Melissa,
Test your theory by putting "Bridegroom" or "Little Stiffy" in that spot..

Or Lancifolia. Any possibility that this spot drains poorly? Here in NE I would be guessing that there was a very large boulder under there that prevents good drainage.

Steve

Dig. Then dig deeper. Either the problem will reveal itself, or you will find yourself in China, having saved thousands of dollars in airfare.

Melissa, I sort of have the same deal. I have an entire raised bed that was filled in with rich black dirt from what must have been a farm. It's been there for 20 years and between the herbicides that were in it and the fact that is is too dry, every hosta I put in it dies. I just planted 4 large 'Gold Standards' in it to see if just maybe they would be tough enough to make it. 3 Sea Fires bit the dust there last year and before that 3 Sum & Substance.

Sally,

If it's a whole bed, then get a soil test. You never know what they were trying to grow there previously. If they were growing Blueberries, the pH might be 4.5. In any case a soil test is cheap and often gives the answer.

Steve

Always the possibility that someone used a weed killer in that spot that sterilized the soil--like one that is used on driveways to prevent regrowth for a long time. Years. Or salt. That stays in the soil forever. Sometimes people use it where they don't want anything to regrow, like under a fencerow. Works, too.

Sandy

I have such an area. Whatever I put there looks like getting crown rot. I just potted a shrunk h. 'Amazing Grace' from there. Then I dug out a hole there and filled a low part at the fence with it, will fill it with leaf mold and bought top soil and plant new with something I have duplicates of, do not dare the new h. 'George Smith'.
An h. 'Earth Angel' responded well after dousing it with a Bonide fungicide.
Bernd

Checking pH would always be a good start. It can tell you a lot, is easy to do, and inexpensive. I'd bought a small insertion probe pH meter for potted plants that you just stick in the soil and read. Not lab. quality but good enough for our purposes.

As gruesome as it may sound, someone may have buried a small animal, like a rabbit, there and doused the dickens out of the "grave-site" with lime for example. It doesn't make a difference what caused it though. If you want a hosta there you might have to neutralize the soil or replace it. Or plant something there that thrives in soil with that pH.

I think my pH meter cost me less than $10 and uses no batteries. I even use it to quick check my aquariums pH. I tested it against litmus strips and it is consistantly within +/- 1 tenth (i.e. a litmus tested pH of 6.8 will consistantly read between 6.7 - 6.9 which is good enough for keeping fish and hostas).

Les