hi all,

this afternoon I noticed ants running around on the small buds 2 of my Daylilies..

I took a magnifying glass but couldn't find any aphids.
I did however see that the buds were 'sweating' a bit and , when I touched it, it was sticky..

Is the sticky fluid a result of the ants perhaps biting the buds, or are they there because they like the sticky stuff?
And what ís the sticky stuff??

My other DL's, that are growing in the same border, have no ants and are not sticky.

Anyone any idea what is going on?


Mayo

I get ants too and they actually help to pollinate the flower. I wouldn't worry about them. They seem to like the real fragrant daylilies.

They do?
Oh wow, I didn't know that!

Nice to know that I won't have start a war on the ants
(the slugs are keeping me busy as it is... )



Mayo

The ants here sometimes lop off the pistil from inside the bloom (near the ovary area). I haven't noticed any sticky fluid on my buds or blooms when they're around though.

so.. that would mean the flower can't grow a pod, right?

Something to remember when I start hybridizing next year!



Mayo

Might depend on the kind of ant because they do not cause any problems for me at all. There are some bugs that I have heard will eat the pollen.

I saw a bug yesterday eating pollen off my seedling.
The ants are no problem and have never messed up any flowers.

I can't remember if it is earwigs or another bug that eats the pollen. I have been seeing a lot of Japanese Beetles on my flowers. So far it doesn't look like they have done any damage to the flowers.

I noticed lots of ants on my dayliles as well. They don't seem to do any harm but I got my eyes on them. I get a bit irritated when I'm trying to get a nice close up shot of a plant and the little tiny black dot shows up in my shot.