Question
I have noticed that there are ants crawling in and out of my stella do'oro flowers.  The flowers seem to to wither before the day is out.  It looks like they are being sucked dry.  Is it possible that the ants are harming the flowers?  If so, what can I do to prevent/stop this problem.

Answer
Hi Linda,
Thanx for your question.  The ants aren't sucking anything out of the flowers but there may be aphids that are.  Ants typically will "herd" aphids and protect them from predators because aphids eliminate "honey dew" which is excrement produced from sucking fluids out of plants.  Therein probably lies your problem.  Use a horticultural soap which you can find at your local DIY or nursery.  I hope this helps.  By the way, day lily flowers are supposed to wither by days end hence the name "day lily".

Tom