It's that time of the year again here in my Wisconsin garden.
Spring Sickness has reared its ugly head, and it seems more viciously than any other year I've had.
I sure wish they could come up with what is causing it. They say it's NOT the weather...and I do agree with that...BUT...it always starts to show up after about 2 or 3 good frosty nights. Does the frost trigger some bug or eggs to hatch???
I watch for it every year. The fans always look so good at the beginning and lead me to believe that I'll be getting away with little SS. I REALLY thought this year was going to be different because they all looked so good not showing any signs at all. Then after the 3rd frost it gradually started to show up. It is the worst year yet for SS in my gardens. How bad is it...well...I went out today and counted. AND I KNEW it would be easier to count the ones that did NOT have SS signs.
I ended up with 68 daylilies that DID NOT have it out of about 254 cultivars. Some clumps have just a couple fans affected while a few have almost half of the fans affected.
That's not even counting the seedling bed that was planted last year (which was a first year bed) and is showing a good amount of SS. Or the seedling bed planted in 2016 which seems to have faired the best but still has some SS.
There is just no rhyme or reason with SS. I've been watching it here for many years and never find any "trail" to follow that may lead me to think of a plan of action. Just wait for them to grow out of it. They generally grow out of it, but it is so UGLY right now. The only thing I noticed (this year) was that areas which didn't get a lot of sun had less SS. (Note: Those areas were more protected from the frost.) But I'm sure that won't follow through next year.
If anyone knows of any good web sites or articles to read that may have updated info on SS, please post it here.
Also would like to hear from others if they have it this year and how bad. I'm in zone 5a.
