This is unhealthy looking foliage. Obviously. I cringed when I saw this forming. This is my next door neighbor's yard. I love her dearly, but she knows squat about plants. She lets me come over and dig as I see fit. Let's remember that I have 5 children and barely have time to go to the bathroom let alone garden two plots.
Cathy Luter, look away!!
The borers GORGE themselves on the iris tubers. Then they eventually turn into moths and lay their eggs in the old iris leaves in the fall. Then in the spring the cycle starts all over again: they hatch out, make pinhole marks in the leaves and eat their way down to the tubers again. So by late July you have pretty shabby looking plants. Much of the tubers are mush after the borers have tunneled through.
Even Adam doesn't want to touch them, which really tells you how gross and ugly the little demons are. But my kind hearted son wouldn't kill them, he used the knife to flick them into his bug cage. (Don't worry, I'll squish them after he goes to bed tonight. He would probably cry if he watched.)
All the discard really should be burned. Death to the iris borer!!!
Here are the salvaged borer-free pieces. They are soaking in a bucket of bleach water right now. I feel like I should bath in bleach water after touching the things.
12 comments:
This post is both horrible and informative, and I hope my Iris doesn't get this ugly worm!! If that happens to mine - Phil does it or I let them rot!! I'm glad they are back by the fence, far away from this woman!
Love your yellow flower :)
~Cathy
I do not know squat about plants, either. That is terrifying. I am glad I do not have irises!! YUCK.
Ummmm - those things are GROSS!
I would be one of those people who know squat about plants too! Close your eyes if you ever drive by my house!
Jackie, you would laugh if you saw my flower beds right now. I like to read about flowers and play in them, but nothing that I have flows together like you see in the magazines. Someday... someday.
see, you are an amazing garden guru! You need to come help me! Like the new look too!
You are one brave soul! eww!
I agree with the whole lot before me...GROSS!!!!!!!! You know it's bad when the bug guru makes a disgusting face at the worm.
That is just nasty looking. I am happy that I wasn't their.
I am so impressed by your botanical expertise.
So I was at your house yesterday. Adam and Rachel were playing with those bugs and Casey was threatening that if they got away there would be trouble. Adam appeared to love those bugs and relished in showing them to me.
Phil, you're funny. My expertise is also know as "google".
Laura, I think 3 are dead and 2 are still hanging on. The one borer just keeps circling around inside the cage looking for an out, he is one tough guy.
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