That sounds like mealybugs to me. The black stuff may be sooty mold. What happened to the tree that was in that pot? Did you reuse the soil or just the pot?

dirtygardener73... thank you for your reply. The tree was bought last year in the fall and planted. It is a serviceberry and is healthy and doing well. I saved the pot because I knew I would pot up this brug in it in the spring. The pot was washed out before I planted the brug in fresh potting soil which is what it had been growing in. It grew really well over the summer and got fairly tall but didn't flower. It did get a couple of light frost's. It got cut back in order to get it in the house.

I am beginning to wonder if it's because of the frost as the stems all seem to have died above the soil and as I just checked now and there is a very small sprout coming up beside the base of the main trunk so I am a bit relieved about that and think it will be fine. :)

thank you again

I think your assessment about the frost is probably accurate. I've had brugs in the past that have succumbed to frost, and they died back all the way to the ground as a consequence. The first time it happened it was terrifying and I thought I had lost my beloved plants. I was pleasantly surprised in the spring when they came back just fine. Just don't over water them and they should be fine in the spring. Good luck!

I have been keeping an eye on the Sprout that has come up beside the dead stem and it is now about 3 inches tall I watch it and water it when it looks saggy and wilty but other than that it is in very low-light in a cool room. I think I'm going to try planting it in the garden in the spring and just cut back all the dead stems and hopefully it will take off :-) I haven't seen Blooms from this one yet so I hope it gets to Blooming size next summer

Yes, they will die back and return. What you consider a "light frost" in ON is probably more like what we here in FL call a "cold snap." If the temps get below freezing for 5 hours or more, they will go dormant. If it goes below 25F for 5 hours or more, they can be killed, so be sure to bring them indoors in the winter. When I grew them in SC, we often got into the teens and sometimes into single digits in the winter. I took cuttings in the fall and stuck them into buckets to root over the winter indoors. For the plants in the ground, I put a ring of chicken wire around and 4 inches out from the root ball and packed it with leaves. After the last frost, I removed it, and the plants always came back. I wouldn't suggest you do this in ON, because I'm sure you get lots colder than we did, but you can take cuttings before first frost and root them indoors over the winter.