Ask-a-Dave's-Gardener: So many new problems and issues, 3 by bebe1212

bebe1212 wrote:
Hello, I live in SE PA, in zone 7. I am year 2 in my gardening here, though I lived in a house and successfully gardened in the KC, MO area 8 years. I am currently facing a multitude of issues I have not encountered before and I was hoping I could get help. First, my bearded iris appear to have iris borers and, maybe, leaf spot. I don\'t know how to right the situation. Most recently, my daylilies have quite a lot of dirt on them, the leaves are yellowing at the bottom and some of their leaves have holes in them. I also, just this week, have seen my hardy geraniums and bee balm with leaves yellowing at the bottom. And, I have noticed quite a lot of flies hovering around the irises and daylilies. I have not encountered any of these issues before and I\'m at quite a loss as to how to resolve the problems. I have seen afids on the irises and daylilies, though I noticed recently there were ladybugs in my yard. And, the spotted lantern flies are out of control this spring. My sense of the weather is that, other than a few really super hot days (in the 90s this last week), it has been a cooler (I think) spring with an average amount of rain. Thank you for any and all help and advice!! I love gardening so much and don\'t want to lose anything. Plants are so expensive now.