Earlier in the year we noticed that we had shiny, red Lily Beetles (Lilioceris lilii) on our pots of asiatic lilies (Lilium species). These are one of those garden pests that can wreak havoc before you have even noticed that they are around. Jim and I managed to squash them all pretty quickly, but we knew that this wasn't the end of the story. So I was dismayed to spot this at the weekend, around the largest pot of lilies in the garden:
Black splashes around the base of a pot of lilies.
These splashes around the rim of the pot are a tell-tale sign of hatched lily beetle larvae. They are a particularly unpleasant pest as the larvae are usually covered in their own excrement. So what you will see on the leaves of your lilies is a ball of black slime like this:
Lily beetle larvae covered in excrement.
They sometimes hide under the leaves, so it's worth a good look all over the plants. As they feed, these larvae can strip the leaves from your lilies faster than you would imagine - they just munch away until there is nothing left, so look out for stripped leaves too.
This year we even spotted some of the larvae without the covering of excrement - something I hadn't seen before. At least these little beasties were easier to squash! We went over the plants pretty thoroughly, squashing as many as possible. The key is just to be vigilant, and squash them as soon as you see them. If you leave them, they will keep eating until you have no lilies left!
If you haven't already checked, do go out and make sure that you haven't got any of these devious pests hiding among the leaves of your lovely plants!