Hi Judith, The damage you have is from sawfly larvae emerging from where the eggs were laid in the cane. In pic 3, I can actually see 3, maybe 4 baby sawflies that are newly emerged. The adult sawflies, orange and black wasp-like looking bugs, lay their eggs into the canes of new softer growth. You will notice it by looking for soft growth that is wilting somewhat and upon closer inspection, you will notice what appears to be little black dots that usually run in a circular pattern along the cane, but not always. If you were to push your finger nail against the cane where you see this discolouration and press against it, a yellow puss like substance will be secreted, which are the sawfly eggs that have been laid in the cane, being squished. Once the sawfly have hatched, they leave open scars on the rose canes that ends up turning into that black scar tissue you see in your pics. The damage causes the canes to twist like that and will also deform buds. Most of the time the rose will discard the bud, but not always. The damage in your pic is actually very minor sawfly damage. However, when you see it, you need to find the little sawfly's and kill them as they will become progressively bigger quickly and can defoliate an entire rose in bad infestations. They are very hard to see and very small when freshly hatched... Good luck, sawfly are a pain in the ass this time of year, but at least you don't have midge. Be thankful for that...

Hi Buyorsell. How large is your pond? How many plants are kept in your gh? Are you using an exhaust fan, ventilation? In summer, I haul every plant out of gh and set in the yard. For one, it saves on electric. Plants love the outdoors..there's nothing like fresh air, rain and sun. Since the electric company increased rates by 24%, my plants will return to the gh as late as possible. But even before the price hike, plants went out in spring. Make sure you gh is getting adequate air circulation, Buy. IMO, fresh air is really important. What type of plants do you have from AZ? Since AZ day temps are hot in summer, what about nights? Is there a drop? If so, then the secret is to replicate their native environment. This is difficult when one grows several types of plants used to different conditions. Most plants need warmth during the day and a decrease at night. Most not all. Treat your Boug 'almost' like a succulent, especially in winter. During summer they need more water and fertilizer. Stop feeding in winter..Even during summer, my boug soil dries before getting a drink. Oh, what type of soil do you use? If you're into soil-less mixes, it's a different ballgame. You may need to fertilizer in winter too. I use soil=less mediums like Perlite, Peat etc, but also add potting soil in plants. (I don't have time to water, feed, Superthrive and Epsom Salt over 300 plants three-four times a week, lol) What type of Boug do you have? Is it evergreen or deciduous? Even if it's deciduous it's way too early for leaf drop. My boug gets a slow=release Boug fert, watered well, then soil dries between. They enjoy sun, fresh air, and cooler temps. They adapt well to less or average humidity. About your leaves yellowing..as you know, there are many reasons this happens..Overwatering, nutrient definciency, insects. A woman from GW who lives in IL turned me on to Epsom Salts..Give it a try..Can't hurt. But I think your problem is related to spider mites. Stephs are unpredictable. Mine was purchased between 1989-1991..but it's never, once bloomed..Leaves are healthy, green, no bugs..I decided to set outdoors. In winter, it goes in the upstairs bathroom, west window. Stephs need humidity. Buy, You've probably read some of my posts..I do NOT use chemical insecticides. I mix up my own concoction. I've won the battle of mites/scale/whitefly..mealy are still ahead, but thank God, they seldom appear..it's been 3 yrs since seeing mealy on a Purple Passion. This is what I use for mites. 2-4 drops dish soap, (Not Dawn) citrus rind or juice, finely chopped garlic. (Garlic can plug a sprayer, so instead of chopping, mix this concoction the day before spraying. Place garlic in water, squeeze juice from garlic if possible. A little Cayenne Pepper wouldn't hurt either. Combine ingredients, shake well, then spray plants thoroughly. Week 1, spray 3 times. Week 2, 2 times, Week 3, 1 time..Mites should be gone after week one, but I continue using week 2 and 3 as a preventative. You can substitute..Say you don't have citrus rind..if you have lemon juice, etc, use that. The object is to spray the entire plant. Leaves, over and under, stems, trunk. Do you hose plants in the gh? They'd love a shower. Though you probably have a lot of humidity because of the pond, hosing would add more, knock off insects, and clean foliage..Dust particles form on leaves, so it's best ridding it. If enough dust form, it'll clog leaf pores. I'd focus on ridding mites for now. Halt fertilizing. If you use Superthrive, add some. Hose plants, and either try the spray I mentioned or a mite insecticide. Good luck, Buy or Sell..Take care, Toni

flutterby, Could those worms be slugs? I lost a small mail order hibiscus to slugs this spring. I would suggest you become diligent about hand removing them to protect what is left of your hibiscus. Check your plant and the surrounding mulch/leaf cover in early morning/evening. the following directions on how to post a photo on a forum that does not have a gallery are from the hot peppers FAQ. kt Adding Pictures to Messages on Forums Without Galleries (Like Hot Peppers Forum) Step 1: Prepare your image for uploading Make sure your image is in either JPG or GIF format (with .jpg, .jpeg, or .gif file extension), and is no larger than 60K. If your file is larger than 60K you will need to reduce the file in your photo editing software. The softwares help files will give specific instructions. You can also add any image copyright or text desired using image editing software. Save the file to a new name before reducing it so you retain the original version. Step 2: Upload the image from your computer to somewhere on the web Option 1: Use the free space provided by your ISP. Most ISPs provide free space for their subscribers. Check their support website for instructions on setting up and using your personal web site space. This is a great option because you normally have plenty of storage space and the images will always be available for viewing. Option 2: Use image hosting websites such as FotoTime, WebShots, PictureTrail, or Yahoo Photos. There are many image hosting sites on the web. Follow the uploading instructions provided for the particular image hosting website. Some services do not allow displaying images stored on their site on other pages (like GardenWeb posts), some charge an annual fee, and most limit the amount of images stored, so be sure you choose a service that fits your needs. Image hosting sites mentioned are examples of possible options, and not endorsed or recommended by GardenWeb. WebShots does not allow displaying images in other sites (even with a paid membership) so you are not able to show images from WebShots in GardenWeb posts. You can add a link to your WebShots page that contains the image. FotoTime allows displaying images stored on their service only for paid subscribers. Option 3: Use Hortiplex. Hortiplex is a database of plants which is part of the GardenWeb family of websites. It allows GardenWeb users to post pictures by scientific name. For specific instructions, see Hortiplex help pages. Option 4: Use the GardenWeb galleries available on other forums. You can post images to other GardenWeb forum galleries, but these images are not stored for long, so this is not always the best option. For example, your posted message on Hot Peppers forum may stick around for a couple of months, but the image on the Garden Photo Gallery may disappear after two weeks so youÂre left with a "broken" image link in your forum message. Always make backup copies of any images stored online! Step 3: Add your image into your gardenweb message Copy the image address (URL). Go to the web page displaying the image you uploaded in Step 2. In Internet Explorer, Right-Click on the image and select Properties to show the image address. Select the entire URL (including the second line if necessary), then select "Ctrl C" to copy it to the Windows clipboard for the moment. Cancel the properties window. Switch back to the Post New Message form. Paste the image address into the message as a link or a displayed image. Option 1: Make a link to the image using the URL space in the New Message form. Select "Ctrl V" to paste the URL address into the Optional Link URL space provided at the bottom of Message Preview. Add a Name of the Link to show a descriptive phrase for the image instead of the link address. Option 2: Display the image in the message itself using formatting codes (an html image "tag"). Type in the body of the message. For example: If your graphic is at wherever/~smith/garden/habanero.jpg, you would insert . Add an extra return above or below the image to group it with the appropriate text. Step 4: Submit the message

Those little green worms sound like sawfly larve, what are commonly called "rose slugs". BT does not work on them because they are not truely worms. The only spray I have found to work is neem oil sprayed on the underside of the roses weekly. However, I have close to 100 rose bushes and the only ones that I have a problem with the rose slugs are the ones close to the house in my courtyard... where there are no birdfeeders. The roses in my garden in back where all the birds live are perfect! Not a holey leaf in sight. The other day when I was taking a break from working in the garden, I was sitting quietly and I watched a hummingbird go over a rose bush and flip through all the leaves with his beak, I assume looking for bugs... and maybe finding a few rose slugs! Of course I have put a bird feeder out in my front courtyard, but the birds haven't found it yet. I may have to leave a seed trail!