Brown on Oriental Lily Petal Edges

[GardenGeisha]

I planted lilies last fall. Some have perfect blooms, but some of them have brown edges on some of their petals, like these. Can anyone tell me what causes this? The foliage is fine; only the petals are affected.

 

[catjac1975]

There is a bright orange bug that has become a menace on those lilies. I cannot remember the name.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Could it be the box elder bug? I notice lots of ants on them this evening, especially at the edges of the petals. Yesterday the good lilies (which had no brown on their petals) were perfect looking, but this morning the petals were all chewed up around the edges? Luckily, the bugs do not affect the fine fragrance (looking for a silver lining).

 

[digitS']

I don't know how badly they can damage lilies but flower thrips can mess up gladiolas so much that the flowers cannot open.

People don't seem to worry much about thrips but if you are hoping for nice flowers, they can wreck that. The orchardists take them seriously since they can wreck the chance for a fruit crop, as well.

They are not easy to deal with because they seem to be just about everywhere. If an insecticide has no persistence, they are going to come right back.

Steve

 

[GardenGeisha]

Here is what the opened lilies look like:

 

[GardenGeisha]

Funny how these look fine:

 

[GardenGeisha]

And these:

 

[GardenGeisha]

And these:

 

[digitS']

Oh boy GardenGeisha,

they don't look funny . Very pretty.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

They are a slightly different lily. They seem to like the most expensive oriental lilies.