My cone's are acting weird - at least from my experience.
This is a clump of "standard purple" cone flower that has been in this spot for 3 or more years. I have never seen it do this.
Never seen this before...ideas?
Aster Yellows for sure. Remove the effected plants.
but there is a cone flower @ the end of the one. (2nd pic) - how can they be growing together on the same stem?
the diseace has not spread to that part YET The Tulsa World had a feature article just last week about this condition
OH - I misunderstood.
I need to dig the whole chunk out? or just the "funky" ones?
Anything that is "the same plant" .. so if it has spread vegatively/basal growht... they would need to go too. So just just yank the stem from the ground.. the whole plant is infected.
:(
Thanks all! And I thought they looked neat & pretty.
Okay - so I have some questions and I dont have time to research right now - can you help?
I dug the plant and put it in a pot.
Can I still collect seed from the good flowers when they are done?
Do I have to clean the rest of my soil? If so, how?
If I keep them in a pot - away from other plants - will it spread?
How do I get rid of bugs I cant see if that is what spreads it?
Ugh - what a hassle. I've never had anything like this - never had to treat for disease or fungus before...how upsetting :(
Thanks again!
Trash it all. I read that it can be in the seeds too.
yup.. trash the whole plant. Since it's a standard.. it's not worth taking the time to collect seed.
It only lives in plant tissue.. so your soil is fine. It is transmitted via leaf hoppers....so just keep an eye on your other coneflowers/rudbeckias/asteraceas/and more. (google other plants/weeds that can carry it).
I saw in Duluth this weekend some Rudbeckia in the park with it as well. Would have never known had I not posted this. Again, the variations are beautiful - too bad its a 'bug problem' causing the 'virus'. Would make for some interesting plants.
Hitting the curb with it tonight.
Funny thing the Asters yellow is very common so much so that I have not planted any asters for many years UNFORTUNATLY there are many wild flowers that are closely related and the condition just keeps spreading