I dunno. Mealys are bad enough that I think you're going to need more than soap. Yes, leaving water on fuzzy leaves can make permanent marks on them, especially if the plants are in sun when you get them wet. But, you know, leaving mealybugs on fuzzy leaves is going to kill your plant, and possibly any other plants in the vicinity too (in fact, you should inspect any nearby plants very carefully, I think, because where there's one infestation, there are likely others). So it's kind of a question about whether you want an ugly plant or a dead plant. If it were me, I'd probably be inclined to take a few cuttings and chuck the rest of the plant in the trash: it's not worth fighting mealybugs, to me, just to have a plant that's as easily propagated as Gynura aurantiaca is. (Granted, the cuttings might have mealys too. But if you taken enough cuttings fast enough, you should be able to outrun them.) If you have sentimental attachment to the plant that makes you want to save it, I'd go with some kind of spray containing imidacloprid, follow the label directions (which usually allow for you to spray the plant weekly), and move the plant out of direct sun until the crisis has passed. The safest bet of all is to do both: cuttings and spray. If the spray works, you have multiple plants; if the spray fails, you at least have the cuttings as back-up.

So, the Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer For Soil & Turf Ready-To-Spray site says this: This product is a totally different way to control the insects that want to destroy your prized lawn, roses, flowers, and other ornamental plants. The unique two-way blend of insecticides controls current insect pest problems and prevents reinfestations for up to 90 days. The residual component is actually taken into the plant. Rain or water cannot wash off this internal protection! Insects are killed when they come into contact with the product or when they attempt to eat the plant. So, they are saying that there is a systemic action as well as the contact.

Hi Maude 80, sorry to send you into a panic. Midge is pretty darn discouraging, but not the end of the world. Please excuse my lengthy response to follow :) I've had midge in my garden for a decade. I still have a riotous early flush that makes my heart sing & stops traffic and then scattered repeat bloom with increasing telltale wilting, burned matchstick tips, deformed bent buds as summer progresses. I say the following as a totally rose obsessed gardener for 15 years (I think I had ~70 roses at peak) Since rose midge hit, I've had to change my mindset about roses to deal with the discouragement that they aren't the same "continuous" bloomers. (I write this at the tail end of August--when midge damage is at it's worst--and I still probably have 200+ blooms on my ~25 roses.) I also have daffodils, iris, lilac, peonies, clematis, lilies, hydrangeas, & dahlias that I dearly love that don't continuously bloom--that I don't expect to--that I grow anyway ;) I've been culling poor rose performers and adding in these other plants which diversified my small urban garden in more of an integrated pest management approach. I read your joke about turning your yard into Chernobyl...in my research from a decade ago, I found the recommended insecticides for midge do kill birds (diazinon) & bees (imadacloprid). I just can't in good conscience use them. The best natural control--though painful to do--is to cut the buds that are just starting to wilt when you first see them, place in sealed bag & dispose to prevent the larvae from dropping to the soil to pupate & spread to your other bushes. (It would mean losing an entire cycle of blooms on those affected roses to reduce, but probably still not entirely eliminate, midge.) The least toxic control I read of at that time was spinosad & I used it as a soil drench once or twice that first year. Maybe it helped, hard to say? I believe Merit (active ingredient imadacloprid) is a systemic that is taken up through all parts of the plant (and persists in the soil for years as I remember) but used as a soil drench to get the pupae is possibly less bad than actually spraying the growing tips that bees visit?? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news with your midge diagnosis. May you continue to find much joy with your roses.

Imadacloprid (Merit) is not available to homeowners in Canada. It is only registered for comercial use for grubs in lawns and some vegetable crops. At this time there is no insecticide that is registered for use by injection in Canada. So unfortunately this is not a legal option in Canada. I'm not sure what the penalty is for smuggling in contraband insecticide...probably worse than drug smuggling ;.)