Plant Health Problems
See Perennials for a detailed discussion of problems that may occur and are common to most herbaceous ornamentals.

Diseases caused by Fungi:

Basal or root rot, Rhizoctonia solani or Pythium spp.
Roots and basal stems are rotted, black or brown and collapsed. Sunken lesions may occur at the soil line. These fungi must be distinguished microscopically. However, Pythium tends to predominate in wet soils and Rhizoctonia in well-drained soils.

Control with fungicides may be prohibitively expensive, so removal of infected plants is important.

Leaf spots, Alternaria, Cercospora, Colletotrichum, or Septoria spp.
Leaf spots are very common, typically sharply delimited necrotic areas on plant leaves caused by a wide variety of pathogenic species. Leaf spots usually are favored by wet conditions and may become important if a large number of lesions are present or if they start to coalesce.

Under those conditions, control may also be achieved with the use of fungicides applied as soon as symptoms are visible. Among the compounds registered for use in Connecticut are thiophanate-methyl and sulfur. Consult the label for dosage rates and safety precautions.

Rust, Puccinia malvacearum.
The term rust refers to both the disease and pathogen causing the disease. Symptoms of rust infection include rust-colored spores or gelatinous horns in powdery pustules on leaves or stems. Surrounding tissue is discolored and yellowed, and plants are often stunted.

Control of heteroecious rusts may be aided by removal of the alternate host, but for most perennials, control may also be achieved with the use of fungicides applied as soon as symptoms are visible. Among the compounds registered for use in Connecticut are sulfur and mancozeb. Consult the label for dosage rates, safety precautions, and directions for use.

Diseases caused by Phytoplasmas:

Aster yellows, phytoplasma.
The pathogen is a prokaryotic organism without cell walls. It infects the phloem of susceptible plants and causes a general yellowing and dwarfing symptom. The phytoplasma is spread by a leafhopper vector.

Infected plants should be removed and destroyed. Early season control of the leafhopper vector and removal of weed hosts may help prevent re-infection.

Insect Problems:

See Perennials.