Thanks for all the suggestions. The female holly was dead, dead, dead. No dormancy. Everything very brittle (ie branch would snap in half) and no signs up life when I dug it up. I actually have never paid much attention to the holly, as it was always very self-sufficient. A little Holly Tone in the Spring, as advised from our local expert gardener we hired when we first moved in. The anti-fungal was used well after the dying was happening. It was organic and on the advice of my local nursery, which has an arborist on staff. I didn't bring a twig, though, so he was only guessing. I guess I'll bring a twig into him to take a look at. Would just hate to lose my male holly. Thanks again. S

Well,I decided I was going to use TWO lilies for breeding purposes,I thought 'Salmon Classic' and 'couplet' would make favorable results. So i've been letting one flower wilt(I hand pollinated the blooms btw)on 'Salmon Classic' and now the rest of the unopened buds are starting to die off. It's not happening with ANY of my other lilies,just that one.Well,that's the only one with unopened buds,but i wanna know what's up with this?

Good morning from Perth Australia, i have the same issue here in Australia. It started about a few days ago and my tree is dropping brown flowers. We have been fertilizing it for years, it is has grown more than double in size. Leaves looking great, no bugs, roots in tip top shape and leave thriving too? I am puzzled and you all might be able to help. What was the outcome from 2012; the original post? Thank you so much ; will post a picture below. many thanks christina

In my experience weather can affect the blooms to the point of them dying before having a chance to mature.. A very dry wind should be able to dry them out before opening. My MIP suffers from such events a lot. It might be a reaction from the rose itself conserving humidity or energy under adverse conditions. Less established / mature roses tend to suffer more. But it would better if somebody more accustomed to your kind of weather chimes in.