Acanthus

bouicca21

I have a big stand of acanthus.  It clearly loves my garden - except that this year it looks a little worse for wear and something has been eating the leaves.  I assume it’s caterpillars.  I wonder if I should have been feeding it.

The flowers have made seed heads - do I cut them down?  Do I cut down the stems withe leaves that have been eaten?  The new growth is looking healthy, but do I need to do something to deter the next crop of caterpillars?

The stinking iris is also looking worse for wear - should I be feeding that or maybe cutting out the yellowing leaves.  Up until now both have thrived on benign neglect.

twopenny

Has it been very hot and dry in your area?

Acanthus is very hardy but specific caterpillars like it. Have you checked the underside of the leaves for butterfly/moth eggs?

You can cut the ragged leaves off if it's annoying you but it won't make a difference to the original perpetrator

Stinking Iris you can't kill. But I've had some years when mine looked unsightly but comes back with rain and cooler weather.

Neither really need feeding. I'm wondering if it's the time of year, a lot of my plants are looking dire at the moment because it's dry and still hot - then cold nights. In August it was cold and wet.  They honestly don't know what to do with themselves.

Given a mild wet October things should straighten themselves out.