I'm following instructions, a new thread for each of these things, which could very well end up being garbage, so forgive me in advance -- I'm trying to do something with the rock quarry I call a flower bed out front, planted by the snotnose who used to live here, and these things look like nothing else in the bed, so before I junk them....

Lilies with ...? maple sprouts?

This could be a lily of some sort.

Thank you both, they must have had a lily closeout table at Walmart. And yes Tiffany, that is a maple sprout, one of half a million, but I plan on crabbing about that in another thread.

Maple sprouts pull easily. Be glad they are not oaks! ;)

The oak ones are in the back, NICE TALKING TO YOU, TIFFANY!!!

Oh brother, never mind! And likewise, thanks!

If it matters, something is eating the plants that look like lilies. Maybe the red lily beetle.

Sue, I CANNOT believe you said that, yesterday I see this bright red thing on the lilies I transplanted today, and I get all excited because I think it's a ladybug, and I tried to take a picture of it and it fell off into the mulch and I lost it, but I saw it didn't have any spots on it, and Deb said the ones she knows in Oregon don't have spots, so I got all psyched and was mad at myself that I didn't get a picture, derf, derf, derf!! So how dangerous is THIS visitor to my property who doesn't pay taxes??? I should just dump the lilies that are there now?

This Google link shows what it looks like. Hand picking them works here. Not so bad with the adults (I wear gloves and squish them) but the larvae are kind of disgusting. I wouldn't give up on the lilies until you know if it's the red lily beetle for sure, and whether they are easily manageable. Some people have more trouble with them than others. They won't start munching on your other plants.

https://www.google.ca/search?q...

Garden10 said:The oak ones are in the back, NICE TALKING TO YOU, TIFFANY!!!

Just to make your day more special, oaks put down a taproot one year and grow a top the next. Those oak seedlings may be rooted 3 feet down. But don't despair quite yet. You just have to cut the root below the juncture of the root and top. To help you work this out, the acorn may still be attached.
If you get a couple inches below the acorn, the root will not regrow the top.

Red lily bugs? Never heard of them. Please keep them on your coast.

Gee thanks, Daisy, you helped take my mind off the frost warning that was just issued for tonight....

I've identified the one I saw from Sue's link, it is the Red Lily Leaf Beetle, there are certain varieties, I take it, but I clicked on the picture of the one that looked like mine.That pic actually led to a Shutterstock link that can only be described as Red Lily Leaf Beetle Porn https://www.shutterstock.com/v...

Guess you don't have THAT in Reno, either

I transplanted the Asian/Oriental lilies to the back, and I'm just dumping these out front, I had to dig through solid rock today just to transplant those, and that was in an EXISTING flowerbed, the day won't come when I will have the time, strength and stamina to go chasing after red bugs and their puky larvae that are attacking only one kind of plant that I didn't even plant. Thanks for the heads up, Sue, you saved me a lot of grief

Always happy to help...

You have some challenges there. So the lesson learned is 'never buy a new property without first digging a few holes in the yard.'

My previous home in CA - the soil was beautiful loamy river bottom - I got really spoiled. But the Trees of Heaven, maple and oak seedlings almost did me in. I once climbed over the neighbors fence (they weren't home) and pulled 5 ft tall Trees of Heaven from their yard that were too close to my fence. Other times, I 'accidently' sprayed Roundup too close to the fence. It was wire so, for some reason, the weeds died 5 feet in.

But now, I am gardening in a mountain of sand. I have added a lot of compost and still the plants that want a loamy home don't have one. In stead of Trees of Heaven, maples and oaks, I have Rabbit Brush and Sage Brush trying to invade my desert oasis.

No matter where you go, if you want to garden, there are going to be some challenges. You have a great sense of humor - you will live and thrive in that new garden.

Abbey, that Shutterstock beetle porn is a misidentification, not sure what they are but they aren't red lily beetles, which look like this:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

Where is Olivia Colman when you need her? Sue, the thing I saw looked like a ladybug, like this thing, this is one of the photos from the Google link you gave me, and you get the Shutterstock porn when you click on this pic:



The thing I saw didn't have the articulated body like the other ones and the big scary legs and antennae.

You're sweet, Daisy, thanks, I am just completely overwhelmed, I had a problem with the guy who was supposed to help me with the digging and all, he made me wait all day Friday and he never showed with the tiller, and then we had a problem over the weekend, so forget him. I don't mind doing all this work, I just can't, and that's infuriating. But I am so blessed to live here, I don't care if my mother's cousins are in the ground (and if I were still in Jersey, they would be), I love this house and this area and this property.

Whatever this is, thank God I didn't report the sighting to the Ladybug Project, "Duh, I found one without spots, duh!"

Pretty sure it's not a ladybug without spots. It looks a bit like a red poplar leaf beetle but I can't see the antennae well enough. If you see your red beetle again can you try and get a pic? Whatever you saw might be an innocent passer-by but something is eating those lilies.

I just Googled 'red lily beetle damage' and the photos don't look like your plants. The damage looks more like me eating a piece of celery. Your plants have nice neat holes. Do you have cutter bees or something?

Oops, just found this website. There is a perfect picture of your lilies. In fact, I think they are your lilies

http://www.downgardenservices....

Thank the powers that be, they haven't reached The west yet. It's hard enough to grow lilies here.

DaisyI said:Do you have cutter bees or something?

You are ADORABLE! How would I know that, do they have little scissors instead of stingers???????

One of the photos in the link you gave me looks just like it did when I saw it yesterday. Sue, I lost it trying to photograph it, don't forget, I thought it was a ladybug! If I see it again I will. Now when I saw it yesterday, it was on the Asian/Oriental Lily which I have transplanted today -- you can see what they looked like in this thread I started yesterday that had to be moved, yada yada, but their pics are in my initial post, they look fine: The thread "Annoying Rookie/Newbie Question" in Plant ID forum

If I read that link correctly, it says it could be found on other plants, like Lily of the Valley (which I think just showed up by the sink hole the other day) and day lilies, but everything else I read said they don't bother any other plants, including day lilies.

I think I'm just going to junk whatever is left in that bed; my aim is to clear it out, put down cardboard, cover it with a lot of coir mulch, and put a big tub of elephant ear coleus on top of it and see how we do.

It can be found on other plants but doesn't necessarily eat them, or eat them as much as lilies and fritillaria. This article from the North American Lily Society talks about host plants. Daylily is not a host, nor is it a lily. We have the red lily beetle here on true lilies but they've never bothered the daylilies of which we have a lot, or anything else for that matter.

http://www.lilies.org/pdfs/lil...