Hello Bruce. While I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you your mother was a dear friend and I purchased my first hosta from her. H. naikimo (sp?). Here is part of the original plant from her. I smile every time I look at it along with the gold standard and temple bells from her.

Please post pics of your Aphrodite when they bloom. I love anything out of plantaginea and can't wait for my plantaginea sports to grow into mature plants.

back home from your travels????

my Ps are sending up flowers.. my labels are all mixed up ... so who knows which is which ... well.. i will if they bloom.. lol ...

meet anyone interesting lately??

ken

mac4805
Did you meet my mother at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, Eastern Market or thru the Royal Oak Garden Club? Did you visit her yard?

Nakaimo has a most interesting bloom bud and I think it has the square bloom scape.

Ken, had an enjoyable meeting with Moccasin - want to visit her garden some day!

No change in Aphrodite blooms but next 10 day weather for my yard says 9 days of cooler weather, clouds and rain. Grrrrr.

Did put in another garden bed today, should allow me to plant some of my recent divisions.

Bruce

plantaginea bloomed last night ... within days of the standard bloom time of dads bday on 8/15 ...

scape is about 1/3 of normal ...

the one i think is aphro has a huge bud ... days away ... if weather permits ...

will have to search out other plants and see if any others have bloomed ...

i still posit.. that they remind me of gardenia scent ... though of course.. i have never grown a G in MI .... and i dont know how i think that.. since i am not sure i ever have seen such in person ...?????

ken

ps: a curse is a course without an O .... what the heck does that mean ????

1.5 inches cool rain last 48 hours - not good for blooms!

Good for leaf growth!

Of curse, of curse, Ken the poet isn't dyslexic, just hosta

its called creative typing.. not poetry ... lol ..

ken

Aug 24 update; now up to 8 fat bloom scapes, some pods are getting quite large, a good sign!

Past week of cool rain has everything lush - hope the late Aug heat can still come and generate the blooms to open!

Bruce

All of our fingers are crossed! ;-)

Bruce, I visited your mothers garden many times along with visiting with her at my garden, at Harris's garden at the church and other local gardens. I used to live a couple of blocks from Daisy. Sorry to hear of her recent loss.

Yes Naikimo has interesting buds. I picked up Hiroa Supreme from her also and it has nice buds also.

Looking forward to seeing your Aphrodite blooms. I love the plantaginea cultivars and have Poseidon, Doubled Up and Athena but not yet Aphrodite.

Yes, many hosta species have unique appearing bud forms!

Harris Olson - there was a Michigan gardener!

Brings back memories - have visited the church gardens off Woodward this year, but not a pretty sight. Needs a bit of TLC due to age and time since planted.

Bruce

Being with Pauline and Harris together was a special treat. THE hosta lady and Mr Daylily. The matriarch and patriarch of Michigan gardening.

Yeah, the church gardens have fallen to neglect. Larry Mackle and I still visit it a couple of times a year. It was glorious under Harris's care and that's how we still remember it.

Sat morning update; no change in the Aphrodite bud status from a week ago, not a good sign.

Still 8 fat buds but no growth or opening.

Week was dry and warmer, so maybe some hope?

On the brighter side, many of the Sept hosta blooming species are opening - always a sign Fall is approaching!

Bruce

bumping up

Hosta Central, this is Alabama Outpost. The heat is here, but several days of rain began last night. More predicted from noon onward if you can believe the weatherman.

Most fragrants which bloomed late July and August have either produced seedpods or have barren scapes. Mama bloomed, several other of her kind have no signs of scapes this year. They did not share the western sunshine which tells me I must be even bolder.

My three pots of Aphrodite, plus Athena and Venus, show no signs of scaping for me.Leaves are all healthy and a golden green from sun exposure.

I have other hosta, must be those you refer to as the Sept hosta bloomers, in bloom, and even SugarBabe is reblooming, that small fragrant beauty with purple flowers.

I'm glad you mentioned gardenias, Ken. They have a very sweet heavy fragrance which hangs in the air for hours. So has some forms of jasmine. Gardenias used to be called CAPE JASMINE in the south. They like our heat but not so much our humidity, so they sort of mildew and are not as carefree as the jasmine. Hmmm, I think you could grow a pot of trachelospermum jasminoides, or star jasmine, up in MI if you brought it indoors in winter. It stays evergreen here, and blooms in May and June. Never experienced it being dormant.

Bump for the day

Starting to show white tips in the buds!

Heat on for this week, still hope!

Bruce

Just when you thought you had seen everything in the garden...

Overnight a cutworm attacked a big Aphrodite bud and ate it from the side , almost totally. I would have thought it was a deer but they would have chewed the bud off!

Adjacent leaves and plants showing typical cutworm damage!

Two other large buds still expanding out, two sputtering, one now eaten and one still slow to show.

0.25 inches rain overnight should give the plants a last push!

One validation of late blooms; Chinese Sunrise just opened last evening, a month late

Bruce

a second of my As bloomed last night ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Good for you, Ken! I still have hope for my two large buds!!!

Every part of the country has its ups and downs with gardening and weather!

The critters are everywhere as well!

Bruce

Okay, its the weekend, how are the two buds doing?
Really rooting for your success. I have one of my Aphrodites with one scape about 8 inches tall so far. It is on my newest one, not the oldest plant I've had since 2012.

I have my fingers crossed for it too.

The one bud I didn't think would open is unfurling - first row of buds is separate now.

The fattest bud is stuck - no movement the past two days.

Like a pregnant guppy - you just have to wait until whatever happens happens.

The one bud the cutworm ate into the center still has two large blooms trying to open - all the rest of the buds are sputtering out.

Another 0.5 inches rain today, so moisture is not a factor this year.

Bruce

Bruce, the camellia guys add gibberilic acid to make the blooms open. That would not work with hosta, or would it?
Sort of like some slippy slidy silicon to ease the opening.

isnt gibberilic acid one of the TC goo's ...???

i always thought the TC acids and hormones as very scary.. often wondering if i would sprout extra fingers ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Ken, I used BAP-10 and did not grow extra fingers.
My 'Aphrodite Bloom scape watch' is over, the buds simply dried up. That plant sits in sun and got watered enough, probably did not like the high 50s temp at night. One guy used a heat lamp, but that is way too much in effort to spend on it.
Then we got nights in the high 40 dgrs, so I split up that plant and put it into hopefully more sun for next year.
Bernd

This post was edited by berndnyz5 on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 18:27

I had no idea it was perhaps a tissue culture chemical when I mentioned it. I had heard of it many years ago when Mobile had the Men's Camellia Club, now just called Camellia Club I think, but I was told they used it for promoting the blooms to open early and quickly. Not something I know anything about....just an old stray bit of a conversation which finally dredged up out of my memory bank.

Ken, checking your link, on the right hand side of the search results there appeared all these places where you can buy the stuff. Seems to be widely available. Do not have a clue as to the safety factor using it though.

Those two buds are starting to open!

But they will still disappoint from what they should have been!

With 1.5 inches rain and lower temps this week I thought they would all fizzle.

Hopefully photos to follow.

Bruce

I hope you get to take in a good whiff of them! :-)

I love it when the buds start swelling and elongating, turning white and puffy like popcorn before it bursts open.

Fingers crossed here. Look forward to pictures.

Fatter buds today but another 0.8 inches rain last 24 hours and cool temps - now starting to show some browning on the tips.......

Can't regulate the temps and moisture when you need it!

Bruce

Damn! Good luck, Bruce, hope you get some nice blooms...I am also awaiting with bated breath!

Don B.

A slight increase in size over the weekend - note the start of browning on the tips on the one bud!

May hit 75 today which would be nice but still drizzle and clouds!

Fizzled buds...

Just a waiting game!

Bruce

Man, you must have more patience than Job. I quit after three years.

bk

Bkay, patience for sure. Bruce example comes to mind when I am discouraged. I see him in for the long haul.

Surprised!

First bud opened overnight!

Very fragrant this morning.

Woohoo! Success! Enjoy the fragrance, Bruce! Really happy for you!

Jo
P.S. Did you take pic to document? How about a peek at it? :-)

This post was edited by josephines67 on Tue, Sep 16, 14 at 11:08

Surprise opening - didn't think it had the willpower! Fooled again by hosta blooms!

Not as large a flower as previous years but I will take it given the season we came through!

Bruce

So beautiful.....the double white is simply stunning! :-)
Thank you for the treat!

Bruce I can smell it from Mobile! That is so lovely.

Now I have the scent of gardenias in my nose....I have three hosta winding up their blooming, one being a bunch of lavender flowers on about 6 scapes, and two other pale lavender.

But of course, that ONE scape for Aphrodite which is slowly growing taller, I'm hoping it puts on a show like yours is doing.

We are clouding over, the thunder is rolling across the sky, but it has been very dry for the last several weeks. However, not at all cool, with the temp remaining set on 90F.

Congrats,

bk

These flowers are amazing; I would not have thought this bud would open, but it gave a last push and here it is, albeit a bit smaller. Still very fragrant.

Note the remaining buds are starting to turn brown and fizzle - don't expect them to open.

Tape on my thumb is where the knife slipped yesterday afternoon while dividing some hosta and cut my thunb - only a surface cut!

Here is the next hosta bloom size I am working on : ok, actually the very large and beautiful double brugmansia, but similar smell and whiteness to the petals.

Finally, with all the rain the brugmanisa are really growing and putting on a show!

Out to divide and plant more hosta today, finishing my Fall planting work.

Bruce

Love the "designer" bandaid! Lol glad the cut wasn't any worse!

those are gorgeous flowers on brugmansia - grew a few back in the early nineties...they make a stunning display in the garden. Thanks again for the eye treats.

My brugs are not doing anything this year. They were in the ground, and froze back to the ground level. I just planted them last fall, not expecting to have the winter so severe.

Now I understand where you are going with your hosta flowers, Bruce. Admirable objective.

Those brugmansia have been in the family >15 yrs: dig and take them in the basement in the late Fall and put them back in the ground in April-May.

Don't always flower like this year! Depends on warmth and rain, which is always wrong for blooms.

The last very large Aphrodite bud continues to fade - a result of opening too late in the season! Maybe next year.....

Waited all week for those large buds to open; now they are starting to brown at the end as well as the rest of the buds in the bloom are dying.

Bruce

Not any further good news - final bud rotting, will not open!

End of seasonal report!

Bruce

A bummer, Bruce, but thanks for the reports...We were hoping right along with you!

Cheers,
Don B.