Plant Talk

And the Not-Quite-So-Common - Tigridia, Lobelia Tupa and a Grape-Colored Daylily

For all of you who worship at the shrine of the unusual, the rare, the difficult to find and challenging to grow, after my last post I should admit I do cultivate a few less-than-common plants. These aren't horticulturally-fashion-forward plants, they're just not as ordinary as my favorite nasturtiums and sweet peas.

After saying I'd never let another daylily in my garden (too much dead-heading and dividing required) I fell for the little grape-colored beauty Hemerocallis 'Indian Giver' (probably, maybe that's the cultivar). The sunshine is so bright in this photo, the flower looks pinker than it looks in real life...its effect is rich, dark, and deeply grapey.

I've never been able to resist a tigridia, or tiger plant. Sun-loving bulbs from Mexico, tigridia require sharp drainage and as much warmth as you can give them. This speckled orange one has made it through the past two winters. Borderline hardy, their survival depends more on how well the soil drains than on how low the temperature drops. It's growing here in a metal feed trough with strawberries and nasturtiums with 'Brookside' blue hardy geraniums as backdrop.

And then there's the perennial Lobelia tupa, which grows six feet high in the sandy soil here. It needs lots of space, as well as sun and good drainage. Set back after our two especially cold winters, this summer it's come back with a vengeance, pleasing me almost as much as the hummingbirds that fight over it shamelessly. The flowers are red and torch-like, the foliage soft and gray-green, and the habit spreading, flopping, and worth every inch of space it takes up.

Daylily Plague - How to Deal with the Gall Midge Attacking Our Gardens

Do the buds on your daylilies look pale, swollen and deformed? If so, they might well be infected with daylily gall midge, which means tiny white larvade have invaded your plants. Since my garden is daylily-free these days, I'm late to learn about this worrisome creature. So I consulted with Thomas Hobbs, garden designer extraordinaire, daylily breeder, and owner of Southlands Nursery in Vancouver B.C.

Here's Tom's answer as to what's going on with daylilies - "Yikes   -  it is awful. You must collect all deformed buds and flush them down the toilet, burn them, freeze them... but don't compost them !!!!!!!   They live and reinfect next year. The adult fly infects  the buds of mostly early yellow flowered varieties. My flowers are fab this year as I have been collecting ALL bad buds for 3 years." He goes on a bit about "flying mommy midges" but I'll spare you that nasty visual.

A good place to learn more, and keep current with updates, is the webpage for Erikson's Daylily Gardens. Pamela Erikson, who specializes in daylilies, says that the Hemerocallis Gall Midge jumped the pond from Europe and has spread across N orth America over the last decade. She offers words of advice and comfort; "When first discovered, we were horrified - but have now learned to take it in stride, relax and deal with it.  First and foremost to remember, this is a one-generation annual pest - easy to remove and once your bloom season starts, the worst will be behind you!" See her webpage for more detailed instructions on how to rid your daylilies of the midge plague...

Hemerocallis Gall Midge - this is a pest problem that has now been an issue for about ten years.  This is simply a pest that came from Europe and has, over the past decade, spread across North America.  When first discovered, we were horrified - but have now learned to take it in stride, relax and deal with it.  First and foremost to remember, this is a one-generation annual pest - easy to remove and once your bloom season starts, the worst will be behind you!  The gall midge is a soil borne larvae that emerges from the ground in early spring (usually early May) - and she sets about laying her eggs in the largest buds she can find.   The beauty of daylilies is that the buds all mature at a different rate, thereby making it impossible for the midge to get at the later buds.  (We have subsequently started hybridizing for later blooming cultivars and collecting the later varieties that are completely midge-free). 

 

Once the eggs hatch, the resulting grubs feed by sucking on the inside of the bud.  This results in the buds taking on a deformed, pale appearance.   At the beginning of June, just keep your eyes open for any deformed buds - and if you are at all in doubt, just remove that bud.  You do not have to remove the entire flowering stem - only the affected bud.  Seal the bud in plastic and dispose of it.  Do not put it in the compost!   If you leave the affected buds on the plant, once the grubs finish feeding, they simply crawl back down into the soil and pupate until the following spring, when they again emerge as the adult midge and start the cycle all over again. 

 

Since this problem began, we have had great years where we have had less than 10% of the problem of the previous year, and then some years have been worse than others.  Nevertheless, it is a minor pest in the grand scheme of the plant we love.  The nice part is that there is no spraying required or needed for this pest.   We enjoy gardening organically so the last thing we would ever consider is chemical spraying.

 

JULY 2011 UPDATE:  Even though we had a long cold winter, the midge have returned.  We started noticing the deformed buds about a week ago and they seem to be in full swing right now.  On the bright side, it seems that it is only again the very early varieties that are being affected, with the later blooming ones not touched at all. 

 

Once again, please pick off any affected buds and seal them in plastic before putting them into the garbage.   We have received a lot of phone calls over the last week with regards to the midge, and please be sure you are getting the right information.  If any garden center tells you to cut ALL the buds off the plant, please correct them!  That is total misinformation!  Just pick off the affected buds - all the rest will bloom as normal.  Remember, this is an AIRBORNE pest - cutting off all your plants will not mean you won’t have any midge next year!   And don’t despair - once the beautiful blooms start, the midge becomes a distant memory - at least until next year!

Hemerocallis Gall Midge - this is a pest problem that has now been an issue for about ten years.  This is simply a pest that came from Europe and has, over the past decade, spread across North America.  When first discovered, we were horrified - but have now learned to take it in stride, relax and deal with it.  First and foremost to remember, this is a one-generation annual pest - easy to remove and once your bloom season starts, the worst will be behind you!  The gall midge is a soil borne larvae that emerges from the ground in early spring (usually early May) - and she sets about laying her eggs in the largest buds she can find.   The beauty of daylilies is that the buds all mature at a different rate, thereby making it impossible for the midge to get at the later buds.  (We have subsequently started hybridizing for later blooming cultivars and collecting the later varieties that are completely midge-free). 

 

Once the eggs hatch, the resulting grubs feed by sucking on the inside of the bud.  This results in the buds taking on a deformed, pale appearance.   At the beginning of June, just keep your eyes open for any deformed buds - and if you are at all in doubt, just remove that bud.  You do not have to remove the entire flowering stem - only the affected bud.  Seal the bud in plastic and dispose of it.  Do not put it in the compost!   If you leave the affected buds on the plant, once the grubs finish feeding, they simply crawl back down into the soil and pupate until the following spring, when they again emerge as the adult midge and start the cycle all over again. 

 

Since this problem began, we have had great years where we have had less than 10% of the problem of the previous year, and then some years have been worse than others.  Nevertheless, it is a minor pest in the grand scheme of the plant we love.  The nice part is that there is no spraying required or needed for this pest.   We enjoy gardening organically so the last thing we would ever consider is chemical spraying.

 

JULY 2011 UPDATE:  Even though we had a long cold winter, the midge have returned.  We started noticing the deformed buds about a week ago and they seem to be in full swing right now.  On the bright side, it seems that it is only again the very early varieties that are being affected, with the later blooming ones not touched at all. 

 

Once again, please pick off any affected buds and seal them in plastic before putting them into the garbage.   We have received a lot of phone calls over the last week with regards to the midge, and please be sure you are getting the right information.  If any garden center tells you to cut ALL the buds off the plant, please correct them!  That is total misinformation!  Just pick off the affected buds - all the rest will bloom as normal.  Remember, this is an AIRBORNE pest - cutting off all your plants will not mean you won’t have any midge next year!   And don’t despair - once the beautiful blooms start, the midge becomes a distant memory - at least until next year!