I have 6 of these, 2 different hybrids. Five others are just fine. All in the same bed, all get the same light and water.
What's happening to it?
Molly
My Coumbine is ill
Does it still have roots? Tis grub season not to mention other critters.
Frogs,
I just went out and dug around it a bit. It does have roots and even saw a long skinny white one down there. Didn't see any grubs, at least I'm pretty sure. Last time I saw a grub, we were turning over cow pies looking for fishing bait.............. when I was 14.
?
Molly
Poor thing. Looks like someone gave it a shot of round-up. You just have to ponder sometimes.
I have a swath of dead plants in my cottage garden. I cannot for the life of me figure it out. I sometimes wonder if it is my neighbor getting even with me cause I do not want her cape honeysuckle on my side of the fence. Nasty invasive stuff does not belong in a small garden.
You're right, it sure does look like it got a shot of plant killer. I have no problems with my neighbors. Since we have that tall wooden fence there we never even see each other. But they have been jack hammering over there all week, who knows what they might have stirred up.
I can't see over there so I have no idea what they are doing. I hope it's only the one plant.
Molly
Good fences make good neighbors... ;)
Maybe a mole dug though. ??
Viv
Vizz,
I'm sorry, I had to laugh. We don't have any moles down here in Ft Lauderdale. No voles either. We haven't enough ground to share with them critters.
Now possums, raccoons, buzzards, and snakes...those we have.
Matter of fact, this wasn't my only problem today. I have mealies on one of my succulents and I think that darned possum tore up my favorite sedum bed. If I had let her, my greyhound would have got that possum and put it down, but I made her stop. Man than possum was uuugggly.
Molly
Wow, no moles.. how lucky are you? We have them all, possums, raccoons, moles, rabbits, skunks, squirrlies, and lots of slugs, our unoffical state animal... but hey, no bad snakes! so I'm greatful. ;)
Viv
I'd remove all the dead and dying foliage. Columbines are pretty tough, and if it has viable roots it will come back.
Thanks SFK,
I shall tend to that at first light tomorrow. The roots do look good.
I may have to start watching where the sun is starting to come over the fence. All the plants have done very well in the shade of the fence during the winter. As the sun gets higher in the sky as summer arrives, that perspective will change. I will have to pay more attention to that aspect.
Molly
Molly,
Could the greyhound have possibly used it for a toliet?? LOL!! But, seriouly, I have a black lab and he sprays one of my plants on a regular basis. It seems to be his spot. If I rinse it off quick enough, it is fine. I usually water it a lot, just in case.
Janet,
Seeing as my greyhound is a girl there is no squatting room there, besides, she's been busy digging holes around the yard, no time to pee in my plants. heehee. Two more big ones tonight. I swear, 10 extra minutes sitting on this computer and that dog takes advantage of the moment.
Problem is, with a former racing greyhound, they are timid and sensitive. If she thinks I'm upset with her, she withdraws from me. I have always been aware of this and I have never, never lost my cool with her, yelled at her or tried to punish her. Okay, I ramble........I don't believe it was either one of the dogs.
Molly
I think it may be too hot for them to thrive in your zone 10b climate.
Datdog,
So far that would not be the case. I put these in the ground in October. Up until this weekend our temps all winter have been low 50's to mid 70's.
I had a columbine last year on the south side of the house with sun for 60% of the day. It didn't dry up until August. So this time, I thought I'd try it there by that fence where it would get lots of shade. With the exception of that one plant, they are all doing great. 2 of them have been blooming all winter. I even got seeds from them.
Molly
:^))
Molly - my columbine always die back and go dormant around mid-summer. Since you're so much further south could it be that they are just hitting dormancy? You mentioned they've bloomed all winter long, so may be they are going dormant and need their rest.
If ya look closely at the pic every plant in the area is nice and green down to the tiny plants in the pic.
It could be possible that , that particular spot is not gettign enough rain or water. That could explain the drying and wilting. Or maybe that particular area gettign to much water holding under neath and you have nematodes feeding on your leaves.
Can you get at the roots and see if you see swelling in parts that look about the size of a small peanut?
Also, cut a piece of the stem, take it far away from your other plants and over and inside a trash bag slit the stem open and see if there is any worms or black seed looking things inside of it. Weather there is or not, as soon as ya done, close that bag up and throw in the trash and wash your hands immediately with hot soapy water encase you have a foliar disease ya don't want to give it to the other plants.
I feel so stupid by now. The sprinklers run every other night, around 3AM, automatic. I sure am not up that late and since I am alone, sending the sprinklers through the zones in the back yard would mean running through and standing in spraying water to find bare spots.
Last night was sprinkler night. This morning I took a stroll while everything was wet. There is a small triangle of space where this columbine, a salvia and agastache sit. It was bone dry. Duh. I already knew where there were other dry patches in some places in the yard, but this area sits right in front of the sprinkler head. I assumed the directional spray would hit it.
The good news is, no disease or fungus and the roots are not totally dead since I saw a little green sprout coming up in the middle of the dry stems. I'll just give it water by hand when I'm doing doggy clean up. (It's tough to catch my landlord with time to help on these little things)
Thanks for all your input everyone. When looking for the solution to a problem, you learn things along the way for later uses, and that I always appreciate.
Molly
:^)))
Well at least the mystery is solved, Molly. At least you know what they problem was....so many times I never find out. LOL