Skidamarink my vinca's sick

Wee Sing a sad patio song this evening. What is wrong with my vinca minor aka creeping myrtle on the hottest day of the summer? I sing a warped horticultural "Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink". Wee Sing audio cassettes, songbooks, and children's video cassettes in early Betamax format burned that song forever on my memory when my sons were little.

Myrtle is sick! Nothing ever bothers creeping myrtle. It's always been the most dependable of ground covers. True, this has been an odd weather year in the Dallas area. We had lots of rain in early summer, and were slow to heat to our normal uninhabitable Easy Bake Oven daily temps.

I chopped back the creeping myrtle in late June when it threatened to take over the entire patio. I do that every summer, usually two or three times. It didn't show signs of blight in the cool, wet weather. Why are the leaves folded and brown now? The leaves look like they've been carefully folded over and sealed with a white substance to form a pouch. When I pull open the browning leaves, I find lots of tiny, dry, black particles that look like poppy seeds. They don't look like eggs, don't move, and aren't fuzzy or moldy in appearance.







Please comment if you know what is wrong. Myrtle'll love you!

Skidamarink a dink a dink
Skidamarink a dink a do, I love you
Skidamarink a dink a dink
Skidamarink a dink a do, I love you
I love you in the morning and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon.
Oh, Skidamarink a dink a dink
Skidamarink a dink a do, I love you!

© 2007 Nancy L. Ruder