Look for insect damage in the stem close to the bloom. That comment about leaves being stuck to it kinda sounds like leafrollers, but the scale is too large sounding.

I inspected them for insect damage and could not find any thing apparent. One of the buds had a small brown line about 1/2 inch long along the stem just below the bud. I did find a couple of leaf rollers on this plant, but not in conjunction with these buds.

However, when we tried to bend the buds to look underneath, they readily broke off the stem. To me, this could indicate some stem damage, but we could not see any with the naked eye.

Since it was only 3 out of about 17 buds, is there any reason to be concerned?

Holly Springs, many thanks for your input.

Best Wishes,

Tom

Tom, *stiffly* bent necks are just an accident of development that happens sometime, not a problem. *Limp* necks in the morning indicate a shortage of moisture, often from some mechanical damage like boring insects in the upper stem, the underlying cane being cracked at its attachment, etc. Are the affected buds on the same underlying cane? If so, inspect it all the way down.