Yes this is not normal. Now that you have posted a picture. I am putting a link below to a symptom called leaf scorch. Too late now but if you can't find the problem by reading the link bring some foliage to your local cooperative extension service next year. Nutrient problems with trees are almost always due to factors other than the amount of nutrients in the soil. Most soils contain elements in ample amounts for trees. Their is also a specific disease called Bacterial leaf scorch, which is different from the symptomatic leaf scorch. This does not look like Bacterial leaf scorch and is very unlikely to be so. Confused yet? Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf scorch.

Thanks for your replies. Here is another photo of the damaged leaves. By now, they have all fallen off, and most of the remaining leaves have the white, flaky substance that I posted in my previous photos. I did contact the local extension office, and they said that it looks like aphids (the white stuff is from their molting stages). I've hosed down the tree with water and have been spraying it with some soapy solution, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it helps it retain the few leaves it still has left.

I just have to add my refrigerator sale order to the thread! First time with White Oak, I think the plants look very nice. Box was in the mail on the hottest days so far this year, 98 degrees, and mailman left it in the garage...I just noticed the box by chance last night, probably had sat there for 24 hours. Ugh, but plants look great this morning and are now soaking: Photo 1, below: Dark Star $4 S/M - Medium blue-green with a narrow, slightly rippled, creamy white margin. Medium lavender flowers in August. Fair Maiden $4 S/M - Very dark green leaves with beautiful irregular creamy edges. Gorgeous. Pale lavender flowers in July Yin $7 x 2 S - Shiny, blue-green leaves with a slightly rippled white margin. Lavender flowers in July. Photo 2, below: Dance with Me $8 M - Yellow leaves with a medium green margin. Dull on top and slightly shiny underneath. A sport of 'Summer Music.' Near white flowers in mid July. Fragrant Dream $7 L - Large, foot-long leaves are medium green with narrow creamy yellow margins that turn white by mid season. Pale lavender flowers in August. Rotunda $5 M/L - Mature leaves are bluish green, round and puckered. Pale lavender flowers in June. Photo 3, below: Wolverine $6 x 2 M - Slightly blue-green with a 1 1/2 inch wide, slightly rippled yellow-gold margin. Slightly shiny on top and a glaucous bloom underneath. Pale lavender lowers in late July Inniswood $9 M/L - Large gold quilted leaves with a green margin. A stunning plant when mature. AHS Savory Shield Award Dick Ward $7 M - Beautiful light yellow-green center with irregular dark green margin. Lavender flowers in mid-July. Ice Follies $12 M/L - This sport of 'Antioch' has wide, creamy white margins and a good growth rate with long, pointed leaves. Pale lavender flowers. I think these all look nice and healthy. I do have a question. If you purchase 1 hosta, say, the Ice Follies for $12 and two separate eyes are sent, is that legitimate? I know some might say it's better, but isn't it basically 2 smaller plants? Just curious how people view this sort of thing...there were some very nice, large hostas here, like the Fragrant Dream and the Dick Ward. There are also some that were sent with multiple, separate eyes, to represent one plant order. Is it typical for bare root shipments?

Yes, CA bay laurel is one of the primary propagators of the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. Yes, that pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, makes regular appearances in the nursery trade in both OR and WA. And it has shown up in gardens here and there. It is established in forests and woodlands in California, and in extreme southwestern Oregon. I would have to agree that it's already out there, and too late to contain it. As to its falling from the sky - ??? no. In infested forests in CA it is dispersed in wind-blown rain, which picks up the spores from treetop foliage, particularly CA bay laurels and tanoaks. In the nursery trade it is carried on infested leaves and soil, and does not fall from the sky. To my knowledge, it has not yet been found on Umbellularia in Oregon, where you all call it Oregon myrtle. It is not at all widespread. You already have any number of other species of Phytophthora in your garden. It does not kill most of its hosts, or even cause anything much beyond leaf spots. CA bay laurels can have rampant infections without showing much in the way of symptoms, and they do not die from it. It does not affect Garry oak, or apparently any of the white oaks. It kills tanoaks, and CA coast live oaks, and causes bark cankers on a few other CA native oaks. The main way it gets into people's gardens is when they buy a plant that already has it, usually rhododendrons or camellias, both of which can be asymptomatic. If you were a serious rhododendron collector, I'd avoid Umbellularia or any of the other prime foliar hosts, like tanoak or coast redwood. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.