Rant on! We ALL understand! I was cutting back some of the lower leaves on my columbine last week that were flopping on top of some other things and blocking too much sun, when I discovered aphids all over the stems of all three plants! Glad I decided to cut them back a little or I wouldn't have noticed them till it was way worse. Finished cleaning off the leaves, and with Squished Green Juice Hands I then got out my 2-gallon sprayer, which I keep filled with Palmolive water, and saturated them! It was already late in the day and they were out of the sun. Need to check to see if they need a repeat bath!

"Some things" can damage plant foliage when sprayed when the sun is hitting the plants, and I don't know if soap water would cause a problem or not, maybe not, but I never spray "anything" in "hot sun" just to be sure! If whatever you're spraying is gonna cause some sort of leaf damage, by the time you find that out it's too late, so I just find it easier to not take a chance. If you can spray in the morning before the sun is very high, I don't think you should have any problem at all as long as they dry before the sun gets hot. And "one more day" isn't gonna make all that much difference if you need to wait till later in the day tomorrow. AND, if you knocked most/many of them off with water today, I'm sure you're fine for now. When you do spray, be sure you saturate everything, ESPECIALLY the new growth. Aphids LOVE the most tender parts! And since they DO "get down in" everywhere, chances are you're gonna need to repeat the bath several days down the road--just keep an eye on them like I'm doing with the columbine--which aphids LOVE! If you're gonna be using it a lot, like I do (Palmolive water is my cure for "most" things!) I recommend a pressure sprayer like I use! MUCH easier to thoroughly cover the plant--and especially to get UNDER the foliage. My hand gives out WAY too easily when I try to use a hand sprayer! AND, Ace had the two gallon sprayers on sale this week for $10! I usually pick up a new one every year when they're on sale! Have one for Weed-B-Gon, one for RU, one for water--to mist my seedlings, and one for Palmolive Water--which is the most used one!

Say, Ohhhhm, now, and have a glass of wine, Alice!

;-)
Skybird

If you don't eat it, try a drench also.

I picked one up down here at a nursery. Use it in the spring and you're good for a year.

Not recommended for eating plants. Always be sure to check the label for specific instructions for your plants!

I about ready to go out and buy some ladybugs! where are they when you need them. Unfortunately my DW soap is antibacterial and really low on our bath soap which is pure castille so I'll need to run out and get a small bottle just for this purpose. We have a largish pressure sprayer (it's on wheels )which we were using to "water" the concrete in the basement and sealing it this winter but since I'll be out I might just pick up a smaller size to use around the garden. This is my first time having dirt in the ground that I can play with so...

Here's a thought? Since they seem to pretty much love to snuggle in the tender tips? could I just pinch the shoots off? I am already trying to pry them open and have torn a bunch off already, is it going to set me back and affect it from flowering. I was really really looking forward to seeing it bloom this year. It's grown into a really nice size and with lush leaves - Skybird you'd be proud!

Bob - what is a drench? I searched GW and can't seem to find info about it? What's the product name? Does it affect beneficial insects? I don't want to kill the few ladybugs I've seen in the garden so far which was why I hosed the Becky off last evening rather than spray with the soap and neem oil I was using battling mites on the ws seedlings

I have the same aphid problem on some of my cherry and plum trees - the aphids show up when the plants are just leafing out, and long before the lady bugs and other predators are out and about. They infest the growing tip and the result is some big, gooey blob that won't grow for the rest of the summer.

This year, I was able to spray the cherry tree in time, and hit the plum tree two days ago - but already, half the tips were just some mess of curled leaves.

I almost suggested yesterday that you cut them down, Alice, but I was afraid you'd Freak Out! And I still think you might! How tall are yours by now? Mine are up to a good foot already! The reason I think you might freak out is because, especially if yours are very tall already, I'd be inclined to recommend you cut them ALL the way down and let them start all over again! Are you freaking out yet???

Here's why! If you just cut off the "tips," what you'll be doing is "pinching" them, and when pinched, Shasta Daisies will develop two (or more) stems where they're pinched! That sounds like a good idea, right? Well, it is, but in this case if you pinch them near the top of the existing stem, the new multiple stems they produce will be much "weaker/skinnier" than the original stem, and Shastas--the tall ones at least, need pretty strong stems to support the flowers. If you cut them all the way down they will also "thicken up," but since they'll be growing up from the base it'll take longer and they should develop heavier stems--probably not quite as heavy as the ones you have now, but better than what would develop further up if you just tip pinched them. 'Becky' is the best tall Shasta (IMO) because it does have such nice heavy stems--AND it has the largest, most "perfect" looking flowers of all the Shastas I've ever seen--and because of the large flowers it really DOES need the strong stems to keep it from flopping. If you decide to just pinch the top I'm pretty sure you're gonna need to "cage" it somehow to help support the flowers when it blooms. Can't be sure of that since I've never tip pinched mine, but I'm pretty sure that's what would happen! If you cut it all the way down--like, I'm talking about an inch, or no more than 2 inches, above the ground, I don't think you'll have that problem--but I can't be absolutely positive about that either since I've never cut them down when they were this big. (If yours are still 6" or less I would definitely cut them down to an inch!) If you pinch the tips you're going to be delaying the bloom somewhat anyway, and if you cut them all the way down it'll probably delay it a little bit more, but I don't think it'll make all that much difference!

And, even if you cut them down--pinch them or cut them all the way down--you STILL have aphids in there, and you're still going to need to keep "treating" them, probably for the rest of the summer. I suspect, from what I've seen in my yard already, the aphids are going to be worse this summer than "normal," probably because all the warm weather is giving them a head start this year!

Now here's something to think about! :-) I don't remember how much perennial gardening you've done up to this point, but you're exhibiting a condition called Worried Gardener Syndrome! You need to work on getting that Ohhhhm Word into your vocabulary more frequently! ;-) Trying to "unfold" the developing buds to solve the problem--any problem, isn't gonna work because: 1) it's not possible to get ALL the bugs that are that deeply embedded in the foliage, and 2) there's no way you can "play with" foliage that's that tender without damaging it. The bugs are gonna still be there anyway, and the damaged foliage is not gonna get "better," so it'll stay ratty looking the rest of the summer, and, if you mess with it when it's starting to develop the flower buds, you'll probably wind up with some pretty warped looking flowers. When you have aphids or mites en masse, you need to either just cut the plant down or just keep "bathing" it in soap water a couple times a week, so you keep killing the bugs as the new tips grow out. (And, giving the plant a good spraying with the hose a couple hours after the bath--not TOO hard, will help by washing off the aphids that were Enfeebled and made mostly defenseless by the soap water!) I'd say to stop Hovering, but Hovering isn't necessarily a bad thing! Hovering to see what's going on and to enjoy the developing plants and flowers is a GOOD thing, and Hovering to keep an eye out for problems is a GOOD thing, but Hovering and then Freaking Out and doing more damage than the bugs could potentially do is not a good thing! When you're Hovering and you see a problem, practice your Ohhhhm Word, and then walk away and contemplate the Next Best Move! In addition to doing the most useful thing for the plant, this practice might also help keep your neighbors from calling the guys in the white coats! :-)

Now, here's the Good News! You still have PLENTY of time to cut them down and let them come back! Since it's been such and "early spring" I don't think you'll even set them back all that much from "normal" blooming time! Here's a graphic demonstration!

Spring of '09--exactly three years ago to the day, as a matter of fact, I "re-did" my main 'Becky', and by the middle of July it was in full bloom!

Captions on the pics explain what's happening in each if you click on them!

And---TA DA---here it is blooming on July 15, 2009! Much smaller than it was before The Renovation! Now, three years later, it's growing all the way back in to the grass again! Maybe next year will be another Renovation Year!

So there definitely IS still hope for you this year!

Relax and enjoy it---bugs and all!

Skybird

P.S. You should see that poor, lonely single Iris next to 'Becky' now! It's BIG and budding!

I had the same problem this year on the peach tree that I just planted last year. By the time I noticed, several of the branches were completely infested. I've sprayed, but a couple of the branches will probably be defoliated by all the damage they caused. Will it come back next year?

Connie

Who, what where freak out! Me? Whatcha talking about. Can't help it. LOL! It goes hand in hand with my OCD and right now I only have a few plants to hover over. That will probably change as I add more plants. I absolutely have no issues hacking things down. I actually hacked my penstemon this March because it looked awfully ratty and managed to freak myself out but it's now taller than the Becky which is probably as tall as yours about a foot. Speaking of which it doesn't look as bad as it sounded and I think I saw the start of the infestation and got it treated early enough. I sprayed soap and water last evening and saw several ladybugs already feasting on the aphids. I don't see any aphids on the stalks and they are mainly in the new growth area but if it gets bad I rather sacrifice for a healthy plant and wait another year than lose it completely. I will keep an eye on it and if it gets bad, I'll hack it down. I am totally amazed at how fast Becky has spread. I should probably go check on the Becky ;P soon and the WS seedlings and if I don't see anymore mites which I didn't yesterday, I'll start potting some stuff up for the swap next week. Thanks for all the reassurance though... I just needed to vent. LOL! Skybird - if you're needing to do anymore garden renovation like that let me know, I can stop by to help as I could use a few lessons in dividing and such since yes, this is the first time for me growing perennials so everything is an experimental learning curve. Gardening I am learning makes you patient, tolerant because you are always waiting patiently for it to sprout, grow and flower or fruit.