Monsoon winds with pouring rain, endless cold drizzle alternating with blasting heat have made this a very challenging year for gardeners. I do the garden at the office of McKittrick and Warren on Chestnut Street in Camden. Passersby often stop to get advice or information about issues in their own gardens. In this, my first column for the PenBay Pilot, I am addressing some of the most commonly cited problems.

For instance, we have a family portrait of the Asiatic Lily Beetle /Lilioceris lilii/, aka Scarlet Lily Beetle, Red Lily Beetle or Lily Leaf Beetle. Left to its own devices this beetle will devastate your Asiatic, Oriental, and Species lilies. In the picture (at right) is an adult, bright red about 1/8 to 1/4 inch long. The sweet little babies are above the adult; they have the charming habit of carrying their feces (your lily's digested leaves) on their backs, and can be mistaken for little blobs of dirt on the leaves.

Ask the Lady Gardener

Cindy Gerry has been a professional gardener in the Midcoast for more than 12 years. Gardening questions can be sent to cindygerry@gmail.com.

The eggs are orange and are laid on the underside of the leaves. You have two choices: eradicate the beetles or give up on lilies. To get rid of them you can go out every day and squish the beetles, squish the larvae and squish the eggs when you find them, or you can use poison. I have tried all of the kind and gentle sprays and methods; none worked for me. So, I did some research and asked the advice of the people at the Green Thumb, who recommended the insecticide imidacloprid. It is available from Bayer and comes in a variety of applications. It is applied once a month and does work.

Some of the gentler methods do not get past the hard carapace of the beetle and might slow them down, but will not get rid of them. Imidacloprid can be applied to just the lilies when they first emerge in the spring. To help keep the population down, do a good clean up in the fall, cutting back plants, and removing debris and fallen leaves, reducing their winter hiding places.

Slugs and snails

Slugs and snails have really come into their own in the last 10 years. At right in the photo is a sampling found in decomposing foliage from daffodils. These guys are everywhere. I do not want to use insecticides everywhere, so the best way to keep them under control is to remove decaying plant material and weeds from your garden. Weeds cause problems because they are, well, weeds. They decrease air flow, and take valuable nutrients from the desired plants while detracting from the beauty of your garden. As you work in your garden you can squish them and throw them on a rock, but limiting their preferred environment such as decaying foliage and flowers, dark moist areas and weedy or unnecessary undergrowth will bring great results. Now let's talk about the environment or at least the micro-environment of your garden, specifically water.

With all the drizzle, rain and foggy moisture this summer, many people assume that the garden is getting enough water. The last picture is the soil underneath my daylilies. It is bone dry. The foliage has been wet, but the plants need to take up water from the roots. Both the foliage and the plant itself are preventing the soil from absorbing water. So, use a fork or cultivator to break up the soil, then with a wand, set on shower or gentle rain water your plants at the roots, avoiding wetting the foliage or flowers. It is best to water in the morning. That gives the wet foliage a chance to dry and keeps the plant hydrated throughout the day. If you don't cultivate the soil, or just hold the hose in one spot, the water will just run off and most is wasted. I start at one end and move back and forth over the area I am watering. I do this several times.

By watering, cultivating and cleaning up the garden you will have healthier plants. Healthy plants can better resist the opportunistic diseases and insects and the extreme or inconsistent weather of the season.

Note that all the pictures were taken in my own garden. I have work to do.