both my aquilegia plants have no leaves at all and very few flowers. i have been reading about sawfly which I suspect is responsible but have not found any grubs,larvae etc. having said that I didn’t look for any before today. should I dig the plants up and throw them away and buy new ones or can they recover. They are only small plants. Thank you
This is fairly common. I’ve lived through this problem. Don’t rip them out, they will bounce back. You could spray them with insecticidal soap (not dish soap but actual insecticidal soap) to kill any leftover bugs and then feed them with some Jack’s Blossom Booster or Miracle Gro (Jack’s is the superior option) to help them along. The insects go through a quick cycle and then are gone for the year so, once the columbine bounce back, they should be fine for the rest of the season.