Re: [gardeners] OT - humor
margaret lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 23 Jul 1999 08:51:37 -0600
At 11:23 PM 7/22/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Margaret, walked out front today and choked -- my two huge
>established Starry Night (royal blue) small-leafed rhododendrons
>had dropped dead overnight. I know it was that quick because
>I had work to do just 5 feet away, yesterday afternoon.
>
>My local expert said it came from having too thick a mulch, which
>kept the plants too moist and rotted the roots. I have not disturbed that
>mulch in 10 years, and the plants had grown to be show pieces. They
>normally get acid fertlized twice a year, and watered during a drought.
>
>Any ideas...? No signs of disease or insects.
>
>
>Penny, NY zone 6
>
No notching on the leaves? Around here, black vine weevil larvae take out
rhodies. Other possibilities are nematodes or verticillium wilt (are
rhodies vulnerable to that? I don't raise rhododendrons). Margaret L