Thanks for the suggestions. The first one does look a lot like Flutterbye, but I got Flutterbye(I think) last year and it has finished blooming. I think this one is slightly redder and somewhat shorter. Guess this is an impossible task and I'll just keep them unmarked and see how they do. Val

ohh, thank you so much, i recognize smith bros landing! such a character and so nice.

Just got a note from a farmer friend. Confirmed, thrips. My fellow pepper growers, I truly wish you never experience these bustards, they are ruthless and can wipe you out in a couple of weeks. I might save 1 or 2 with insecticidal soap / alcohol sprays but at this point I am just to PO'd. 12F outside tonight, I'm sure they will enjoy the fresh air!

Still no answer from A&M. Many more of my hosta have signs of the same problem. It's probably some sclerotenia fungi (Southern blight is sclerotenia rolfsii). There are several others. I'm just figuring out what is what. Apparently, the cool wet spring we had gave the fungi the perfect place to grow. Couple that with several hosta that needed repotting that didn't get it and are too deep in the pot (no enough circulation). Adding bark mulch to my sterile potting soil introduced the pathogen. We had the right temperatures and high humidity that ifungi love in the early to mid spring.with rain every day (same with nematodes) Then we went from 80 degree days to 100 almost immediately, which stressed the plants. That's my working theory, anyway. I'm still trying to identify the exact pathogens I have and if there are any chemical controls After heat treating some plants for nems a couple of weeks ago, I don't think it's a good idea to stress the plants any more than they already are. Bare rooting them at 100 degrees is probably not a good idea. The treatment will kill them if the disease doesn't. I've drenching them with fungicide, and will follow that up with different fungicide in a few days. When it cools off, I'll do what ever I can to treat them. . This is what I found in pots that look perfectly healthy from the top. I found this in Striptease, which I think I indication of another sclerotinia fungus. It's bits of soil and leaf strung together with really thin cottony threadlike material. If I'm guessing correctly, it's sclerotenia sclerotiorum, which is a cousin to southern blight. If I don't hear from A&M by tomorrow afternoon, everything will get a fungicide drench. I'll try to contain it until it cools off and then try to treat. bk