Sad Daphne

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by soccerdad, May 13, 2020.

  1. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    I have a mature daphne that has never shown any signs of disease or distress but in the last four or five days about 25% of its leaves have turned yellow as shown in this photo. Any suggestions would be much welcome.

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  2. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I just went out (in the incessant pouring rain!) to check my Daphne odora. It has lots of older leaves turning yellow so I hope that yours, like mine, is experiencing normal leaf senescence. New leaves are starting to grow to replace them.
     
  3. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Hi @soccerdad, I've grown Daphne odora for over 25 years now and it does this after flowering every year in May. I always give it a slow release feed after flowering that's all and each year in February it flowers well with lovely scent.
    So nothing to worry about, it's what they do.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Except shoot shown is defoliating right up to the base of new growth, with other shoots around it not doing likewise.
     
  5. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Hi @Ron B, just took a photo of one of my Daphne odora after the leaves have fallen with new leaf growth. I only have a couple of the yellow leaves left underneath to show, as my wife tidies up any leaf drop. There are always a 'lot' under this shrub in Spring.
    I really do bow to your greater wisdom in the plant world, but just saw a very familiar looking photo of @soccerdad shrub.
    If I can add any advice is that I always ensure that mine have constant moist roots but 'never ever' very wet. So this maybe something to be addressed, if there has been too much watering on top of a very wet Spring.
    Hope that is of help.
     

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  6. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    I am troubled by a couple of things. One is that this developed more rapidly that I am used to seeing when some of a plant's leaves yellow and the other is that I have never before seen leaves that have yellowed except for spots which remain green - I assume that the entire leaf will become yellow but this is an unusual stage to go through. As for the water... here in Vancouver it rains a lot and this plant has always tolerated it in the past.
     
  7. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @soccerdad, Hi again, for a quick pick me up after a 'very wet Spring', we have given our Daphne odora's a feed of seaweed, liquid form.
    I have to say again that your photos are identical to what happens to ours 'every year' and new leaves form to replace the lost ones.
    One last thing, we do trim all of ours immediatly after they finish flowering to keep them compact and healthy. We still have the same shrubs from 25 years ago and our children and neighbours have Daphne odora's from the cuttings from ours, all of which drop a lot of yellowing leaves after they finish flowering.
    Do hope this has helped you.
     
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  8. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks everybody. Whther this is an abnormaliy or not, it seems that I just need to await developments.
     

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