funny you should mention that... I had more and worse like this:

and wondered if I should clean it off or not.

nice little vignette by the way. frances williams, stained glass, sum and substance?

This much I know for sure.... No matter how much time I devote to spring cleanup, I never get it done by June 1, the goal.

"...the blossom litter glues itself to whatever it drops on .."

Remedy:
-make a home-made insecticidal soap (4Tbsp/1Gal),
-thouroughly wet affected surfaces,
-wait 10-12 minutes to let litter absorb the IS and become soft,
-wash out by the hose.

Wendy,
nice little vignette by the way. frances williams, stained glass, sum and substance?
Thanks Wendy but to be totally honest this is one of those times where the photo is far nicer than the reality, actually I find this area so disturbing I often look in the other direction when passing by. I am new to Hosta and thinking I might need a few more elsewhere are there any I shouldn't be without?
George,
Thanks for the tip it is a brilliant suggestion, though I may still be looking to move the Hosta as I do enough washing inside my house!! lol

george, you are such a brilliant fellow!
what I know for sure:

Practicing "Let no patch of garden earth go uncovered" greatly cuts down on weeding.

best,
mindy

I am new to Hosta and thinking I might need a few more elsewhere are there any I shouldn't be without?

OMG, that's like whats your favorite ice cream?

Today these three are my favorite hosta:

Whirlwind
{{gwi:1072974}}From Hosta

Sagae

OnStage

To those, add Hosta Guardian Angel, photo taken 10 days ago, emerging with lily-of-the-valley in bloom:

Claire (who has lots more favorite hostas)

In no particular order:
large- Sagae, Blue Angel, Regal Splendor.
medium-Halcyon, June, Wolverine, Gold Standard, Minuteman.
small-forgot the names :-((

This I know for sure: a lot of rarely-used plants are rarely-used for good reasons. I'm thinking of the lovely Crambe cordifolia, but there are lots of others - I'll think of a half dozen more when I click the submit button.

And I have been gardening under Kwanzan cherries for a long time, so I also know for sure that the spent flower petals DO need to be removed. Long after you forget that particular luscious shade of pink, the reminder of the flowers is there, in my garden, in the form of ruined foliage on hellebores and hydrangea. The petals stick so well that the foliage underneath dies, and has brown spots for the rest of the season. At least I know that for sure on hellebores and hydrangeas.

I know for certain, at least in my garden, that if I accidently splash dirt on h. 'Sum & Substance' those leaves will mildew no matter how well I believe I've cleaned off the offending dirt.

I do not need a weatherman to tell me it's going to rain. All I have to do is check how far along my iris & peony buds are from blooming. The day they hit peak bloom - we will receive torrential downpours & the flowers will be face down no matter what crazy staking scheme I've utilized.

I know for certain that I can never have the gardens looking pristine on Memorial Day weekend because that's when the maple seeds dump from the heaven's covering gardens, lawn, patios, walkways, & driveway.

/tricia

Like ego45, I love Hosta Blue Angel:

and I'd like to add H. Big Daddy, although I really should have washed those leaves!

This much I know for sure - no matter how hard you try, you can't completely control your garden. Even the most sophisticated design will be subverted by a plant that decides to grow bigger, or wider, or bloom at a different time than it's supposed to. Better to roll with it and be flexible.

Of course you can carry flexibility too far. I went through a period of letting everything I put in grow however they wanted to. All of the volunteers too. Now I've decided that a little intervention/control makes the garden a whole lot more coherent (I spent an hour today judiciously thinning out the meadow phlox menagerie).

Claire

Oh no that compulsive rush to collect as many Hosta's as I can find is flowing through my veins. I made a list of your favorites and put it in my purse...now when I am at the nusery if I can remember where I put the list I'll be able to bring home a trunk load of plants that I have few places left to plant! lol. Based on your photos I really love H. 'Whirlwind', H. 'Guardian Angel', H. 'Big Daddy'. Thanks

Of course, if it's raining and you don't want to go to the nursery, there's always the hostas at Plant Delights ......

Claire

All I know for sure is that when I see this heading and read:

"This MULCH I know for sure"

... that's when I know that 10 yards of mulch is TOO much to move in one weekend! ;)

Don't plant your Hosta 'Blue Angel' where it gets too much sun. It will get burnt to a crisp by late May. And when you have tendonitis in both forearms (wrist to elbow), all you can do is stand there and watch it get crispy. :(

{{gwi:417936}}

and many blue's (wax color) will melt in the heat:

just three faves? We didn't even cover fragrance. When I first smelled guacamole, I was blown away. I moved it from a distant location to the patio!

Nothing special to look at, but nice enough. There are many guacamole sports too that may be more interesting visually.

And then there is the effect of predators - we don't usually get deer up here, but occasionally I've seen hoof prints in the dirt road. Early this spring, when the hostas were just emerging, something chomped two hostas at the edge of the road. It either didn't like the hostas, or got scared off, because the hostas grew up OK, but with missing pieces.

Chomped Hosta Paul's Glory:

Chomped Hosta Big Daddy:

And for fragrance, Hosta Red October blooms in the fall and smells like grape Koolaid. This photo was taken last Sept. 24 with goldenrod in bloom. The stems are red, but don't show here.

Claire

I know for sure that it won't rain until I water, no matter how many days they forecast rain for and no matter how many days I hold off for. Sometimes it even starts raining just as I finish watering, standing there in the rain with the hose.

This thread is too dangerous to a hosta lover like myself. Luckily, I have many of the ones pictured here, so I'm too overly tempted, lol... yet.

:)
Dee

I can't resist showing my new little bitty Hosta Change of Heart. Supposedly it will get 8 inches high by 15 inches wide. I know I'll have to pull away the ivy, but it just looks so pretty now with the hosta.

Speaking of rain, I know for sure that if I postpone mowing the lawn for a few days it will suddenly rain for a week and the grass will grow too high for my reel mower. Nothing like cutting grass with a weed whacker.

Claire

LOL, Claire, I'm convinced my neighbor cuts his lawn with a weed whacker! He retired last fall, and I swear every single day he's out there with some machine or other. I just said to my DH this weekend that I think he cuts his grass with a weed whacker!

I guess that's another thing I know for sure - that Sunday morning at 7AM my neighbor will have a machine running!

:)
Dee
P.S. - cute little hosta!

Claire,
LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL...
Thanks for the link and all the lovely photos of plants that I now crave as much as I crave chocolate.
Wendy,
Dumb question I know but do all Hosta blooms have scent?
Dee,
Our neighbors should live next to one another, mine mows his lawn twice at a time, once in each direction to create a checker board pattern where the wheels have been!

Dee, I know we're joking around here, but it really is reasonable to ask someone to wait until 9 am to use machinery on a weekend morning.

Marie I agree completely. I'm usually up and outside already, so it doesn't bother me that way. I've gotten so I'm just so sick of all the power tools and machines that always seem to be running. I wish there was a law that everyone had to use them at the same time, lol. It seems like one person finishes and another starts. And honestly, I know people have to cut their lawns, so that's not so bad. But when my neighbor uses a leaf blower to clean off his 8x10 deck instead of a broom, or when Mr. Retired runs God knows what machine forEVER, it just bugs me.

I've really enjoy those weekday mornings when I'm lucky enough to be home and out in the garden. It's so much more peaceful when the rest of the neighborhood is at work, lol. Although, Mr. Retired IS still there, lol, but he really is a nice guy and a good neighbor, so what can you do?

At least none of my neighbors mows in a checkerboard pattern, lol!

:)
Dee

Triciae - "I do not need a weatherman to tell me it's going to rain. All I have to do is check how far along my iris & peony buds are from blooming. The day they hit peak bloom - we will receive torrential downpours & the flowers will be face down no matter what crazy staking scheme I've utilized."

Ain't that the truth!!! Last year my sister gave me a poppy and it only got one bud, bloomed during a rainstorm and was destroyed before I got to see it. This year I have about 10 buds and they're starting to open today - with a massive rainstorm predicted for this afternoon!!! Here's to hoping I get home before the rain starts and I actually get to see a bloom this year!!

Lisa

This much I know for sure...

when doing fall planting and transplanting and not mulching (fear of vole attraction), make a note which plants need mulch first thing in the spring. Otherwise surely I will forget and the spring weeds will be awful before you get to mulch it.

I was finishing up weeding/mulching today... OMG, so many weeds and unmulched spots. I'm not used to that... I usually am thoroughly mulched.

kt, no not all hostas are fragrant. It may have started with one called "Honeybells". Ah, yes it did. Here's an article on the subject.

http://www.justgardeners.com/hrsc/articles/art_fragranthosta.html