Need images of the flies, the plant damage, the ooze and more. Doubt horse flies are the problem.

To post images, see this
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0513322013993.html?14

Here is a link that might be useful: how to post images

Hi jean
since I posted I've done some research. They are blow flies.
There's nothing wrong with the shrub per se...it's not really damaged...just had some leaf issues that I'm sure are transient because it's produced new healthy growth.

What I did learn is that there are some plants that flies are attracted to because of the smell and it seems that this must be the case, because there are literally thousands of blow flies around it (most caught on fly paper by now) and on the soil under it staggering around.
This is not the case with any other plant in my garden.

Blow flies are usually attracted to rotting flesh and feces, but in their absence can be attracted to decaying plant matter as well. There are certain flowers (not sure if virbunum's is one of them) that smell like rotting meat that attract them.
Since they are attracted to dark damp places to lay their eggs and since this shrub was so dense, and the soil under it stayed damp, I guess they were drawn to it as a breeding ground.
It's so gross. I just finished spraying it with pyrethin and
will probably get rid of it entirely.

wow...I just found this forum at Tree World titled Virburnum tinus offensive smell...
http://www.treeworld.info/f2/viburnum-tinus-offensive-smell-13288.html
Evidently it's the leaf itself...when broken smells like poop...and that's just what blow flies are attracted to.
I am getting rid of it immediately...as soon as the last fly dies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virburnum Tinus offensive smell

Quote from the Tree World Forum...

"As far as not noticing Stinking Viburnum - crush a leaf from every specimen you see - sooner or later you will notice! Odoratissimum smells like a mix of pepper and poop - and apparently tinus flowers reek just before they finish flowering - to attract flies."

Isn't that something? that's why I have all those flies....

Entire hedges of Viburnum tinus are planted frequently in my area and I've yet to see any of them innundated with flies of any kind. I agree that the flowers can smell pretty musty as they mature but nothing that would be considered 'reeking'. As to 'stinking viburnum' as a common name for V. odoratissimum, it is referred to as "sweet viburnum" by other authors: "Tiny white flowers are held in great panicles in spring and are pleasingly fragrant." At this time of year in your zone I'd be very surprised to encounter a viburnum with any remaining flowers to attract any of these flies. I'd suspect their presence, if truly blow flies, is due to something else - an organic fertilzer source, animal wastes in the pot, etc. Blow flies are typically rather inactive at this time of year in cold winter climates.

I'd also be surprised that it is V. tinus you are growing, as it would not be fully hardy in your climate in the ground, let alone in an exposed, rooftop container. Ditto V. odoratissimum.

FWIW, common boxwood or Sabin junipers grown in full sun have a far reaching noxious aroma reminiscent of cat pee that needs no leaf crushing to pervade your senses :-) They are mistakably unpleasant and offensive, whereas the viburnums can easily pass unnoticed.

Neither V. tinus or V. ordoratissimum are deciduous or hardy in your zone. As for other viburnums, if excessive blowfly populations were a common feature, there would be more written about it and fewer viburnums sold. Some viburnum flowers are among the most pleasantly scented of temperate flowering shrubs.
As for blowflies, they need lots of protein. Their larvae (carrion maggots) need lots of protein. There is always lots of protein somewhere so they won't hang around a shrub in huge numbers unless there is also lots of protein. Have you checked thoroughly for dead animals or lots of feces? Can you smell anything? If there are lots of blowflies, you should be able to smell SOMETHING?

I never noticed that it smelled bad. I never crushed the leaf to give it the smell test. And to tell you the truth I never noticed the flies around it anymore than any other plant until I started to remove the yellowed foliage yesterday. Then it was like a horror movie.
In fact previously, I thought the flies might come from under the deck where it was dark and leaves and some dirt collected.

What I am surmising is that the leaves...not the flower..because it never flowered...which in August started to curl and crack a bit and look like they were drying up.... must have emitted an odor that attracted blow flies that were in the vicinity.
The fact that the shrub was so dense, and was kept more or less moist by a drip watering system and our unusually warm humid fall weather must have made a convenient breeding ground because they were all over the soil too. No other plant has them.

I did use an organic fertilizer this summer that smelled bad...maybe that's when it all started.

just found out the shrub is an allegheny viburnum.

For the record Laurustinus with a mildew infestation are quite malodorous, smelling strongly of cats.

you complain of no flowering..then you imply you pruned it heavily ...

you are aware.. that most flowering shrubs 'set' flower buds late in the summer.. for next years bloom ... are you not??? ... i dont want to go into a discourse on such.. if you know this ...

i gotta tell you.. i have done some weird things with struggling plants.. but i never put one on the roof.. what is that all about???

do you have cats on your roof.. and are you 100% sure.. they are not using the pot for their personal issues???

did you mean to say.. you picked or cut every leaf off it??? isnt it deciduous in your z6????

ken

Hi Ken
Yes I am aware of plants setting bloom for the following season.

It's about a roof garden. I live on the top floor of a loft bldg. in NYC. I wish I had a yard but I only have a roof.
I only pruned it a few days ago when I noticed so many flies around and 90% of the leaves were yellow with brown spots and would come off easily if you touched them.

No cats KEn...just dogs...and they don't go in the plants..there is a special area for them to do their business and everything is picked up and hosed down immediately. I'm a neat freak.

Not sure if it's deciduous or not..but it wasn't necessary to pick off every leaf. You could shake a branch or run your hand along it and they would fall off.

I've already disposed of the shrub. There were flies all over the soil as well. I think this all started when I used a fertilizer that probably had manure in it as I do remember it smelled bad. That combined with the unnaturally warm weather we are having...high 60's and really humid...
and density of the shrub must have contributed to the blow flies breeding in it.
When I did cut branches from it flies would congregate at the cut site...mobs of them...so it is something to do with the shrub itself as well. Anyway it's gone now.

If you would like to see pictures of my roof garden, you can see them at the link provided.
Thanks everyone for your input.

Here is a link that might be useful: MY ROOF GARDEN

Lovely rooftop garden! What a sanctuary in the city with fruit, trees, and flowers. I really like the wooden planters that you have.

nhbabs...thanks!
It is my sanctuary. Don't know how I could live here without it. Lots of work though.
The planters are wonderful, sturdy and reasonably priced considering what cedar planters usually cost. I've included a link to them below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cedar Planters

OMG Viburnum tinus! I hadn't thought of that plant since I left South Carolina. I can't tell you how many times I heard the complaint, "there's something dead in those shrubs". Especially in the summer, when the heat would really make the foliage reek. It's the foliage, not the flowers that smell so bad.

Whenever I heard that complaint, I knew it was either a V. tinus or a stinkhorn fungus. Or really something dead, lol.

well ... ya gotta like a gardener.... who knows when to chuck a plant.. and not look back.. i guess you solved this problem in its entirety .. AND!!! .. w/o chemicals.. lol ..

and i appreciate you understood my sense of humor..

your roof top jungle is awesome... God's work, if you will

ken

That looks real nice!
No deer and rabbit problems, I assume. ;-)
Mike

What a cool garden!

thanks everybody.
Hi rhizo...yeah I thought it was the leaves too since it never even flowered.
Ken, as for chucking plants...I think it was jean (was it you jean?) who taught me that lesson last year when my sand cherry prunus started to die....after over 20 years...and
she suggested I chuck it...I had a fit...but you do know I finally did chuck it.

Roof gardening is a lot of work...between keeping roots trimmed back because there's only so much you can up pot...
and keeping the deck and planters in condition every season .... if I would have known before how much work it would be I'm not sure if I would have done it. But being that it's been done...I have no choice but to view it as a labor of love....and I do love it.
BTW...nary a fly as been seen since I got rid of the viburnim.