Ants are killing my shooting star- South Central Wisconsin

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jemkob Baraboo, WI Jun 01, 2008

I don't have a picture, but I have recently landscaped a mixed sun/shade side area of my yard with a bunch of native wildflowers. Wood phlox, columbine, solomons seal, ferns, etc. One of my plants, a shooting star, has been completely killed by what appears to be an ant colony that has built right on it. What's weird is that I see the ants crawling right down the stem and into the ground. Why would they choose this location? Are they eating my plant roots or was it just bad luck? I know ants can be beneficial, so I hate to kill them if I don't have to. But now I see the colony is growing and they're starting to kill a neighboring wood phlox plant.

What is happening and how should I deal with it?

Thanks!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 01, 2008

I've had a garden overrun with ants for a couple years now and at least the sorts of ants that I have don't hurt the plants any, although I don't know if the main ant hill was right underneath a plant maybe that would be harmful. But I suspect it's more likely that the ants are just a coincidence and the root cause of the problem is something else. If they're crawling on the plants, I'd check for things like aphids and scale, ants will "farm" them because they like the honeydew that they secrete, and both aphids and scale can kill your plants if you let them get out of control (scale especially). If you don't find aphids or scale, I'd also look into the cultural conditions, some of your things there are woodland flowers and it's possibly you haven't recreated enough of the conditions that they thrive in, perhaps they are getting too much sun, or too little water, etc. Or if these were just planted this year some of them could be suffering from transplant shock, etc.

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trioadastra Woodbury, MN(Zone 4a) Jun 03, 2008

I'd have to agree with ecrane. I probably have the same ants as you, and I've never had a problem w/ them taking over a plant. In addition, you may want to check the soil ph. If nothing else, try digging up the victims and washing the ants off the roots, then replant in a different location and see if it helps. Phlox does pretty well with transplanting.

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