Rhododendron
After my Rhode bloomed magnificently late this spring, I began the process of deadheading the expended blooms and cutting back the plant in preparation for its bloom next spring. Side note, I realized that Rhodes don't "vine" or grow back as much as I hoped, unlike other shrubs like the rose bush or butterfly bush. From what I can tell, it seems to grow more like a tree in that it grows slowly by lengthening it's "branches." So anyways, it has been pruned and is ready to replenish its flower pods for next season. I began to notice that about a month after this, a large percentage of its leaves began to not only brown along its edges but actually began dying. It was has been unusually hot here in Indiana (many days of 100+ heat) but other plants seemed to be surviving like usual on my normal watering plan. So I took to researching it and came across a Cornell University Horticulture article. The article goes into great depths as the possible cause of my leaf dying problem. One point, that later is revealed to be spot on, is that Rhodes have adapted a pretty cool way of minimizing water loss. This allows Rhode's to hold there leaves year round. But because of this, "moisture is first lost along the edge of the leaf blade." If enough moisture is lost, the entire leaf can wilt and die. Even though the article primarily traces this back to its winter growing process, I have found that my Rhode is experiencing this same problem due to the unusually hot weather. So I began increasing the amount of water given to the Rhode and it seems to be bouncing back, also in part due to the cooling of temperatures. Thank the Lord! Read the article further for more explanation of Rhode problems by clicking here. Another article, published in the Seattle Times, that was not discussed here but provides more insight can be found here. The first picture below is of an unhealthy loss of water resulting in leaf browning. The second picture is of leaves "curling." See first article for more insight.
Burning Bush
Ah, the infamous burning bush. Possibly one of the most adaptable bushes out there! Personally, the burning bushes in my yard have been moved more in the span of a year than should be alloted. But even in all of this, my five burning bushes came back stronger than ever this spring. Then came this and it was only spring, not fall!
Upon talking to my dad and doing my own research, I have found that the most likely culprit is the Spidermite. As I am out of town at the moment and cannot test for certainty, I cannot say that this is for sure. But if your bush looks like the picture above, here is the test to do according to the University of Illinois Extension, link here (bottom of page). Take a white sheet of paper and hold underneath a branch while vigorously shaking that same branch. If you see slow moving mites that when crushed leave a greenish stain, then that is a Spidermite. If you see fast moving mites and when crushed leave a red stain, then do not spray for mites just yet as these mites are good for the plant. For other insights of what could be causing your burning bush to "burn" early, see this Iowa State University Extension article here.
Rose Bush
Unfortunately my first, most thriving rose bush is literally getting eaten alive. I initially put it off hoping that the bugs would go away but word must have gotten out that this was now the hot new bug hangout! This is what my rose bush leaves looks like, but all over:
Since I've already gone into much detail on the first two plants, I'll just share the two articles: Rose Magazine and Berkeley Horticulture,
Feel free to comment with any questions and if I don't know, I would be more than happy to research. Thanks for reading!
