On 10/06/2011 20:25, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-06-10 16:54:45 +0100, stuart noble
said:

Having finally got some buds on my Hydrangea seemannii after five
years or so, I notice the foliage is being eaten alive by something.
Anyone any ideas?
While it looks like a caterpillar with a very large mouth, the tip of
the leaf suggests otherwise.
Hopefully a link to to a photo follows, but I gather some servers
remove these


http://i54.tinypic.com/2vuwzk7.jpg

Anyway, any advice appreciated

At a guess, a leaf cutter bee. We had a rose that turned into lunch,
dinner and breakfast for one of these but survived and is flowering
wonderfully. Our H. seemannii is just about to flower.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

After extensive thinning early in the spring and getting some chicken
manure down around the roots, I now have a grand total of 5 buds!
Whether it was the feed or the stress that finally triggered it into
action I'm not sure.