Here is my feedback after 15 years of using various herbicides. Under normal circumstances, Glyphosate is just not going to have significant root activity. I have used it around the base of literally hundreds of plants with no ill effect. However, I once used quite large amounts, dropped into the stem cores of Pokeweeds that were growing right next to the base of an abelia. It would have been a massive nuisance to dig up the pokeweed, would have essentially dug up the Abelia too and replanted it. It was high summer so I didn't want to do that. It didn't wash out because there were several days w/o rain. The pokeweed died, but a week later it looked like the Abelia was dying back. I had put so much down there - maybe 20-30 ml of 40% concentrated form across several pokeweed stems, that it must have transferred through the ground into the base of the Abelia. So to give an idea of the equivalency, this would be like spraying a half gallon or more of a mixed for spraying dilution, at the base of a single plant. Under normal circumstances you would never do something like that. The Abelia struggled but survived. With a selective, all bets are off. Some of them are so powerful and persistent they have been banned from residential lawns, like clopyralid. Mulch from clopyralid treated weeds can damage plants. I have a vague memory of noticing magnolias were especially sensitive to those, showing some leaf drooping if I had sprayed a selective at weeds near the trunk and possibly gotten a tiny amount on the trunk. So are Fabaceae...which is why triclopyr is so good at killing clovers. A few small drops of triclopyr concentrate will kill a Robinia sapling up to 1/2" caliper. Done that several times...on purpose! And one has to be very careful about selective esters. One of my worst close calls ever was using triclopyr _ester_ on a cool spring night to treat lawn violets. It got rid of almost all of them...but alas...in spite of me understanding the dangers of esters, it was a little more still that night instead of windy. Wind is needed to keep the vapors of an ester from settling on non-target plants. A couple super rare plants had foliar injury, like Parrotia subaequalis. Luckily they too recovered. So can't say for sure what is going on here. I have seen a magnolia - Judy Zuk - do this kind of leaves go oddly limp thing, when I am sure I was not using herbicide in the area. I don't remember there being a lot of rain, but it was in a less than perfectly drained spot. I know for a fact a 'Savage Splendor' died outright during one of our rainiest Junes ever, with > 11" of rain. So they are certainly not immune to root rot and the attendant sudden collapse. I have experimented with a protocol for reversing extreme sudden root rot, but I think it would be so hard to get EPA approval and serves such a niche market, that there's little money to be made. (and no, I'm not going to tell you what the chemicals are except to say they are fairly innocuous) I have used this to save plants. For example a Rhodo 'Horizon Monarch' went into total collapse after a heavy June rainfall. This is how other rhodies have died in my garden, like 'Crapistrano'. (LOL. what Hank Schannen called Rhododendron 'Capistrano') New foliage completely limp as though sprayed with liquid nitrogen. 2 days after my treatment it was back to normal. I did double major in bio and chemistry and briefly worked in pharmaceutical research after college so I know my way around handling chemicals.

Could be a fungus like Vladimir said, could also be an insect egg or just dirt on a bit of fluff. However, I'm more concerned with how dusty the leaves are. I may just be dust or it could be the beginnings of a spider mite infestation. It's a good idea to wash off the leaves from time to time, like maybe every 4-6 weeks. Take them outside and hose them off, or if that's not possible, put them in the shower and shower them off with cool water. Then let them drain well and put them back where they were. It helps prevent spider mites as they're attracted to dusty plants. And your plants love the rinsing off!

Welcome back from vacation! I have 11.5 hours and my vacation starts. Perhaps the cooler temps or lower humidity where you live? I was very sorry to hear about VC rose as it is so pretty and the smell is incredible. Roses struggle here, the campus has a rose garden that has 2 full-time gardeners and they struggle to keep those things going. So I am not surprised a rose smelling plumeria doesn't like us either. Mindy, I've been to Florida but that's about it. I think Orlando is a bit warmer in winter and not as humid. Plus you don't have salt to deal with on a daily basis. That's about the limit of my knowledge of Florida. Oh, the seabean convention is next weekend in Coco beach, it's a blast, bunch of us beachcombers well, beachcombing and talking about beachcombing. Airfare prohibits me from attending this year It's at the library. I have some 100,000 year old crabs I found last time went beachcombing there. Tally HO! Here is a link that might be useful: ghost crabs

LOVE this forum :) I have 2 plants that a client gave me back in May...she chopped off cuttings from her HUGE plant. They have been doing great...but noticed the red spots that some of you have mentioned. They are all over both plants. We live in Tampa...very wet humid weather. I didn't get blooms this year, but I guess from what I'm reading, sometimes you have to wait when starting a new plant from a cutting. I just don't want my plants to dye!! The leaves used to look so healthy and now they look a bit dry, and the spots concern me. I also noticed that 1 or 2 leaves are being eaten up....so I guess I have pests too. Any advise?