I am so sad. The lily plant had come up and today morning I noticed that they were chomped away. The bulbs were not dug up or eaten though. What could have done that? Is there a way to prevent that?
Red lily beetles are the bane of my life. They munch away at my lilies as though there were no tomorrow.
We dont have rabbits in our neighborhood for sure. Beetles are capable of eating the entire plant? Will mulching help keep them away? I dont want my plants eaten like this
Tina I just read about the Red Lily beetle and how destructive they are to Lilies. Do a web search to see what they look like. The one article said to sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the Lily to help kill the beetles. Or to hand catch them and kill them or spray the directly with a soap based organic bug killer. Yikes I am so glad we don't have them here in Wis. Hope that helps some.
I had one totally disappear. If I hadn't taken a photo of it the day before I'd have thought I was going crazy. We decided it was one of the city deer since my dogs don't have access to that part of the yard. Good luck figuring out the mystery.
We have cut worms in the northwest, and they can decimate a plant in one night. They like lilies, zinnias. Here is a link to some info an pictures to see if you have them. I use the cores of TP or paper towel rolls to protect mine. http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pe ... tworms.htm
I thought red lily beetles were only in the northeast so far. I thought they originated in Europe/Asia and are invading New England and Eastern Canada. Tina, I certainly hope they are not in Wash State now. They only lilies I am able to grow successfully are planted along side my driveway. The bed is particularly hot & dry due to being so close to the tarmac of the driveway. I think that is why I can grow lilies successfully there and no place else on my property. Good luck Tina. I hope it is not the Red Lily Beetle.
It could well be the red lily beetle. I inspect mine daily and as soon as I see one I destroy it. If you let them get out of control it is really disgusting as they lay their eggs in little piles of dark 'poo' on the stems from which the young emerge, yuk
