Sunday, July 8, 2012

Triumphs and Tragedies

The weather's been a bit off and on the last couple days.  The heat ramps up, as does the humidity and then there's a brief rain (but not enough to make a difference), the temperature dips and then repeat.

I managed to get some lovely shots of the yard with a thick layer of dew highlighting the blooms.




Some of the flowers are dying off now, like the peonies and lupines

Peony blossoms are beginning to fade
making way for a new wave of blooms, including these double flowered pink roses.


In the vegetable garden the strawberries have finished but there's a new wave of vegetables available, including garlic scapes


In my vegetable garden I also have a small section of flowers.


Asiatic lilies, borage, feverfew and martagon lilies are seen in the portrait above.  A pretty scene but unfortunately there's something wrong with my martagon lilies.


I don't have any experience growing lilies so I have no idea what this could be.  I don't see any obvious pest damage such as eggs or insects chewing at the leaves, just yellow spots and brown dead patches.  It isn't affecting the asiatic lilies either, just the martagon variety.  Does anyone have an idea what might be wrong with my lilies?

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marguerite,check the underside of the leaf on your lily. Is there a black blob with larva in it? I hope not. Lily beetle loves martagon lilies. The lily beetle is like a ladybug without the spots. They have to be hand picked and destroyed. The larva also has to be wiped off the leaves. It is especially yucky because the beetle lays the eggs and then covers them with excrement.The nasty little things can wipe out your lilies.I do a daily lily beetle patrol in my NS garden.
Donna

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I hope you get the lily mystery solved. I have peonies that get a fungus every year...but I live in the humid south...goes with the territory. Love the spider web with the water droplets on it.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Sorry to hear there is something going after your martagon's - one of my favourite lilies. I love that you plant some flowers in with your veggies.

We are having our first heat wave here. I am so *not* a heat person, and apparently, neither are some of my plants...let's hope for some fine, temperate days ahead! :)

Carolyn said...

I am on an island in Maine and we seem to be having the same weather. However, sinceI am more interested in swimming than gardening, I am enjoying it.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Marguerite girl thank you so much for your sweet comments!
I really love that you mix herbs and flowers with your veggies .. more like a "Potager" garden.
I am wondering if it is a fungus attacking those lilies .. with the humidity you are experiencing it could be a new wave of fungus making its way across the provinces .. we never used to get humidity there .. the nights were always lovely and cool. The weather is changing constantly, and in turn new pests and fungus are moving in because of it .. hope some one can answer your question soon !
Joy

Laurrie said...

Love the dewy shots!

Island Threads said...

sorry Marguerite I can't help with the lily problem, your dewy photos look nice and you have lots to look foreward too, Frances

Rose said...

Your dewy shots are lovely! It's so dry here that the dew just disappears once the sun comes up. How sad about your pretty Martagon lilies. I'm not much of a help in identifying the problem either, but I'd check out Anonymous' suggestion. If it's not an insect, it might be some type of fungal disease, and you could try a remedy for that.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I love how leaves and spiderwebs looks after a rain. The garlic we grow doesn't produce scapes, but I think next year I need to plant at least one variety that does. They're so versatile in the kitchen.

Linda said...

I had those dreaded red lily beetles on my Asiatic and Oriental lilies and I just couldn't keep up with the picking and squishing last year when I had knee surgery, so I ended up digging them all and went with other flowers. Hope you don't have the red lily beetles. It is hot and humid here in Ontario too, I'm just watering my pots, the gardens will hopefully take care of themselves as there are lots of drought resistant and natural plants in them. Glad I found your blog via a link from Joy's blog.

Casa Mariposa said...

Those garlic scapes are awesome! I didn't realize they grew in circles. I've never grown martagon lilies, either but it does look like it could be some type of leaf sucking bug.

The Sage Butterfly said...

I think this weather has caused a lot of fungal diseases in my garden this year. I am not sure if that is what your lily has, but many of my plants have fungal issues with this heat and humidity. I have been spreading a lot of copper and sulphur to help control it.

Cindy said...

Hum, lots of damage to the lilies, I'm not sure if I have ever seen this condition on my lilies or others ever before. If you say you don't see any bug, try turning over the leaf and see if there is evidence there. Your gardens are looking beautiful these days. Time for peonies to leave, great pictures and the web and dew is my favourite. Have a great week and stop by my blog soon...haven't seen you in a long time. I've been away sick in hospital for awhile

Anonymous said...

Marguerite, When I looked at your lily leaves, I had the same thought as Michelle -- some kind of fungal disease. I've had red lily beetle (in fact, that's why I no longer have lilies in my garden), and it did not look like this. -Jean

Marguerite said...

Thanks for the advice Donna. I checked the leaves because I had heard of lily beetle before but no signs of bugs at all. I'm not sure whether to be happy or frustrated? :-)

Marguerite said...

Joy, I think a fungus is exactly what it is. I did some internet searching and it seems lilies get Botrytis. seems likely that's what I've got. Moving east has been a challenge for me as I was not used to humidity at all. Seems to bring a lot of disease with it too that I had never had issues with. Powdery mildew is a real challenge for me here.

Marguerite said...

Fungal is exactly the issue I think. I've now chopped off the leaves and stems that were affected and it hasn't seemed to have gotten worse so fingers crossed.

Marguerite said...

Clare, it's funny I've had a hard time finding things to do with the scapes. We put them in roasted potatoes which was wonderful and pasta but we aren't doing much 'hot' cooking these days, mostly salads so I've been a bit stuck what to do with them.

Marguerite said...

Hello and welcome! Luckily it doesn't seem to be beetles but I had to cut back most of the plants as I think it was fungal. So far it hasn't spread so that's a good sign.

Marguerite said...

Tammy, they start out straight and then start to curl. I just loved them as a photography subject as they are so unnatural looking.

Marguerite said...

I didn't realize copper and sulphur helped with fungal problems. I'll have to read up on that. Thanks Michelle.

Marguerite said...

Thanks Jean. I agree, it's fungal, likely botrytis. Hoping it doesn't spread to any of the other plants.

RURAL said...

Wonderful to see peonies again...ours just finished up.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Jennifer said...

Hi Marguerite, There are some great pictures in this post. I love the dew covered webs that look almost like the roof of a circus tent and the curls of the garlic scapes.
I have seen garlic scapes at the Farmer's Market, but have never cooked with them. Forgive my complete lack of culinary skills, but how do you use them?
Your peonies are beautiful even past their prime. It is an image that would also look great texturized.

Melanie J Watts said...

Hopefully the fungus doesn't spread to your other plants. I've been wanting to grow martagon lillies but keep forgetting to buy them. They are available in my spring bulb catalogue. I thought they flowered earlier than this. Guess I have a lot to learn about growing lilies.

Marguerite said...

Jennifer, this is my first time using garlic scapes so we're experimenting a bit. My only issue is that they need cooking and we're eating a lot of salads these days due to the heat. But I've found they are great in roasted potatoes and pasta, essentially just use them in place of garlic.

Marguerite said...

Melanie, my martagons flowered earlier than the other lilies so they are somewhat early. Probably depends on their position as well and how much sun they get? The fungus doesn't seem to have spread at this point which is great so I think I'll be breaking up the bulbs in the fall and spreading them out a bit as being too tightly planted probably hasn't helped.