I don't know if that's what my Jack Frosts get every year but if you're talking about the dark brown leaf discoloration, I've had the same plants growing in the same bed with the same other plants for 4+ years and nothing else has been affected. It's my shade bed and things are squeezed together pretty tight. Hopefully someone with more scientific/botanical smarts will comment so we can both learn something.

the hosta???

or some other mysterious plant you refuse to tell us about..

or maybe the metasequoia ... dawn redwood???

come on kent.. what plant are you referring to??

ken

'Jack Frost' Brunnera macrophylla is very susceptible to foliar nematodes. Other plants growing in the same bed might not ever be affected.

Of course, the brunnera "Jack Frost". Sorry, I shouldn't assume others know what I mean.

Sorry, I shouldn't assume others know what I mean.

===>>> i do it all the time ... but it severely cramps conversation .. lol ...

so the next question are they encapsulated inside the plant .. and are they the type specific to this plant ..

or are they one of the trillions of soil borne nems .... good and bad ones ..

removing nems from your garden .. is akin to removing molecules of oxygen from the air.. it aint gunna happen ...

so then if interior .. how often are you going to insult the fabric of the plant.. to somehow spread them to other plants .... and would those plants be affected ??? what if you just left it alone.. they cant leap out thru the tissue and maraud around your garden ...

did you know .. that a vast majority of variegated plants.. are actually infected with things.. that cause the variegation [the coffee just hit me like a mack truck .. lol.. i am blanking out.. ] ... with virus i think ... which are specific to the plant.. and of no harm to anything else .. if so .. should you remove all variegated plants from your garden.. probably not ... [yeah probably some exaggeration in there .. lol] ...

its a nice thing to contemplate.. while playing with your belly button .. but i doubt it requires any action on your part ...

or just get rid of it.. if its going to drive you insane .. a pic would allow my opinion if i would put up with it ... if you care what i think ...

ken

I found out two years ago that this expensive plant is prone to foliar nematodes. I haven't ripped them out, since I do like the brightness they add to shady spots, but I rip off any affected leaves. Maybe it will help, maybe it won't, but it makes me feel better for the moment. :) And Ken is right, you can't rid your garden of them, and many plants are hosts, so I've learned to live with them.

Next spring I am going to try Bayer Tree and Shrub control which contains Merit. The Merit may help control the nematodes as well as the black vine weevils on my tiarellas.