Beginner Gardening: July in the garden, 1 by greenthumb_NC

greenthumb_NC wrote:
Just when I thought things were going pretty good, only HALF of my Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' was looking good. I am also watering that flower bed! The ferns nearby, and the two Knock-out roses are doing fine except for the Japanese beetles on them!! The good side of the Caryopteris has some bees on it, but I have not noticed anything else out of place. The size is great as this is only the 2-3rd year. Half of the bush has diiferent colored leaves all the way to the stem and texture is different than the other half of the shrub. It looks like the leaves will fall off very soon. I looked at the base of the multi-stemmed trunk and I can not determine if the problem is near the base or not. I started trimming the branches off that do not have leaves that look like they will be on much longer. Maybe I should leave the branches on for the new development of leaves on them next year???

The good half of the shrub has bees astir, pretty color on the blooms, and nothing out of place: just the way it was last year. Does anyone have an idea about what is causing these problem?

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~