I was very perplexed at seeing so many of my best daylilies blotched. We certainly did spray often enough for thrips. I figured they were back again, though I wasn't seeing any bumps on the buds.

Our pest control man came back today to spray again and he informed me the problem was undoubtedly caused by two pests I've never heard of before -- Pharoah ants and Acrobat ants.

He said they will burrow down inside of a bud and collect around the base of the pistil, sucking the bloom for honeydew. Have any of you heard about these critters? I sure hope the spraying takes care of the problem.

Nancy