Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Attention New England gardeners

  1. #1
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383

    Attention New England gardeners

    I want to tell you all up there in New England something about lilies. If you grow lilies, if your neighbors grow lilies, if your friends grow lilies, be aware and tell others that the red lily beetle has mostly been eradicated. However —and this is where we all need you your help – when you see a red lily beetle, let it be. Unless of course it is chomping away on your one single lily plant, but that’s really YOUR problem isn’t it? To have just one Lily would be very wrong. You need a row of lilies at minimum! Ha ha.
    Anyway… We want to keep a small population of red lily beetle around in New England so that its newly introduced predators have something to feed on. The predator is some sort of larval predator. I don’t remember what it is. The red lily beetles were decimating lily collections in Canada and the Northeast, and it was heading West, my way.

    The North American Lily Society along with others funded Research at one of the New England universities to identify this new predator and introduce it. It’s been very successful.


    Keep it up New England!

  2. #2
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Eastern Massachusetts
    Posts
    8,143
    Wow, good to know. I like lilies, but I avoid them due to their extreme toxicity for cats. I have a small clump of tiger lilies that I was thinking of removing, but maybe I'll keep them there as bait plants, and just continue to exercise caution.

  3. #3
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by rosarugosa View Post
    Wow, good to know. I like lilies, but I avoid them due to their extreme toxicity for cats. I have a small clump of tiger lilies that I was thinking of removing, but maybe I'll keep them there as bait plants, and just continue to exercise caution.
    Thanks Rosa for doing your part!

    My guess without scientific back up is that red lily beetle probably isn’t all that keen on Tiger lilies ( Lilium tigurnum aka L. lancifolium) Because they are native to North America, and these red beetles are imported from another continent. But that’s just my guess. It has been shown to avoid hybrids one generation out from L. henryii.

    But keep your tiger lilies! They’re pleasant little plants. There’s a theory out there that they spread virus to other lilies when they themselves don’t get it, but I’m not sure how true that is.

  4. #4
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    2,718
    Sorry IL, I am not sacrificing my gorgeous Asiastic lilies. They can have my tiger lilies/day lilies out by the road which are quite hardy anyways, but I will continue to pick off and destroy those buggers off the lovely fragrant ones.

  5. #5
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by herbgeek View Post
    Sorry IL, I am not sacrificing my gorgeous Asiastic lilies. They can have my tiger lilies/day lilies out by the road which are quite hardy anyways, but I will continue to pick off and destroy those buggers off the lovely fragrant ones.
    Herbgeek…thwarting science right and left!

    haha, Just kidding you. I guess you will do what you’re going to do whether I like it or not.

  6. #6
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Eastern Massachusetts
    Posts
    8,143
    I've seen the red beetles do serious damage to the foliage, so I do think they find them tasty.

  7. #7
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    14,637
    I don't think I've ever seen one--do you have a good website where I can learn more? And what's the predator? My neighbor has a huge tiger lily patch. I was thinking of introducing some native lilies down at the lakeshore. I'll definitely keep this in mind!
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  8. #8
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    14,637
    Just found this fact sheet: https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-...ly-leaf-beetle

    I see that it's a wasp that may be a key predator and it makes me sad because my neighbors and my children pressured us to get rid of our wasp stump. Those wasps never bothered me, and I liked watching them go in and out of their stump home. And I knew that the only thing they are good for is pest control in the garden. Oh well, if they come back, I'm going to keep my mouth shut.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  9. #9
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by rosarugosa View Post
    I've seen the red beetles do serious damage to the foliage, so I do think they find them tasty.
    Interesting g! Thank you.

  10. #10
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    Just found this fact sheet: https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-...ly-leaf-beetle

    I see that it's a wasp that may be a key predator and it makes me sad because my neighbors and my children pressured us to get rid of our wasp stump. Those wasps never bothered me, and I liked watching them go in and out of their stump home. And I knew that the only thing they are good for is pest control in the garden. Oh well, if they come back, I'm going to keep my mouth shut.
    we’ve had nest of wasps in our community Garden off and on, and as long as they are in a section that is a way for most human activity, it’s fine.


    These red lily beetles are hideous because they pile their feces on top of their back to make them even more unpalatable to birds. Without are the feces they are kind of pretty But still we don’t want them around here.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •