I'm not sure what to do about this. The leaves on one of my native columbines (aquilegia canadensis) have this problem that I am sure I need to do something about. But what? I am tempted to just trim off the offending branch, but want to know what it is first.
Probably leaf miners--I think they are a fairly common problem with columbines. Sorry, don't know anything about treatment but if you google for leaf miners I'm sure there's info out there.
O, I googled them and they are quite insidious. By the time you see the trails the leaves are protecting the leaf miners from any surface pesticide. I decided to pick off the affected leaves. The columbine decline in the heat of the summer anyway, but I want them to remain as healthy as possible.
Funny thing is, several articles suggested planting columbine to attract the leaf miners away from your desirable plant.
Here is my columbine earlier this spring...
Good call ecrane! Absolutely leaf miners. Seems you've got it covered JulieQ. The only thing I know is to pick off the leaves. I believe once they are inside your SOL (umm...sorry out of luck) on getting rid of them with sprays. Buggers! Nice to attract them but what if you just want your columbine??? Anyway, from what I know they don't damage the plant much more than appearance but could DEF. be wrong. Sorry to see you have visitors! :(
I received a snippet of a columbine last year through mail order. I planted it in a pot and it got leaf miners also. I had read in a couple different books that it's just "unsightly" so I left it alone. Then transplanted the little thing into the garden bed in fall. This year I have no signs of the leaf miners, but I'm up north, the cold may have killed them.
This message was edited Jun 12, 2009 12:40 PM
