Thanks Phil. It does help.

What a wonderful woodland setting. You are very lucky to have such a site. Thanks for the photo.

GORGEOUS, Phil!!!! Sigh! More like 5 months and maybe a week for those of us in zone 5,
Ohio, but who's counting, anyway!

Oh----I guess we are! :o)

Nice picture Phil!
Here in IL it was near 60 today, almost balmy feeling.
Did some last minute chores outside because by Wednesday it could be in the 20's.
Most of my hosta are in the mush stage and some are totally gone for the winter. The potted ones are waiting for it to freeze, then in the shed they will go, safe from the ravages of the squirrels, lol.

Janet

Very nice, Phil! :-))

Thanks, Phil...I do love that photo! I know they were really set back by the freeze but did they come back close to where they were?

I'll have to wait 5 months here in the "frozen tundra", but the wait is made more bearable by doing some early spring gardening chores in late March like cleaning up perennials I left for winter interest/food for the birds, and hauling all my garden art out of the garage. Next spring I'll have some fun connecting all my backyard hosta beds with the small bed under the giant black cherry tree. Those future beds now have 1-2' of leaves on them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I'm grateful for my wonderful family and the coming of spring each year.

Char

More please, Phil! I have started planting in my woods and I would love to see lots of your woods pictures! Is all of it on a hillside?

Thanks for the encouragement,yardmom! Yes, the garden is on the side of a hill,or small mountain,if you will. Parts are steeper than others,but not many level places. I will look up some more pics of the garden,but I thought most people had seen them,or are at least tired of seeing them! Also,thanks to all who responded. Phil

Don't mind seeing pictures again as I don't always remember what I saw before!!!

Hope all of you have saved them for the really cold winter days that are ahead for some of us.

Connie

Very beautiful, Phil!

That's just the picture I needed on this dreary November day, with a snowstorm in the forecast.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Julie

OK,here is a pic from the other end of the path,looking up the hill. Phil
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So Phil, where are all the LEAVES?!!! I realize its on a hill and lots probably blow/roll down the hill, but the leaf cover in woods is really heavy. Do you have lots of slug problems? Deer?

Loving the pictures!

Oh Phil. . this is beautiful! I would love to do this with my woods. . Just lovely. . .I can almost smell the forest!

Sidney, with pumpkin pie on her keyboard. . wonder how that happened. . lol. . hmmmmmm

Yardmom,the leaves become compost under the hostas. There aren't many leaves left to come down in the growing season. We have no deer in my neck of the woods. I don't have a slug problem,and this year it was so dry,I doubt if I saw ten slugs all year. We have only rabbits,but they don't eat hostas,and squirrels,and chipmonks and that's about it. The soil is red clay,but amended by falling leaves,so there are plenty of earthworms. Mostly anything will grow here,and does! Here's another pic of several hostas. In the pic are: Antioch,Cliffords Polar Moon,Enchantment,Irongate Delight,and Paradigm. Phil
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I can never get enough pictures of your garden. Hope the drought breaks soon in your area. We just had our first killing frost last night. Thanks for the pictures! Happpy Thanksgiving.
Mary

Thanks Mary,and happy Thanksgiving,everyone on this nice day. It rained all night! Too bad hostas aren't growing now! Phil

Beautiful, Phil. Thanks for sharing, please keep the pics coming. It's so nice to see them here in the frozen tundra, especially when real winter arrives here.

This is the first time I've seen your pictures. Thanks for posting them -- they're tonic to my frozen possibilities! (21F here) Beautiful.

OK,here's Gypsy Rose,Queen of the Seas,Cascades,and Independence,in my new garden section started in 2006. Phil
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I started planting in my woods, but I have been finding out just how slug proof different kinds are. This is Mount Tom. NOT!

Great pictures Phil. Makes me want more & more Hosta.
From another phil.

Great pics Phil, thanks for sharing! Wish I had the garden space you have, its wonderful!

What other pics can you share to brighten this really gray gloomy day?

Donna ;D

Dark and gloomy here too,Donna! OK,here is a pic from 2006,probably my last good hosta year,as this year was bad due to bad weather. This pic has Cadillac,Ventricosa,Great Expectations,Night Before Christmas,Revolution,and Regal Splendor in it. Phil
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Hi Phil~

Your woodlands photos are lovely, as always. They are inspiring me to try to plant in a heavily shaded area.

I have run out of prime locations for hosta beds. DH would like to keep a little bit of lawn for himself.

I have one formerly very wild area in a back corner that I am itching to turn into a decent-sized hosta bed. Itching may be a problem, because we are constantly trying to kill poison ivy back there. That, along with wild berry canes and other prickers and weeds continue to invade under my picket fence from the neighbor's very wild back areas.

My questions...

How do you keep weeds under control in your woodland hosta beds?

How much light do they get? Only filtered, or some periods of sun?

Do you have slow-drip irrigation, an installed sprinkler system, or do you drag hoses around?

Thanks again for the views of your favorite gardens. They are especially nice on a miserable November day.

~Bunnycat

Bunnycat,thanks for the kind comments. To answer your questions:
1 I occasionally pull some weeds,but no extensive weed-control program.
2 The garden gets periods of full sun,but mostly filtered shade,and some places get almost full shade,just as any forest gets.
3 There is no irrigation,except what falls from the sky. It is impractical to irrigate,as the garden is too far from my house.
As for controlling poison ivy,I use round-up,and have completely eliminated it from most of my property,(the parts I go in anyway). Some of my property is too steep to plant hostas,and too shady. Hope this answers some of your questions. Phil

Phil, your photos are all fantastic. You mentioned that rabbits don't eat hosta. Maybe not in North Carolina, but our Minnesota rabbits LOVE hostas. A couple of years ago, I spotted a big, fat rabbit nibbling daintily on my hostas. I mentioned this to my husband, and the next day I heard a shot. From the front yard came my husband holding the hosta-eating rabbit by his hind legs. My husband cleaned him and made a delicious stew which simmered until dinner time. We called our neighbors over (the suspect had been dining on their hostas too) and had a wonderful meal. From then on, we only had to contend with the deer. It's a little tricky to shoot them in the city.