Re: red lily leaf beetle

In a message dated 5/10/02 6:25:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
cherylisaak@adelphia.net writes:

<< Are you looking for flower look-a-likes or the spikes? The scent can 
 not be replaced.  Sigh!
 The beetles have appeared already this year and I am tempted to just 
 pull my remaining ones out and put them in a plastic bag....
 Cheryl >>


Are you saying that you have the beetles already damaging lilies in May?  Do 
they last all summer?  That is, as the JB's do they pupate and appear daily.  
It is total lily damage, is it not?

I have pulled out my my coop/ext sheet on these beetles and the season is not 
mentioned.  Recommended is removing all lilies (Lilium) from your garden.  I 
rather thought since I was isolated in the mountains, I might not see them 
for a while.

I know it is is a matter of time until we see them in the Berkshire area, how 
depressing.

I found a beetle last summer that looked like a Christmas tree ornament, it 
never occurred to me that it might have been the dreaded red lily beetle. 

Along with the adelgid  (hemlock destruction) which is reported to be 100 
miles south of us traveling up the Hudson River, a gardener has a feeling of 
invasion.  The dominate conifer in my area is hemlock.  The cure (not 
perfect) is an oil spray. One cannot spray 15 acres of hemlock and oak 
forest.  At least, not an individual.

This brings up a question much discussed on other lists.   The importation of 
alien species.  Asian hemlocks apparently do not succumb to adelgids so 
replanting with alien species would be a possibility.  Laws on alien 
importation are very complicated.  The other conifer genus in our forests 
(below Adirondack heights)   is the white pine.  There is not one white pine 
grown in the wild that has a straight trunk.  It was once the British Navy 
tree of choice for ship masts.  It is now a crooked or multiple stemmed tree 
due to budworms that destroy the top growth while young.   If not sprayed at 
exactly the correct hatch time, the worms do their damage in a matter of 
days. We have many white pine seedlings on on our acreage, all budworm 
damaged.

I wish there was a cure for this lily beetle.  What substitute is there for 
lilies in the summer?  Lilies do well in cold gardens, a blessing where so 
many other bulbous plants cannot grow.  Our members, on this list, are the 
first I have read that have posted first person accounts of the red lily 
beetle.

Claire Peplowski
NYS zone 4 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index