Terminal Disease

My mother has had some beautiful hardy fuchsias in her garden for about 10 years.  This year they have come under attack from the fuchsia gall mite - Aculops fuchsiae. The mite is only 0.25 mm so is too small to be blippable.

The mite infests new growth where they suck sap and at the same time they secrete chemicals that cause abnormal development of leaves and flowers. The result is that instead of producing showy flowers (as in my 'extra'), the terminal bud develops into a disorganised mass (gall) as in my main blip. Side buds and individual leaves are also affected.

The disease arrived in mainland Britain (Hampshire) in 2007 and has since spread to all south coast counties and some inland as well.