Diseased?

Normal?

A friend stopped by today. She thinks I have aster yellows.....she also said that my black eyed Susan and phlox are susceptible in the same bed. Can anyone give me their thoughts? Is the entire bed lost? What about the butterfly bush?

Thanks!

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by greekmama on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 19:57

You have to dig up and remove the plants that are exhibiting the disease. Do not compost! It can spread to other species, but purple coneflowers and like cultivars are most susceptible. I think it is spread by chewing insects . . . grasshoppers perhaps? I had it a few years back. I removed all my purple coneflowers, but did not remove pale purple coneflower. My pale purple coneflowers were not afflicted by the disease. Butterfly bush and sweet black eyed susans were also not affected, just the purple coneflowers.

Thank you theresa2. From the pictures, do you believe that I'm dealing with disease?

Andrea

It's hard to say for sure based on the photo. I copied a good description of the disease from the UW-Horticulture Extension website:

Symptoms of aster yellows are often mistaken for damage due to herbicide exposure. Infected plants are typically stunted and twisted, with foliage that is yellow or red. Infected plants are often sterile. Floral parts that are normally brightly colored may remain green, and petals andsepals may become puckered and distorted.
In purple coneflower, secondary flower heads (often in a cluster) may emerge from the primary flower head.

Mine definitely had that secondary flower thing going on. I do not see that occurring on yours.

When I was a MG, the experts at NC State held seminars via closed circuit TV. Often they were asked about problems such as yours. Almost always the answer was, "environmental damage," i.e., chemical spraying that had drifted to nearby plants. This didn't kill the plants but made for strange growth development for that year.

This year along a mt. road in NC I observed the same type of damage on Joe Pye and other roadside plants, and the electrtic company, BREMCO, had been spraying in the area. I hope the damage is not fatal to this huge group of plants.

Thanks for the info.

These petals are not fully developed and probably do not have the color they will have when mature. Many flowers do this. I wouldn't take any drastic action until the flowers have opened. The foliage and stems all look normal and healthy.

Please post an update with photos as this develops.