Yeah, there's some kind of wilt or stem rot at work there. My guess would be bacterial wilt, which likes southern climes and sandy, moist soils. The disease severity and likelihood of plants getting infected is made worse if you have RKN because the damage they do to roots lets the bacterium in. It's unfortunately entirely possible that you have some kind of fungal or bacterial foliage disease AND a wilt. Especially in your growing climate. Brown mites in the soil do not harm the plants. They are primarily composters so are there eating the already rotting/dead tissue. If I were you, I'd definitely get in touch with the county extension office and see what information they have and what resources might be available.

I’m not a housecleaner, but I do work in a field where I go to 30 (ish) medical clinics in any 2 week period and they’re spread out over 3 different counties. No two days are ever the same and it can be pretty hard to balance preferred days and/or their schedules with the 29 other clinics as well as my own. From my perspective, I’m balancing new customers or a one time add ins, an unpredictable work volume at any one of the clinics (because I never know what I’m going to find), traffic which is a nightmare in the summer months due to road construction, as well as managing my husband’s many doctors appointments for his cancer. The hours they’re open often vary and I may have a clinic that can only be visited on a day where all the other clinics for that day are 20 miles out in another direction. It really is a delicate balancing act. Most of my clients are flexible but not all. There are some who won’t budge an inch regardless of the circumstances. The ones who work with me, are literally my saving grace and I’d go to the moon for any one of them, the ones who won’t, not so much. I’m not trying to say you’re wrong for what you are looking for or the way you feel. I get that you’re paying for a service and have specific needs. I just wanted to give you an idea of what that person might be dealing with, especially if he is working on his own, juggling family responsibilities all while trying to get food on the table. Some people are better at managing their schedules than others or maybe he’s new at this and just hasn’t gotten it together yet. My feeling when I read your post was empathy because I do know personally, just how hard juggling work with the challenges in our personal lives can be. In order to get what you need, you should probably try to find an established company that is large enough that managing your needs won’t be a hardship for them. You may not get the job that someone who’s really depending on the work might do and you might even pay a higher premium for it, but it’s kind of a give and take I guess.

Rita, I thought callas liked water too, but evidently these did not. I think that when they hybridize plants sometimes they mess them up. I guess they had to create a calla that didn't want to literally live at the edge of a pond or in a rainforest so they could save water growing them in greenhouses or something. But it was probably that the wet winter didn't allow them to take up the water they were getting and use it, because it was too chilly. Who knows? I've always had the theory that if something won't grow for me the first time, I don't grow it again. There are just too many things that are easy to grow. That being said, callas grew like weeds for me in SW FL. Go figure. Sorry about the deer. With me, it's bugs and caterpillars that eat all my plants. It's so frustrating to get a seedling brug growing well, then go out one day and find it completely stripped of leaves.

ILR you are so right about our timing of leaving - we feel lucky and have several friends who are either stuck or had to accept significantly less than they had counted on for their next phase. Values are tanking fast and high end new construction spec seems to be the worst - I expect a lot of long time builders will go under with the huge carrying costs. There is good reason to flee and honestly it breaks my heart. I will always be a Midwestern fish out of water to some extent here in NC. Taxes are one of the reasons we moved. When we hit 17k we said enough and we weren't at the top end of taxes by any means. That FLW house is in Cook County and New Trier school district so taxes are even higher. I grew up there and just looked at my childhood home online - taxes are 28k and that's not a grand house at all.