I received a corkscrew this spring as a gift. I planted it in a sheltered spot where it gets good but not excessive sun, watered regularly and has good air circulation around it. It is about 4' high and lovely and bushy (screwy). About 4 weeks ago the leaves started looking dry and rusty. Eventually all of the leaves on the shrub have turned rusty and look pretty much dead. However at the base of every leaf is at least one new bud or catkin developing - looking very healthy. The bark and branches are really healthy and show no signs of scale or disease. I am tempted to just take the leaves off and leave it with just the buds - but I would like to know what caused this problem and how to avoid it next year.
Don't remove leaves where there are catkins because they still might be getting some nutrition from them unless they're totally crispy.
