Can anyone tell me what is on my flax? Just noticed it today and it appears there are tons of small bright orange eggs (maybe) on my blue flax. If it is eggs, are they good bugs or bad? The flax is in my wildflower garden and the orange spots are only on the flax, as far as I can tell. They do not seem to rub off easily. I have never noticed anything like this before, so am puzzled as what it is and what to do about it. What do I do about them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here is another pic. Sorry that it isn't any clearer, but don't have the best camera and can't manually focus it.
These are not eggs, but appear to be pustules of flax rust, Melampsora lini - see http://tinyurl.com/lpnkfd
Thanks! Should I do anything for treatment for this? Do I just cut it, or pull it up? Since I only grow this for the flowers, do I need to do anything about this? Will this spread to my other plants? Any help would be great!
I do not believe that there is any treatment once a plant is infected; you might check with your local cooperative extension service agent to see if resistant varieties are available (see http://tinyurl.com/lq92rx). Also, I do not believe that there is risk of it spreading to unrelated plants.
Thanks so much! I just don't want it to spread to my roses, as they are in a bed very close to that flower bed. Flax is easy to replace, but can't have anything happen to my roses : ) I will check with our ext. office just to be sure. The flax was getting way too thick anyway, so I think I will pull the infected plants and make room for some other flowers anyway. You've been a great help! Thanks again!
