Bugs normally would not cause brown spots.

Could be fungus, could be dryness, could be turning color for fall.

Got picture?

Thanks for the response. I'll try to figure out how to upload a picture, but I don't like my chances.

To give a bit more detail, the miss kim has some brown spotting like I said, but it also has some browning and rolling at the leaf margins. In addition, it's dropping many of its interior leaves after they have yellowed (It's my first year with them but I believe I read they're supposed to take on a deep reddish hue before dropping). It's been a pretty wet season in IL so I hadn't been doing any watering until I noticed the drooping/browning. When I do water I place the hose at the bottom so as not to get the leaves wet. I hope this helps in making a determination, but if not, I'll embark on the adventure to upload. Thanks.
Matt

It's probably drought..my white lilac is doing the same thing! It was actually !wilting! so I got some water and gave the poor thing a drink. It's a fairly established lilac too. This drought is a real bad one. Crazy weather!

Thanks for he reply. That's what I suspect. I hopoe it will forgive me.

It probably will, they aren't as mean-spirited as gardenias. I threw water on mine a few times and it's coming back to life!

My Miss Kim does get brown edges and drop inner leaves if it doesn't get enough water. There are tree roots in the bed that suck much of it up.

Miss Kim is nowhere near as demanding as a gardenia.

Mine is over ten years old and all I have to do is deadhead and make sure it gets adequate summer water.

Here is a link that might be useful: