I have tons of daylilies and a few dozen Asiatic lilies (easter lilies) They have been such a delight until this beetle came around! I am in in the north western part of CT. Our infestation in this neighborhood is going on 4 years now. Last year I tried neem oil and cedar oil (cedarcide for yard spraying.) Neither worked. Since I only had 30 max, I went around the yard with a bucket of warm soapy water with some cedar oil in it. I hand washed each stalk (what a flipping pain in the rear-end.) It helped some, others were a loss. A few went completely unscathed because they were buried between large hosta's. This year (since we are redoing the pool masonry) I had to rip out all of my perrennials. The lilies were about 6" high when I took them out. I loosened the soil and pulled out the stalk and bulb and shoved them in an old pot and dumped new potting soil on them. (At this point I've dug up so many plants that no plant got coddled or special treatment.) The bucket has been out side in partial shade for 10 days now, and yesterday I noticed about 3 huge larvae and 5 tiny ones on the underside of the leaves. So the dirt had nothing to do with it at this point...the eggs must have already been on the leaves. Our spring has just been so very cold (it is mid may and this weekend was the first 80 degree weather.) I never thought to get out there for larvae control...I was too busy digging up 250 sq feet of plants! Anyway, I sprayed with neem and picked off the critters. Having them in a pot really does help because I can tip it to look under the plant's leaves. I will go back to where they were planted and spray with neem even thought that dirt will soon be landfill someplace. *FYI Cedar oil is supposed to kill the eggs, larvae and the beetle but on a gradual basis. It is amazing for grubs, fleas and ticks and beneficial insect safe. I have also been using beneficial nematodes (from gardens alive) in my garden to fight vine borer larvae (it was about 75% effective last year.) So Perhaps using the cedar oil and nematodes to soak the ground in the spring and fall will produce better results. Time for me to check the lilies that I have elsewhere! Good luck all, Andrea

I'm not an expert, but I would think that you should spray now since you've already seen them. A soil drench will probably take longer to get into the plant's system (via the roots) then the spray, which should be absorbed directly into the leaves and stems. The soil drench is probably best early in the season when you don't see much plant yet, but the bulb/roots are very active. It also will kill any adults that are sleeping under the ground. It also might be good late in the season when the adults are diving down for the winter. Spray now, and then when you get the beetles under control you can consider using the drench if it's more convenient. The only thing I've worried about is the fertilizer that may be included with the pesticide (check the label). A fertilizer is probably OK for the lily bulbs, but might not be good for adjacent perennials late in the season. Claire

In my yard it seems to be an issue of location, location, location. I'm only seeing the beetles on the tiger lilies in one corner of the yard. They haven't reached the other tiger lilies scattered around other parts of the yard and none of the other lilies by the house. I suspect a new infestation flew in and settled where it found some lilies. I figure if I can wipe these out I'll be OK next year. I'll probably do a soil drench with a Bayer's product. Claire

Necrotic tips & margins are usually an indication there isn't enough water making its way to these more distal plant parts, so the tissue is dying. Usually, the primary cause is poor root health and impaired root function due to a lack of oxygen in the root zone. Another cause might be a high level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution, which increases in likelihood as a problem if you water in small sips instead of flushing the soil when you water, or allow the plant to sit in the effluent that collects in a saucer beneath the plant. There are secondary contributors (like low humidity, but these are the two conditions that have the most impact on dead leaf tips/margins. Getting the plant in an appropriate soil (one you can water to beyond saturation w/o the need to worry about extended periods of sogginess wrecking root health and limiting root function) goes a LONG way toward curing a number of ills associated with poor rootage. Al