doesnt the disease aster yellows.. do more than make the plant yellow .. some weirdo disfigurations ???

i dont see such in that pic .. am i missing it

what i see .. is a plant that looks heavily stressed due to heat .... drought.. or both ..

ken

Phlox can also get Phlox Bugs, a tiny orange sucking insect that can cause mottled and curled leaves. They're bigger than aphids but still hard to see unless you look for them. They scurry around and will hide under the leaves or drop to the ground when you touch the plants.

Phlox bugs overwinter in the egg stage in dead phlox stems so if you do have them, cut back the foliage this fall and put it in the garbage, then hopefully the problem won't return next year. That's my plan. I've been squishing and have sprayed a couple times with some kind of organic stuff but I'm still finding a few.

I thought my phlox just had frost damage this spring so I didn't catch the problem very early. I have one patch that looks awful and not blooming like my others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox Bugs

@ Ken, you're right, AY causes odd looking blossoms on coneflowers, and leaf disfigurement too, but I wasn't sure if it acts the same way in other plants as well. I have a couple of possibilities now anyway and that's what is so great about the forums

Christie, thanks for the link too, I'll be inspecting!

Deb