I'd be hesitant to quess without seeing a better image. And do these things (or this stuff) move.....have you investigated to see if there is a living critter inside all of the fluff?

There are plenty of insects around that fit that description, but.....let's see a better photograph.

No, nothing moves, and if I lightly touch it or blow on it, it easily falls off. I will try for another pic. Thanks for replying. But I know it's not spittlebugs. That's what I thought of at first. If it is an insect, could it be possible that's it's on that many plants?

I'm thinking in terms of woolly aphids, but there are other insects that resemble this. But the woolly aphids have a teensy critter inside all of that fuzz.

An improved picture might help, for sure.

Do you have cottonwoods there? (Though it would be early for THAT to be happening, I think.)

I can't get a hold of one of my kid's cameras (once again, mom goes without, LOL.) But I was inspecting the white stuff a little closer today, and did not see any insect inside the fluff. I rubbed it and it just disintegrated with no bug anywhere. What baffles me the most is that this stuff is on all the plants in this bed. I'm talking over 100 plants. It looks like it was dumped from an airplane. Weird. I googled pics of wolley aphids, and while my stuff resembles it, it's still not exact. Thanks for bearing with me on this mystery rhizo.

It sounds like you have done a good inspection to rule out insects. If you squish one and it does not have a liquid center, then it must be something else. There doesn't seem to be any discoloration around the spots, so I would rule out a fungal infection also.

Do the plants seem to be suffereing in any way from the presence of this stuff? I'm starting to think it must be something that just blew in from somewhere.

I SWEAR that something like this came up last year! Naturally, I do not recall what was ever decided, lol. I sure would like to see a really good picture, sigh.

Probably a case of the dreaded dryer fuzz, gone amok.

It sure did come up last year and I was one of the ones who had it! It was on my hydrangeas. It was like this fluffy snow. Did not cling to the leaves, but looked almost like it got blown into crevices. I could blow it right off. It was not alive and did not look like any fungus I've seen. Some others had the same stuff. My plants were never hurt by it and eventually it disappeared. Probably blew away! I don't think anyone else who talked about saw damage, either. I don't think I'd worry about it, but it makes for a good mystery. Here's a shot of mine. Ignore the icky-looking leaf. That was some other problem. Sigh.

Karen

I want some under my microscope NOW! lol!

Karen, yes...that's it! No one figured it out last year? Man, this is so weird. I've hosed down most of the plants with a strong stream of water, and that seems to have worked. It doesn't seem to have hurt the plants, but it did look messy.
rhizo, a microscope inspection does seem to be in order. LOL.

I have that stuff too. The lady at the nursery said that it was part of the aphid's life cycle, it's shedded skin or something like that.
jt

Hi All:
This sounded kind of interesting so I thought I would get out my Sunset Problem Solver book to see if anything was shown that resembled this white fluff. The only thing that I found that had any resemblance to Karen's picture, is a picture in my book that is labeled "Psyllids". "The adult is very much like a leaf hopper but the smaller, wingless nymph's are nearly immobile and often have a white, waxy coating" quoting the book. In theory, they suck plant juices, leave sooty mold behind. The lady at the nursery is wrong about this particular fluff. I know what she is referring to and it's not like Karen's picture. If this stuff is just going away on it's own or easily washed off, it's hard to believe it could be psyllids but the picture and the fluff look the same. At allexperts.com a gal who follows organic practices said that she uses baking soda and water to spray her plants and claims she hasn't had bugs or diseases for 4 years. I thought that was amazing so I bought a big box of soda to try. Any chance of getting some scrapings and taking them to the high school or jr. college near by? The instructors in the Biology dept. are usually quite happy to help. When I worked at our jr. college, a man came in, looking kinda shaggy and asked to speak to a Biology teacher or someone who would know about bugs. I called over to Biology and the Chair answered. I told her what this guy wanted and she walked over. She extended her hand, introduced herself, asked what she could help with. He said he needed information on bugs. She asked what kind of bugs, and his reply was "the ones living on me." We all took a step back from the guy and the instructor told him that he'd have to see a doctor. He was a happy guy, said "thanks" and left. The rest of us had the hebbee geebees the rest of the day plus a really good laugh.