Thanks again bludane, I will call the local extension first thing in the morning and see if they test or send out for testing. I did some more looking on the internet and I think I may have seen one mite on a leaf of the coneflower. I saw a shape very similar to the mite on one of the leaves found on this site. When I saw it under the microscope I looked at it for a long time and dismissed it. http://www.mobot.org/GARDENINGHELP/PLANTFINDER/IPM.asp?code=277&group=48&level=s or more specifically http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/images/Pests/Pest1245.jpg I had mine crushed between two pieces of glass, but it was the same shape and color! You know... different sites are suggesting different methods of treatment. Some sites state that once damage is noticed it too late and that is very hard to treat. They suggest to dig out the plant, but they also suggest to dig out plants within one foot of the infected plant as they say those too might be infected. Then there are sites that say to just remove the affected part and do nothing. Humm.... They do say that the Eriophyid mites are the only mites to transmit viruses.

Hi everyone, I am trying to prep my garden and wondering whether I should pull up all of my coneflowers. I didn't know that they had yellow asters until I looked up why coneflowers turn green. I noticed the weird look last fall, but thought, "Hmmm⦠I must have planted an exotic one and didn't remember." Do I really need to pull up all of them NOW or should I wait til they come up to see which are healthy? I have 50% perennials in the garden, much of which are resistant to the aster yellows. The coneflowers and rudbeckias are just the 2 that might be impacted.

Aster yellows can present in various ways depending on the species of plant involved.....I would not be very quick to limit it to just greening of the flower petals. Typical symptoms include veins that turn pale, yellowing of new leaves, abnormally bushy growth, deformed flowers, and stunting. Infected plants often have a stiff, upright appearance, with branches joining the stem at narrow angles. With echinanceas and/or coneflowers in particular, the most typical symptom is replacement of flowers or development on cones of tufts of small, green, deformed leaves. Petal colors can be the same as unaffected samples, more pale in color or green....it is all still traceable to aster yellows.

From here it looks like a melampodium of some sort tj.