A Little Change

I moved my beds of Feverfew, Golden Marguerite, and Sweet Marjoram today. Here is where they used to be (the dirt piles on either side of the Spanish Lavenders are where the drains were in the beds), out on an uncovered part of the patio:

And they are now here, which is against the wall that is under my bedroom window and mostly in the shade:

They used to be out in the sun most of the day (a little less now as we're approaching autumn (just 5 weeks to go!) but still a lot of sun) and I think that may be the cause of this:

That is a leaf of a Golden Marguerite plant that had bronzed around the edges and then shriveled up. Weeks ago, I noticed the same thing on my French Marigold leaves, and I moved them to partial sun. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone away for good, but it's not as bad as it was before (I removed almost all the leaves that had the bronzing):

(sorry for the flash)

At first I thought it was iron toxicity, which is caused by a drop in pH. But I bought a pH tester, and it's at optimum levels for the plants - barely acidic.

Now, I'm wondering if it's some kind of sunburn (ouch, my face is dealing with me being sensitive to sun right now and out for over an hour in the sun yesterday with no sunscreen). At first, that didn't make any sense, because the leaves on top weren't affected. But then I wondered if the sun had some help.

I am not the most careful waterer. I soak the soil, and if the plants get splashed, well, it will dry, and besides, the leaves look pretty when wet. But now I'm wondering if the water on the leaves is working like a magnifying glass and burning them. It's not a perfect explanation by any means, and I'm not sure it's even possible for that to happen to the leaves because of the water and sun, but now it's a bit of an experiment. I have my hypothesis, and now I'm testing a single variable to see if that is the cause. Even if it isn't, I don't care so much as I just want my plants to be healthy.

-Sami

P.S. Here is a plant that is not mine, but lives in my backyard. This is my parents' ficus (what exact species it is, I do not know). It's pretty much the only plant my mom has been able to keep alive for a significant amount of time (although that's not quite true because she has her African Violets as well) - and significant it is. They got this plant around the time they were married, so they've had it, and raised it for about 20 years.

I'm becoming rather attached to the genus Ficus (fig trees) nowadays because sometime this year, I am going to attempt to begin to raise a bonsai tree, and I would like to raise Ficus religiosa, or a Sacred Fig. Just a little more research and then I'll begin, and, of course, I'll chronicle it here.

ETA: The ficus is a Weeping Fig, Ficus benjamina.