beckygardener said:
Sue - I looked closely at the buds and you are right ... each bud is developing 3 tubes as you described. Any idea what causes this?
So far I haven't found my picture but I'll take another look later. I don't know what causes it, just that something presumably messes up the development of the bud. I don't see it very often and I don't worry about it. Your first link mentions tarnished plant bugs (which are not Lygus rugulipennis as suggested in the article, unless you're in Europe). Here's a link to pics and info for the more common North American version (Lygus lineolaris) in the AHS Daylily Dictionary:
http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...
I have suspected them myself for the "three tubes" effect. They inject a toxin into growing parts of plants. I don't see the large buds dry up and abort as pictured in the link, though. I have seen it with small buds. It's hard to say whether it's environmental (e.g. too dry, too hot) or pests like the aforementined TPBs or thrips or both. I have both critters here and, as I said, haven't noticed buds that large die.
