What's eating my field scabious?

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) is a meadow wildflower attractive to pollinators and occasionally to aphids and caterpillars. Powdery mildew can disfigure foliage in dry summers, but this is a disease rather than a pest. Rabbits readily graze young plants, and slugs damage seedlings. Generally low-maintenance in the right soil.

Colonies on flower stems and leaf bases cause sticky honeydew and slight stunting of flower heads. Encourage natural predators; spray with insecticidal soap if colonies build up before flowering.

Young rosette leaves eaten and seedlings severed at soil level, especially in spring. Use iron phosphate pellets around seedlings; let soil dry slightly between watering to reduce slug habitat.

Entire young plants grazed to the ground; clean angled cuts on stems are the tell-tale sign. Protect with wire mesh in rabbit-prone areas; mass plantings in a meadow are harder to decimate.