Last year I planted 5 coneflowers. They were an expensive hybrid. Although they didn't do much then, this year they came up looking great but about mid-May one at a time the leaves shriveled and they died. They looked like someone has sprayed them with weed-killer but no one had, and other plants nearby were fine. A couple of weeks later, some columbine planted this spring did the same and now my Japanese painted fern which have been thriving for 4 years looks like it's next. And today I saw one of my sangria dahlias starting to droop. None of these plants is remotely near each other. The soil has been amended at different times with different sources of compost and things like cotton burr compost. I don't see any particular sign of insects. In each case it seems to start with one plant and spread one at a time to the others, and within a couple of weeks, they are dead. Any ideas?
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Dying perennials
Submitted by ottermom on July 21, 2008 - 10:46pm.
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Yes, that's a nasty one. But the original poster's description doesn't sound like Asters Yellow, which presents as stunted and deformed new growth that grows back normally if you trim the plant back. It is spread by leafhoppers. Flowers develop, but they're small, deformed, yellow, and a little creepy looking. I once lost a patch of three huge coneflowers to that nasty disease. It can attack a very large range of plants, apparently.
Diagnosing this problem in a blog format may be very difficult. This may be the case where we will need to see samples of the plants including the leaves and the roots. If possible do the following. Bring a sample to your closest Extension office or take samples to a garden center or attach photos to this post on KC Gardens. That will maybe help you get the best answer.
In the mean time here are some possibilities.
-Excess moisture, during the rainy spring and early summer this caused root rots and now the plants are failing under the summer stress.
-Herbicide injury, has anyone sprayed a herbicide in the area? This will cause leaves to become curled or distorted? Most plants grow out of this condition.
-Disease, there are some viral diseases of coneflower that cause the damage you described. The control for this is removal of the plants. The disease is called Asters Yellow if you want to look it up.
There could be several other problems but at least I have provided a few other ideas and next steps.
Dennis - Johnson County Extension