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Diseased 'Stella D'Oro' with White Flakes of Something

16 years ago

While half of my Stellas look great, the half on the shady side of my walkway (partially under a large Norway Maple) are looking ghastly. Most of the leaves are dead and brown. I started to yank them out and I noticed lots of white flakes falling off of the leaves. In fact these white flakes are all over the ground, too. Can someone diagnose this problem? And what can I do to stop it from spreading to the other plants?

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Comments (8)

highjack
16 years ago
I have no clue what the white flakes could be but if they are planted under the maple, the maple roots will be stealing the moisture from the daylilies and strangling the roots. Dead and brown leaves suggest lack of moisture - white flaky, I can't even hazard a guess on that one. It is certainly a problem I've never heard of in a daylily.

Brooke
okbt
16 years ago
Could the flakes be dried sap that is weeping from the tree?
I read that it has a milky sap that will weep from broken leaves. Just a guess.
I do agree with Brooke about the competition for water and nutrients.

Betsy
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beaufort-2006
16 years ago
could be bird dodo
Ed
16 years ago
Most trees shed something in the pollination process. I don't know anything about Norway Maples, but that would be my first suspicion.
Little white flecks all over the foliage leaves also sounds like old aphid skins, but I doubt they would be visible all over the ground.
How about a picture?
Ed
shive
16 years ago
My first guess was aphid skins, also aphids do not bother my Stellas here. But maybe that's because they have many cultivars to choose from.

Debra
John Dumas
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, gardeners! I've been doing a little investigating after the suggestions above. I believe the culprit probably is aphids. I've attached a webpage that looks a lot like the problem I was seeing, only in my case it was much worse. I never even noticed the aphids themselves and I don't see any right now either, but the 'dandruff' definitely looked like what is pictured. Maybe the maple helped to aggravate the problem by sucking away water and nutrients, leaving some plants more susceptible. I do think its not a coincidence that the daylilies closest to the maple were the ones most effected. I've cleaned up all the dead foliage, and I'll try to be on top of this from now on. Thanks again.

Here is a link that might be useful: aphids on daylilies
joann95118
16 years ago
My daughter bought me a very special gift early in the year. A jar of ladybugs. We watered in the evening just before releasing them and then spread them around the yard directly onto the daylily fans. When we came out the next morning there were hardly any ladybugs in sight and yet the aphids were almost gone. By the end of the week they had really cleaned up the yard and while there are very few ladybugs left in the yard I haven't seen an aphid in several months. That was one of the nicest gifts anyone ever gave me.

JoAnn
beaufort-2006
16 years ago
mine was bird dodo caused by a bird feeder being to close by.

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