I've had this problem for a few years but this year is the worst. I have green horned caterpillars eating my leaves but are they the cause of the small sticky black round things, sticky goo and leaf rot ? I've got two orange jubilee bushes that are ten feet tall and beautiful and I don't want to get rid of them. Help !
I can't answer your questions but I would suggest that you take a branch (in a bag) to your local nursery or County Extension Agency to get a definitive answer. I can see the rot or black goo that you mentioned but the black goo could be catapililar poop. If you want to get rid of the cats Bt is a very effective pesticide. It is Organic and only hurts cats and leaves other bugs alone.
