I have had really good luck with Lakeside Baby Face,
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Dixie Chick,
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Baby Bunting
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and Green with Envy.

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Lakeside Baby Face would be neat with my Lakeside Little Gem, and I really like Green With Envy too.

I like giving them a "display" - here are three of my constructions...

the biggest issues with minis ... are:

planting depth.. you cant plant something that is 2 inches high.. an inch too deep ...

and winter dessication ... usually caused by heave ... see also thaw below

solve those 2 issues.. and otherwise.. they are just hosta ... they could probably grow in the cracks in the driveway ...

the other problem is that since the roots are so shallow .... even on the coldest of days... barring snow cover.. the first inch of soil can thaw in late winter ... and that can be a problem in the great white north .... so you have to insure they stay dormant until a bit later than giants ...

nice boxes idiot [or is it idio-the???] .... where are you ... wish it were in the info... obviously your zone is not a problem with such ....

ken

ps: soil may also be an issue... puffy, fluffy soil up north MIGHT lead to heave... alpine growers grow in scree which is small stone.. and you might want something in between ...

I have several mini's in barrels and have been happy with the results:

clockwise starting at 12: Teeny Weeny Bikini, Country Mouse, BME, Chartreuse Wiggles. (Disrecard Cracker Crumbs rock, my grandson moved it there!)

12 o'clock Fantasy Island, Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Unknown, Chartreuse Wiggles and center, Baby Bunting

Queenie

Critter question.....you leave them in the barrel through the winter right? Do you do anything special with them?

idiothe-love your setup, really showcases them

I would love to have a special spot for mini's as well. Love those little guys.

Kim

Oh my goodness all the gardens are marvelous! I love the little mini's.... darling! Where in the world do you find all the little accessories? I have a mini hosta garden which now looks... boring! You have all given new ideas. I would never have thought to add all the little things to give such a dramatic look and new meaning to mini gardening. Just proves what a great place this forum is....all the sharing and brainstorming that goes on here.

becky

I find some of the mini accessories at craft stores in the dollhouse section. Some I have bought online while others I bought at a nursery in the area that specializes in fairy gardens. I also make them in containers with plants other that hosta (gasp, not on the hosta forum) like sedums.
Jen

I do not do anything special with the mini's in barrels for the winter. Any leaves that fall on them stay in place until early spring.

Queenie

Jen, those are soooo cute! So many cute ideas.
Pam

I love the ideas for the raised beds. I have never thought of taking the raised beds and twisting like that.

I love it!
I am working on assembling a mini garden myself

ptilda, it looks like you're in zone 3/4. I'm zone 4 and I don't have an issue with heaving but I put shredded leaves on all my perennials in late fall.
My daughter gave me a little resin troll/fairy door that I nailed to the base of an oak tree. I have 5 diff Mouse Ears near that door and a mini path from the door thru the M.Ears.
I had good luck with all the minis I've planted which is about 15. Full sun for 2 hrs around noon. Make sure you amend your soil with something like shredded leaves to help retain moisture.
Peggy

wow, Peggy... glad I went back and reread your post... initially what I read was "My daughter gave me a little resin troll/fairy... that I nailed to the base of an oak tree." NOT a pleasant image!

Sorry, Ken... I didn't notice the zone thing when I signed up... I used to be on this forum but I've been gone for a couple of years so I just created a new ID. What I put in for my ID was Idiot He (not to be confused with my DW, Idiot She).

We're in zone 4, Minnesota. The frost heave you mentioned can be a problem, especially with first year plants. After that they seem to settle in just fine. (not so with Heucheras, which just seem to leap out of the ground unpredictably each spring...)

I toss leaves over these beds, either in drifts or as I think you suggested in another post, I just put the bags of leaves right on the beds... which saves time in the spring and keeps them available for mulching other beds...

Welcome back, Idiot He. I was really glad to see your postings last week. Lois F.

Jen, how clever you are! I love your mini mouse garden and can just picture the potting bench and all being enjoyed by some little critter! I am going to tuck that idea away for grandchildren's enjoyment (none yet-just hoping!)

I created pockets on my rock walls for some of my minis..

you can compare the size of the mini's with the big "Sagae" in front of them but still visible with them sitting up higher on the rock walls.

Ken, My concern is mostly not loosing them! :) And I'd like them to be in a prominent spot where they will get the attention they deserve.

I LOVE the container ideas, but in my zone 3/4, I think that's too risky. Maybe a raised bed, if it's big enough.

Margo, your little mini-garden is amazing! Where is it in relation to the rest of your garden? Is it pretty obvious to visitors?

Peggy, the little door is FANTASTIC! In fact, I JUST finished (like 2 days ago) putting a frame around a 15"-high screen-door (probably used to be a sales-man's sample) that I got off of ebay & attached it to a stump. I'm looking for a resident (a Gnome, probably), but the mini hosta bed is an excellent idea! I also drilled about 8" into the top of the stump (which is about 4-feet high) and planted wave petunias in it. I'm waiting for those to trail down. The whole thing is right next to the double pond in the front yard, right outside the front door, so it will be seen by all visitors when they leave, if they miss it on the way in!

Here's a pic of the door from the ebay sale (not my pic). I'll try to take a pic of the "finished" product tomorrow. My sister says it needs a dormer, and my brother suggested a window, so we'll see...

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Here's the stump when we hollowed it out, with a gnome by it that I thought was cute, but he's too small for the door at only about 6-inches:

Peggy, do you use loose shredded leaves? Or bagged? Do you think wood mulch would do the trick if it was piled 8-10" high? What about straw? I'm not sure what will be available to me come winter, so I want to check options. I KNOW I'll have a lot of mulch, since I live less than a mile from a small-time lumber farm, and he gives me as much as I can carry out... not charge! :)

Melati, I like your rock wall idea too. In fact, I have field stone as a primary landscaping material in my yard, and there are various groundcovers planted in it. Minis would look great, but I'm always affraid that they will get lost in the rocks. So I'll probably have to wait until some more of them get bigger. I might also make a "front yard" for my Gnome (that I don't have yet!) using some of your ideas with rocks, but on a smaller scale.

I love the pics, I am planning a mini bed myself. I have "tons" of debris left over when we had to demolish our 75 foot twin silos (from the may tornado/hurricane) we had here in May in so. illiois.
I am trying to think what to do with these flatish concrete pieces. They are about 12 inches wide and 18-24 inches long, some are more squarish, but they look like stepping stones. Ugh. I am so uncreative. I don't want to use them for a pathway as I don't like that "formal" of a look.
Any ideas?

ptilda, I put a 4-6" pile of shredded leaves on each hosta. I wonder if a pile of regular mulch would be too heavy in case I didn't get around to removing it in time in the spring?
Jen, love your mini decorations! What are the green bead things in your garden? Is that the string-of-pearls plant? Peggy

Flowerchild, many years ago, my brother and I took down a silo and salvaged a lot of the blocks. My brother took a LOT of them for a retaining wall around his house (stacked them on top of each other, with the curved edge out). It looks pretty nice, even nearly 20 years later!

I took a few and made steps up the side yard, to meet the poured cement sidewalk that goes to the front door. I also hate formal looks, so I like how the steps look almost accidental. It's also easy to plant groundcovers and small plants (like hosta) in the cracks, and use rocks to break it up. You might also use them for a raised bed, with the round edges out. If you stagger them, so that one goes across 2 (centered over them... I hope this is clear), you could make a "starburst" looking bed in the middle of your yard! Hey, it's an idea.

So, I made a path for my tennant who will hopefully be moving into his stump-house soon. It winds around the empty garden space, and will be surrounded by tallish perennials next year (many have been planted this year, so the effect is wanting) except for about 3' square, where I'm going to put in rocks and get ready to plant some minis!

I know which Gnome I want to buy. He is perfect & has a wheel borrow, that I"m going to fill with little stones. There's also an old-time craft store in town that sells little figures like what Jen is showing in her garden. I want to get at least a little watering can & maybe a mini-barrel for some tools by his door. So exciting! I feel like a kid again! lol

This is a picture of the whole garden. It is an outcropping from my other garden beds. The green beads are actually mung beads that I sprayed with polyurethane.

Melati--I LOVE your idea and look of the mini's in your rock pockets!!!
Makes for a very interesting arrangement!

Jen--is 'Amazing Grace' a mini? I also LOVE your rock gardens with the mini' hardscapes!!!
Very cute!!

And 'John'--I really love your raised bed displays!! They are VERY architecturally pleasing
to my eye, in structure and the hosta choices and arrangements for them, (especially the last one)
are very nice, too!

LOL! No, Amazing Grace isn't a mini. I received a very small eye and decided to nurse it along in my mini bed. I think it's actually a Montana sport.
Jen

OK, Cut it out! I didn't care for hostas. Huh, did I say that? You all got me hooked--now I have dozens upon dozens. Didn't care for the minis and now you show me these precious gardens. "I don't need more hostas." I repeat, "I don't need more H. I don't need...."
gramma jan

Margo! I'm inspired!

I already posted these on a different thread, but they apply to this discussion too. Keep in mind, this is the mini-Hosta bed BEFORE the hostas live there.
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I can't, for the life of me, figure out why one of these pics shows up small & the others are HUGE! :(

Oh well. I'm better at gardening than I am at HTML

I love all the mini beds. You guys are all so creative! Here are some pics of mine. I put these in late last year. They are in a corner up next to the foundation of the house. They get south and some east exposure. All are doing great except Silver Threads and Golden Needles which seems kind of puny (not pictured). Maybe it's just picky. This is the first time I've planted it so have no prior experience.

These two pics cover at least half the bed, maybe a little more.

Your pictures are fantastic!
I have recently made a hosta bed in the corner of my garden, it is in the shade of an oak and a beech tree.

Can you tell me if I should put stones around the hostas to prevent slugs and to stop the soil washing up onto the leaves after heavy rain?

all of this is amazing

Great ideas and great pics. Stealing a lot of ideas from this thread.