come on mona..

mother nature is not a disney picture.. all perfection ...

if those are the only two leaves.. simply cut them off and put them in the garbage ...

i cant ID the plant on that pic ...

your garden is neither poor ... nor under attack .. you need to relax a bit with the drama ...

ID'ing the blight [???] ... may be a reasonable quest for knowledge...

but if that it the sum whole of it all .. there need not be this much drama involved ...

i always fear an Id of a minor problem.. is going to lead to catastrophic application of un-necessary chemicals ...

dont know where you are either.. i have a lot of that sort of thing that is frost/freeze damage ... and can be from weeks ago ... and its possible that there is a SECONDARY problem.. which is feeding off the prior cold damage ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: general blights????

Mona, your leaves are showing evidence of powdery mildew. I'm trying to catch up on your posts (am finding a few here) but am a little short on time today. Did you mention in one you are watering at night? Depending on your climate (and we don't know where you are - it can make a difference in the kinds of answers appropriate to your area)

Watering at night in my maritime climate once temps have warmed and spring rains have slowed = powdery mildew on anything susceptible. It's not always convenient but I try to never water shrub or perennial beds late enough the foliage does not have time to dry before dark.

Could you add your zone and state to your sign in page?

LOL. Sorry Ken, I was teasing. I was however ready to go out and buy something to spray on the garden - you're pretty intuitive. Are you saying I shouldn't then?

It seems there are so many different problems here that I haven't had before.

I have grub worms ( I guess that's what they are) that are cutting off the heads of my plants.

I have the spots on this poor plant but I do think it's powdery mildew.

Some of my zinnias are bent over with their faces pointing down.

I am nervous about my new gardens. This is the first time I've put a garden in since I moved to Texas 3 years ago and the clay soil is awful, the heat is horrible, and I really want it to be successful.

I have made it a point to start watering early in the morning before work instead of after.

What "grub worms" do you have? Grubs are the larva of many species of beetles, June, Japanese, Locusts, etc. You could also have cutworms, the larva of moths that dwell in soil and cut off plants at the stems, for which some people blame the Roly Polies, Sowbugs, Potato Bugs, because those are what they see at the damaged plant.
If you are concerned about those brownish spots on the leaves that is more a physiological problem, not an insect. Maybe ot could be a plant disease, only time will tell, or it may be simply a bit of scorch, caused by a leaf loosing moisture faster then the plant can supply it.

Mona Lisa - What part of Texas? Your posts don't list the zone, which is often helpful. Maybe you don't know. Here in SE Texas, it is zone 9A.

I deal with the clay soil too, but it's not as bad as some indicate. I've never had problems, but my garden is a raised one with about 4" of soil, and mostly vegetables. Still, I've grown other plants directly in the soil, and they've done well. Maybe it's just a matter of finding out if it makes sense to even try specific plants for clay soil. The pH may be wrong, and/or the roots may not be strong enough to penetrate the clay.

Watering is extremely important, especially as we go into the long 6-month heat marathon (May-October). Yes, you need to water in the morning, and if you can in the mid or late afternoon (or evening), that will help too. Make sure to use lots of mulch too, or the water will be evaporating and get wasted.

I'd go into more details about the "grub worms". Kimmsr's right, there are lots of worms and caterpillars that can cause troubles. Good pictures will help too, since many of us are familiar with the various pests.

I'm convinced that there's a way around most problems, so keep at it, and keep us updated!