What's eating my garden verbena?

Garden verbena is particularly prone to spider mites (often the worst pest in warm, dry conditions) and aphids. Powdery mildew is a disease concern but thrips and whitefly also cause damage. Slugs attack young plants. Rabbits and deer may browse stems. Spider mites are the leading pest threat in most climates.

Leaves turn yellow-bronze with fine pale stippling; webbing under foliage; plants look scorched and decline rapidly in heat Spray undersides of leaves with neem oil, insecticidal soap, or miticide; mist to raise humidity; remove badly affected stems; rotate miticides to avoid resistance

Colonies on shoot tips and flower buds; sticky honeydew, sooty mould, and distorted or stunted flowers Water blast or insecticidal soap; pinch out infested tips; attract or release beneficial insects such as lacewings

Silver-white streaking on leaves and petals; distorted buds; tiny black frass deposits on foliage Remove damaged flowers; apply spinosad-based spray; blue sticky traps for monitoring adult populations

Dense white insects on leaf undersides; yellowing foliage; clouds of whitefly rise when plant is touched Yellow sticky traps; insecticidal soap or pyrethrin spray; Encarsia formosa biological control in protected cultivation