What's eating my old-fashioned weigela?

Old-fashioned weigela attracts aphids to its soft spring growth and is susceptible to black vine weevil notching along leaf edges. Four-lined plant bugs cause distinctive brown lesions in early summer. In deer-populated gardens, weigela is a preferred browse target, and rabbits will strip young stems in winter.

Dense colonies on shoot tips; sticky honeydew; curling new leaves; sooty mold Knock off with a water jet; insecticidal soap; plant nearby alyssum or fennel to attract aphid predators

Round, angular, or sunken brown spots across leaves; stippled appearance; worst in early summer Remove egg-bearing stems in autumn; hand-pick adults and nymphs; apply pyrethrin spray early in nymph stage

U-shaped notches along leaf margins from adult night feeding; root damage in container-grown plants Apply nematodes (Steinernema kraussei) to soil in late summer; use vine weevil barriers on pot rims

Torn stems and browsed flower buds, particularly in late winter when bloom buds are forming Apply deer repellent spray; use motion-activated sprinklers; fence young specimens in high-pressure gardens