P.M. is for Phlox & Monarda & Powdery Mildew

Thanks for the reply, Diana.  Interesting to hear about differences in various
climates.

Yes, irregular watering, overhead watering, and watering late in the day all
contribute to powdery mildew.  But I have found that even with regular, early-
morning, soaker-hose watering of "resistant" varieties of Monarda, sooner or
later (usually around July 4th here) there are evenings of heavy rains
followed by hot, humid days and POW, there it is!  Sprays don't help because
the rain washes them away and you can't reapply them on a really hot day.  I
only use environmentally friendly pesticides sparingly, and even then only
sparingly.  So I tried sulfur sprays on the Monarda for several years to no
avail.  Seems with Monarda, "resistant" mean it gets powdery mildew a week or
two later than other varieties.  

I have had better luck with resistant varieties of Phlox.  "Miss Lingard" in
particular is very good, as long as there isn't any mildewy monarda around to
infect it. 

If anyone has a monarda solution, I would love to hear it.  Even though I have
been pulling it out for two years, a couple of them popped up again this year.
I am going to let them go until I see mildew.  Usually the plants will start
blooming before they get it.  When the mildew comes, I will whack it to the
ground.  Hopefully I will get some flowers and butterflies first.  Then if it
comes back next year, fine.  If not, fine, something else in the garden will
be happy to take over the space!  
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index