Hi Pam, thanks for the info columbine cutworms - I have several plants
which literally lost the majority of their foliage in ONE NIGHT. You're
correct however. The plants are sending up new foliage from the base. Do
you think our heat wave of March and April accelerated the growth of these
buggers? (I long for the heat and sunshine now - it's been cloudy and rainy
for nearly 2 weeks now, and today is FREEZING).
"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:bv2uc.13048$js4.11667@attbi_s51...

"BottleCap" wrote in message
...
Hello

I have one single columbine that has a pretty bad case of leaf miners.
I
know usually you can just pick off the infested leaves and discard. But
my
whole plant is taken over. I'm afraid if I don't take some action soon
it
will kill my plant. Would insecticidal soap do the trick? Is there any
way
of getting rid of these little things? Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
BC

Unfortunately, columbine leaf miners are not affected by insecticidal
soaps
as they reside INSIDE the leaves and are untouched by spraying. I have yet
to see them kill a plant, though. This spring, the miners haven't been a
problem but columbine cutworms have - pretty odd to see all these blooming
columbines with nothing but skeletonized foliage to offset them. Just cut
off the affected foliage - new leaves will be produced almost immediately
and should develop past the normal life cycle of the miners.

pam - gardengal