You put about 10 times more effort into your planting than I do. Your plants should be fine.

Some hosta bloom later than others.

Indeed. I have some that have bloomed already and others that won't bloom for 2-3 months. They each flower in their own time.

Your planting depth might be a bit suspect.
Hostas should be planted with the crown at ground level. If you planted 1-2" higher than the soil, as that wonderfully amended soil settles, it will go down and expose even more of the crown and roots. USUALLY, hostas in the nursery pots are planted at the correct depth. So, planting at the same depth as the nursery did is USUALLY a good practice.

If slugs are an issue in your area, I'd pull the mulch back to just inside the drip line. Those pesky buggers hide under the mulch.

Incidentally, I'm dealing with a new bed right now that was lots of clay. I just amended it last night and will be planting in it today (hopefully). Hopefully, our beds will be wonderful for our babies!

They're going to do great. They probably won't grow a lot this year or next one or two, but after that you should really start to see growth and developing maturity.

I think the 2" of mulch will make up the difference between where the hostas are planted and ground level. I actually do mine at ground level, then build a 'dam' around them to hold water in when I water and mulch out, but I'm thinking the way that they've done it should work well too.

at transplant.. some hosta .. might not bloom the first year ... so what... in fact.. i often truncate the flowers the first year.. just to avoid spending the energy of flowers ...

fire and ice.. is one of the top 3 plants that fail wildly ... i have lost about 10 of them .. if you have trouble with them.. it is not your fault.. just too much white tissue for long term survival ... others dont seem to have a problem with it ...

van wade says to plant a 5 dollar hosta in a 10 dollar hole.. sounds like you made some 20 dollar holes.. lol ... just make sure you stop fertilizing by late july .. we want the crowns to harden off by first frost.. not be growing wildly when the cold weather starts ..

other than that.. just read a couple pages of posts.. and you should find all kinds of tidbits on growing hosta.. and check the FAQ's

welcome to our circle of enablers

ken

Im liking all of the input already, thanks so much! The reason i planted the hostas higher, as well as my other shrubs, is two fold. One reason is because they will settle some in time and they will ultimately be at ground level, if i had planted them at ground level they would eventually be slightly below ground level which brings up point number two. I really didnt want a "bath tub effect" with my shrubs/hostas. I saw it happen with a pear tree we planted and it ultimately killed the pear tree in no time. By amending the soil too much and not adding enough native soil (clay soil here) all the water starts to pool in the nice, airy soil you created and it starts to cause root rot. By raising them up im not creating a pool for them to swim in.

I did cedar mulch and apparently a lot of bugs dont care for it, does that hold true for slugs too?

I use cedar mulch and the slugs still find the hostas. Haven't had them too badly here yet, but this is only our third season in this house.

Hi-

Don't let Ken scare you regarding Fire and Ice. I got a one-eyed little plant in 2001, and here it is today, doing very nicely in a 2 gal pot. See the pen hiding in the leaves for size. I, however, lost a couple Patriots before I got one that is doing well.

You are off to are really fine start with your selections.

-Babka

{{gwi:544443}}

Regarding Fire and Ice, If if looks like it is deminishing, you might move it into more sun! Mary

Well i took some pics today of some of the hostas. Enjoy :)

Fire and Ice

Christmas Tree

Paul's Glory

I would agree that Fire and Ice does better with some sun. Probably to make up for the loss of chlorophyll from the varigation.