Slugs and the heat it what it looks like to me.

lack of sufficient water ... causing scorch ... which is dessication or drying of white tissue at first.. but when extreme.. the whole leaf.. you are nearing summer dormancy .. if water is not increased .... the whole plant will desiccate and go dormant in the extreme ... though really.. you arent that close ... in this pic though ...

if you look close.. the bugs are only attacking the scorched leaves.. not the intact leaves..

the last pic is not a hosta .... lol ...

and yes .. you have enough plants there to cover most of your backyard .... but that is not the root of your problem ... there is a link at the library front page on dividing hosta ...

and finally.. if you want to present them better.. they should be about 2 feet further from the deck.. so the whole mound has space to present itself.. rather than being jammed against a wall ...

oh.. also.. looks like some of the damage might be weedwhip or lawnmower damage ...

i dont see damage like the glad on the hosta ..

if you cant find a bug in daylight.. go out there at night.. and see whats going on ... as late as possible ....

ken

I agree. Probably also a lack of water (although I do see a drain pipe), fert and likely poor soil.

No HVX here.

Steve

He said the last one was a gladiolus and not a Hosta.

Oh, good! I'm glad that they are not going to totally die out on me :) I will admit that they could probably use better watering... My hubby does it after work and I'm not sure how thorough he is :) Plus we've been gone for two weeks (not straight through) when it has been just about the hottest here.

I have read the division info, so I will be getting my shovel and masking tape ready for later in August!

Any guess what might be eating the gladiolus? I'm going to go bug hunting tonight and see if I find any suspects.

THANKS!!! - Rachel

My glads look the same and I found slug slime trails on them. Poisoned for slugs and haven't had many new holes.

you know.. with the undulatas... you can simply dig up a clump.. and ax it in half.. and then have two ...

though they may not look good for the rest of the year.. lol ...

or sharpen your shovel.. and just slice right into the center and move out half of each one ..

the link to dividing is meticulous.. and not really necessary .. if you just want a few ..

ken

Yeah, the masking tape thing is for more upright or larger hosta and it's not worth doing it that way this late in the year.

Dig 'em, ax 'em, plant 'em.

But why are you dividing them in the first place?

Melissa -
The hostas were at this house before I moved in... the pictures are from the south corner of my front porch and, as you can see, there are tons of them! On the north corner, however, there are only two little ones. I want to even them out so my front yard (which faces a busy highway) looks a little more balanced. They just look so crowded there and since they are big, I figured it wouldn't hurt to divide them to put more at the other end of the porch.

Plus, like Ken pointed out, they're really too close to the edge of the porch to really flush out all nice and round, so I want to pull them out a little further and let them "breathe."

Thanks for the suggestions on the easy division method... hostas are starting to be my 'thing,' but my knowledge level is pretty limited :)

You all are so very helpful and friendly! Thanks so much
- Rachel

I had undulatas at my old house and they went to hell very early! Rachel, we are in the same zone and I can honestly tell you that the HEAT is a terrible factor this summer.

It's funny that Steve mentions a drain pipe in the pic. Steve, it might make a difference if we had anything coming through it in the last 2 months!

chris

Yeah, we have a favorite term here in the forum:
undulata uglies
or
August uglies

Rachel, this might be a good time to visit local retailers and look for sales on hostas with multi-eyes that could be divided before planting. If you are getting "hooked" on hostas this would be the "hood-set". Adding hostas with more character would look soooooo much nicer and you shouldn't have to spend tons of money. I bought a Blue Angel that way 2 years ago for $8.95, divided it, and now have 3 gorgeous 40 inch diameter plants. You do the math!

I agree about water, and this year, if you have a rainbarrel it is a good year to clean them out. There's nothing in them.

Les