Oh no, drat on whatever is eating your daylily buds. I don't know why the pests can't eat the weeds. Are you sure some deer haven't suddenly moved into the neighborhood? NUTMEG SPICE is just lovely!

Debra, I've been waiting on your pics - good to see your post! Sorry to hear about your bud varmint. Let us know what it is when you figure it out. These two blooms are beauties. Thanks for sharing -
Kathy

They should start soon here, only an hour away now! God Save the King is gorgeous!

Sure sounds like deer to me.They come right in town here,and eat the buds and flowers off.GOD SAVE THE QUEEN is a beauty.Love that one, but they are both very pretty.

Jean

We are right in the city, not far from downtown. I really don't believe it would be deer. I forgot to add that we are under siege from the 13-year cicadas. They are sucking on both scapes and buds. When this red-eyed menace sucks on small buds, they just turn brown and die. Now I have thrips really bad. My purple seedling was the first to start blooming, but the sepals are awful because of the thrips. I started applying a systemic to the reds and purples yesterday and have ordered more Spinosad. One of the storms last week sent big branches from two yards away right into my seedling bed. Luckily I only lost one scape from that storm incident.

I'm glad to be back online. A storm in the early morning hours last Tuesday took down a gigantic limb from my one remaining tall tree. The limb ripped out electric, phone and cable wires off the side of the house. I was without electricity, phone and Internet both at home and work for several days. I just got Comcast (Internet and TV) back on late yesterday afternoon. I'm enjoying seeing all the photos from the past week on the forum.

Debra

Man those bugs are ugly! I've never seen a bug like that before so I guess we don't have them where I live.
Jason

My son lives in Nashville & tells me cicadas are awful. I keep hearing about the cicadas this year, but I really haven't seen/heard them yet. Hope it stays that way.
It does sound like deer, doesn't it, but I can't imagine deer being there. I've had some scapes blast, hadn't thought about it being due to storms. I'd been wondering about that. I'm seeing thrips too. Last year someone mentioned using 10% ammonia solution in water & spraying on their daylilies for thrips. I tried it yesterday, haven't been out to see if it seems to have worked. I never really had thrips til last year, maybe I didn't have enough daylilies to attract them. Are thrips just attracted to certain daylilies? I only have a few that really seem to have them, & they are covered.
I'm glad Nutmeg Spice & God Save the queen escaped the deer, cicadas & thrips.

Pat - I had hundreds of those cicada skins all over my daylilies and many spring blooming plants. Your photo is very dramatic. For those of you who don't have them, the skins are what the nymphs leave behind. The adults are much larger with enormous red eyes. They are very noisy, especially in the afternoons when they are mating. I'm hoping they'll be gone in another week. I hate getting divebombed in the garden.

ngraham - It's the large amount of rain from those storms that blasts the scapes. I use that ammonia solution for slugs, and it really works on them. So far it hasn't helped with the thrips. Peppermint soap will deter them for a day or two.

Debra

Well, I just checked the thrip situation, looks like they are still there. Ah well, guess I'll be looking for something stronger.

I had rabbits attack a rose for the first time years ago (before I got my garden cat, Yardley). It was higher up on the canes then just the normal bunny nibble. There really aren't any deer around here so I figure that the adult rabbits were sitting up on their haunches and reaching up to eat the canes. Yardley solved the rabbit problem so no more eaten canes...Major Thrips invasions are cyclical here (rather like the Cicadas) and we haven't had a really bad attack in about 4 years. This spring we were hit pretty hard. They even distorted the foliage on my roses with their infestation. If you find something that kills Thrips without nuking everything else into oblivion, I for one would like to hear about it....Maryl

God Save the Queen is a beauty!
Sorry about your rough spring, hope things will get better!
I didn't know that cicadas suck on the daylilies. Oh no! I wonder if we'd have 13-year cicadas too.
I hate to find those skins on the daylily leaves, they are indeed ugly, I call them monsters :) I don't know what will I do if there are hundreds..

Glad to see your season starting Debra. BTW, are you the person who won the AHS photo contest for RUBY LIPSTICK?
If yes, congrats. Can't wait to see the photo posted on the AHS website.

Julia

Love both your pictures. Glad you have your power back, that must have been challenging to say the least. Hope you are able to 'catch' all the pests that are harming your daylilies.
cindy

Julia - I did enter a photo of three Ruby Lipstick blooms in the AHS Photo Contest, but I haven't been notified of winning anything. Did you attend the convention?

Maryl - My sister suggested the bud eater might be a very tall rabbit. I'm thinking Harvey - like in the old Jimmy Stewart movie.

Debra

Debra, both your daylilies look beautiful. I always look forward to your pictures. So sorry to hear about all the pests in the garden. Sometimes I think we're all crazy to do this when there are so many things that can go wrong, but when things go right the rewards are just so great.
Val

Debra: I saw a post on the AHS email Robin that you had won AHS Multi Bloom Award for RUBY LIPSTICK. The post was from Julie Covington. I guess maybe they are all just settling back home and perhaps have not sent out notices yet. When you find out which one they choose, do post it here on the forum.
CONGRATS!

Julia

Oh, Harvey would never do that. He's very well-behaved.

Nate