{"id":20604,"date":"2022-08-26T13:59:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T17:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=20604"},"modified":"2022-08-26T14:00:36","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T18:00:36","slug":"are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/","title":{"rendered":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/h3>\n

I have a happy, healthy bed of annual flowers- cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, zinnias, verbena. I moved a wooden plank into the garden to create a border for the bed. I noticed there were small ants in the board. Since then, my annuals have been wilting and dying and the base of the stem of them is girdled. Are the ants responsible for this? Why do ants do this? What could be another explanation? Also, it\u2019s not all the annual plants that are dying, only one at a time. As soon as one dies, it seems they love on to the next.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n
Donna R. Coffin,\u00a0 Extension Professor<\/em><\/div>\n

Several of us have been looking at them and it appears there may be a couple of things happening. Drought stress and a leaf disease. The stress of the drought can make plants more susceptible to disease. Pulling up the affected plants and disposing of them at the landfill will help reduce the inoculum of the disease. Incorporating more organic matter in the soil and using mulch and supplemental watering could help next year’s garden. We do not think the ants have caused the problem, but the few you have observed may be using these plants as a source for moisture.<\/p>\n

Hopefully your garden got a little of the rain that has been falling in the state the past few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I have a happy, healthy bed of annual flowers- cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, zinnias, verbena. I moved a wooden plank into the garden to create a border for the bed. I noticed there were small ants in the board. Since then, my annuals have been wilting and dying and the base of the stem of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-pests"],"yoast_head":"\nAre ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I have a happy, healthy bed of annual flowers- cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, zinnias, verbena. I moved a wooden plank into the garden to create a border for the bed. I noticed there were small ants in the board. Since then, my annuals have been wilting and dying and the base of the stem of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\"},\"wordCount\":240,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\",\"name\":\"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\",\"name\":\"twood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"twood\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: I have a happy, healthy bed of annual flowers- cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, zinnias, verbena. I moved a wooden plank into the garden to create a border for the bed. I noticed there were small ants in the board. Since then, my annuals have been wilting and dying and the base of the stem of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00","author":"twood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"twood","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying?","datePublished":"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/"},"wordCount":240,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/","name":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-26T17:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-26T18:00:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/26\/are-ants-responsible-for-annual-flowers-that-are-dying\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are ants responsible for annual flowers that are dying?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518","name":"twood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"twood"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":199,"label":"Ask the Expert"},{"value":204,"label":"Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"twood","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":199,"name":"Ask the Expert","slug":"ask","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":199,"taxonomy":"category","description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","parent":0,"count":652,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":652,"category_description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","cat_name":"Ask the Expert","category_nicename":"ask","category_parent":0},{"term_id":204,"name":"Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests","slug":"pests","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":204,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":196,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":204,"category_count":196,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests","category_nicename":"pests","category_parent":199}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20604"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20607,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604\/revisions\/20607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}