that is needed, is a sharp stream of water to knock the wee buggers of the plant, and encourage lady beetles to feed on them.

We can't really help you with a solution without a better idea of what you might be observing. Take a look at some images of aphids on the internet. Even though they come in a wide range of colors and sizes, there's not much mistaking aphids for something else.

I just had the same problem on my heliopsis this week. Every single stem was 90% covered with red aphids. Yet not one on any nearby plants in the same bed. I've had the plants about 10 years and never saw this before. I sprayed them as best I could with water, then sprayed the remainder with neem oil insecticidal soap. so far so good. just some black residue.

I just came back from a walk and noticed the same exact thing on a subdivision entry planting on their heliopsis. The landscaping crew doesn't really tend the area, other than spring cleanup. I will be curious to see how/if the heliopsis survive the aphid attack.

Yes I have them all over mine. I know I often have a spider that likes to lay its babies on them and they don't seem to do much damage.

Heliopsis are notorious for attracting red aphids. I've had so many that I pulled all the tops off the plants (I find the aphids gross and the plants are fairly hard to kill), but last year there were no aphids at all. This year they're back. I've never had much faith in the stream of water technique, so I usually dispose of infested shoots to keep the population down. Insecticidal soap spray or neem will probably work, too. The aphids don't seem to kill the plants, which are pretty sturdy.

The bugs don't appear to hurt the plants, so your efforts may be better focused elsewhere.

Who knows....they may actually be beneficial.

Mine have flourished for years with them.

I've just noticed the same thing this morning on my two Heliopolis which are planted far away from each other. I googled red aphids and it brought me to this site. I have lady bugs trying to eat them but there are so many that seemed to just appear overnight. I rather not use anything that will kill the ladybugs and bees.

Has anyone tried garlic and dish soap method? It has worked on a few things for me before, I might try it here.

Is Neem harmful to bees?

For two plants, you should certainly be able to get them under control with sharp sprays of plain water. The intention is to knock them off without damaging the plant.

If used properly, neem will not cause damage to bees, but I think that you'll be pleased with the water treatments.

I've taken your advise and used the stream of water. So far so good. It's easy enough to do each day if needed on my two plants, they are only two yrs old. Thanks for your help!

Good job!

I had these aphids on my heliopsis for several years. Last year I noticed a lot of ladybugs, including american species (European ladybugs also). I guess they did their job because there are NO red aphids this year. I suggest you wait for the predators to arrive (ladybugs) & they will solve the problem. Plant plenty of 'native' plants (indigenous to your region) they will help nature's predatory insects thrive.

Ladybugs aren't the best solution for this particular aphid. It is a fact that the aphids absorb quantities of the toxic cardenolids as they feed on the milkweed. When ladybugs attact, they produce more of the gluey fluid, which the beetles hate.

Aside from that, ladybugs also devour monarch eggs and larvae with relish! I'd never import even more than those that may naturally show up. Don't forget that dirty little secret about ladybugs before buying a few thousand extra!

I find ladybugs don't work so well on milkweed aphids either but we are talking about the red aphids on Heliopolis. So I have to agree with AG. My experience is I do nothing about aphids. My yard has plenty of predators. They don't have a chance anymore. Actually, I hope for some aphids each year just to keep their populations around.

And I agree, don't import aphids. I have Common Milkweed & have not noticed any aphids on it yet. I have been planting more native plants each year & getting many more species of insects as a result. Hoping to have a healthy insect population with predators that keep the insect populations in check.

This was my lucky year. After a very heavy, early infestation all over the stems and leaves of the Heliopsis plants, something ate all of them. I am not sure what, but I did see at least a few ladybugs finally landing on the plants not long before.

This picture shows what the stem looked like not long after I shot them all off with the hose. Didn't work for me but there were a little less for the moment.

Aphids do some damage; some are just cosmetic and disfiguring for that year, but they can also spread disease between plants. The aphids on roses are a different type and tasty to predators. I hardly get them anymore. If I do, all I have to do is carry over a couple of ladybugs and their larvae and that is that.

Hello, I'm updating my comment from over a year ago when I left the red aphids for too long and they did real damage to my plants. This past season, I did what I said in that comment -- sprayed preemptively with with neem and it worked. Some of the plants were really weakened from the previous years infestation, but the stronger plants did fine. So, YAY, and now I can recommend preemtive neem to others here. Nothing works all the time, though, or for everyone. I did also have to do some hand removal. But I had plants that flowered normally, so I'm pretty happy about that.