by Leslie Cox; Wednesday; February 14, 2018

This is perhaps not the most romantic of topics for a Valentine’s Day, but since columbines will be appearing in the landscape reasonably soon, Aquilegia Downy Mildew (ADM) deserves to be brought up again. (I first wrote about this deadly disease in my Blog dated March 1, 2017.)

You need to be vigilant in spotting the symptoms immediately when they start to appear. There is no known cure for ADM, at this time, so your only option is to remove the infected plants and either burn them or bag them for the garbage.

As recommended, do not re-plant columbines in the same area. It is hoped the spores resting in the soil will die within a year. But, the time frame has yet to be confirmed. Best to err on the side of caution with this disease and not plant columbines in that area.

A quick internet search has revealed ADM is still confined to the UK and South Korea. But we still should keep a watchful eye on our columbines.

To read about ADM, click here.