Thank you, Dave. Yes, nearly every single one was a new one. I've just been digging around and it's looking more like crown rot for most. Stag's Leap is completely gone....as if nothing was ever there. I'm going out to dig around the rest of the MIAs.

It's frustrating because I never know EXACTLY where the soil line should go. Seems like a half centimeter too high or too low can mean the difference between life and death.

I'm not so sure on the whole soil line theory. On the one hand you can as Ken famously says " throw them on the driveway" and they keep on growing. A centimetre too much soil over the crown and they die! Doesn't make sense to me. Having said that I do believe if you bury them too deep it can seriously retarded them.

Of course difference in climate can affect how a plant grows and my experience is based on a mild fairly wet part of the world, way different to that experienced but a lot of forum members here.

So no answers but I wouldn't go overboard on planting depth if I were you.

Just my honest opinion.

Dave

Were they planted in the ground, pots or both?

I'm so sorry, HOSTA! I hope some will still push through for you. What a difference a day can make so don't give up all hope yet.

Yours is an impressive list with some of the newest and latest, like an A-list! :) they had better show!

The only one I can comment on is the first one, Northern Exposure. I just picked it up with a handful of others the other day. NE was the only cultivar that was just in the unfurling stage. All other hostas at the nursery were leafed out. Definitely a late emerger, especially in the ground.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Wow, that is a lot. I planted 29 last August in which all but one were duplicates. It looks like one Orange Marmalade and one Sun Power didn't make it and that upset me. I wouldn't know how to handle your losses.

Yes, inexplicable loses in money and especially time wasted. Double UGH!!!

I planted a new Tropical Dancer last year and it was pretty good sized. This year it came back very tiny. I dug it up and moved it to another spot where I can baby it but it doesn't look too good.

Sorry for your losses, that is truly heartbreaking! I hope you find some that are just slow to come up.

Hostatakeover: That is so sad. I can't even imagine how you must feel. I thought I had lost two and was feeling bad. I went out and actually dug into the soil with a spade (am not recommending this) around the MIAs and low and behold I found them. One just had one pip but it was at least an inch high and completely buried. I dug it up and planted it higher so that the inch of pip was above ground. Don't know what happened or if it would have eventually emerged or not. Don't lose hope - some may still be coming - I was sure my two were done and all the others have been up at least a little for a week.

Barb

Dave, thank you, that's really encouraging. I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow when it's light out and post them for 2nd opinions about my planting depth. Some DO seem too deep, yet Brutus I dug up last year and replanted it juuuust barely beneath the soil and still it struggled.

Santamiller, they were all in the ground. All new Hostas get planted in the ground before the first frost hits.

Thank you, Josephine. I haven't dug around Northern Exposure yet so maybe there's still hope for that one.

Thank you, everyone. A lot. I needed some sympathy and more importantly encouragement because I was actually shaking I was so upset earlier. It wasn't the only bad news out of my garden today and it was all a bit overwhelming for a moment. Better now.

What size were they when you planted them? When did you plant them? (timing matters so they can anchor their roots) Bitty tc's or established plants with roots that would fill at least a quart? Did you plant them under a freaking maple tree...guaranteed death due to surface roots.

All my (about 100) hostas are open and unfurled and full looking EXCEPT a stupid Clifford's stingray which is just barely green points, on a firm crown and plenty of roots when I slide it out of the pot. And a Seducer that has just sent up shoots in the last week. Rub your fingers over where they were to feel if there are any points, and pull the soil slightly away to expose the tips then keep your fingers crossed.

With a loss that great there must be an answer. Let's keep trying to figure out what happened.

-Babka

With the exception of Cease Fire which was just a teeny tiny plug, all were normal sized that you'd get from, say, Naylor Creek.

It took all season last year to plant them, with the last one going in just days before the first frost. Northern Exposure was the very last to go in, but others that went in much earlier in the season also didn't make it.

Nothing heaved up over winter, but deer were in the bed trampling them underfoot all winter from above while moles worked ~ and continue to work ~ feverishly underground throughout the entire bed. Seriously, many of my Hosta wells look like deer literally danced in them and the mole trails are insane. The Hosta wells with mole activity are mushy.

Everything is planted under oak and hickory trees. Heck, even the smallest of my hickories (about 18 feet tall) in the Hosta bed died last Fall! I was hoping it just went dormant in an odd way but this year has confirmed it is indeed dead.

Ah, it's late so I'm off. Will post pics tomorrow. Thank you, Babka.

I'm sorry to hear about so many losses. That's a pretty long list. :-( I would be really upset, too. I'm surprised there'd be so many when they were planted in the ground. And a tree in that same area died? That's really strange, too. You said hosta "wells." Does that mean you planted them in a well indentation in the soil, or that's how you found them? With everyone's help here, I hope it will be figured out.

They might have been pushed further down in the soil by the marauding deer. Freshly dug soil when planting last fall would have sunk a bit when settling. Perhaps the hostas are just down too deep, or stomped too deep as they try to make their way up.

See if you can feel around and pull soil away as Babka suggested. I've found some pips to be so small and dark against the soil that only my fingertips could find the sharp, pointy tips. Here's hoping! :)

Where's Ken? He usually comes up with something.

Hostatakeover, I know exactly how you feel. I'm up north of you in eastern Nebraska. Don't know if you had the weather we did, but summer was dry, fall was wet, November very cold, December above freezing and rainy, the rest of winter mild but snowless. It must have been the perfect storm as far as hostas are concerned. I've lost track of the MIA, will put down what comes to mind:

No crown - dead

Powder Keg (that one hurt)
Moonstruck
Mighty Mouse
Warwick Comet

Missing

Barbra Ann (good riddance)
Aphrodite (5 years old and a beautiful specimen)
Manhattan

Probably dead - some crown but no signs of life. All first year plants.

Half and Half
Ice Follies
Curly Fries
Robert Frost
War Paint
Olive Branch

Serious Condition

Clear Fork River Valley - tiny leaf appears to be coming out on side of crown.
Francis Williams - went from big plant to two leaves, have another anyhow.
Elegans - old and enormous plant, now looks like a first year starter
bed of Sagae - dug up to amend and found a number of rotted crowns

There's no rhyme or reason to the losses. Some are reasonable: Moonstruck was never a healthy plant, and Half and Half, Ice Follies and Curly Fries were planted late last year. But Mighty Mouse was three years old, and the Pureheart I planted next to it at the same time as H&H, IF and CF is fine. MM had terrific roots and no trace of a crown.

Power Keg was a first year plant, but so was everything else in that bed, and they're thriving. PK was expensive and a souvenir of last year's national hosta convention, so it had the best spot - morning sun, lots of space and on a slope for extra drainage. No idea what happened to Aphrodite, haven't found the "body", so I'm hoping maybe I'm off on the location and she'll show up. She was a big, beautiful girl with lots of scapes and flowers that opened. If not, I gave a division to a friend. Maybe I can get a piece of her plant.

For the ones I found, I moved the dirt off the top, scraped off any rot, and left the crowns exposed to air. Figure at this point it might help and can't hurt. There are so many I've gotten past being upset (except for PK and Aphrodite). Most are easily replaced, unlike yours. I'm looking at it as an opportunity to make changes and plant something better. Maybe that new hosta that looks like War Paint but doesn't turn green will be out soon.

A few "lost" hostas have popped up this week, so hang in there. Maybe you'll get lucky - or maybe you'll get the chance to plant something new. I know it's aggravating to spend money on plants that die, and you had some nice ones. Just take a deep breath and keep chanting "It's not the end of the world".

There seems to be a bit of a thread emerging.

A lot of new/young plants lost

Planted late in the season

Unusual weather patterns.

Could it be a combination of these factors leading to stressed plants going into dormancy?

With the more mature plants could it be that some just couldn't cope with the unusual climate factors ? Dry Summer, then wet once dormancy set in then cold then mild.

Who knows ? Just thinking out loud.

I feel for you and your losses, so frustrating.

Dave

I am in zone 5b, so very close to your 6a, and still do not see pips from about 20%. I simply wait it out.

I planted my first hostas about 25 years ago, so should know by now how to plant correctly, but I have crown rot every year on some hostas. Some hostas take much longer to show up in spring, so some of yours might still appear. For those empty places I have already fill-ins ordered and 2 received, plus I have 70 or so seedlings coming out of the basement next week when night tempertures somewhat reliably will be above 50 dgrs.. Seedlings will be potted up and will be planted only in August after the heat.

Dave, indeed dry summers where you water hard due to no rain and then normal winters will allow the rot to get a hold - recall it is present in all soils as spores, just needs the right conditions to take off and manifest itself.

Years ago in Michigan crown rot happened when the plants were not hardened off with cool weather rains when first planted.

Although I plant almost year round you take a risk with late season plantings if no rain.

Speaking of that, enjoying a very nice even cool wet Spring with moist first year divisions doing very well. Will post a photo later.

Photo of first year divisions - trash is there to keep the deer from nibbling...

MadPlanter, I could just cry over your losses! They're about as bad as mine. And I know what you mean about "serious condition." A few of mine look as though they're on life support. Or should be.

I dug around and found THIS where Stag's Leap is. With my naked eye I honestly couldn't see if they were roots just sticking up or something else. I took photos and uploaded them onto the computer and I can now see they're probably leaves, but so pitiful that I really don't see this one making it. Have a look:

Sandyslopes, I refer to the holes I dug and planted a Hosta in a "Hosta well," much like the hole you plant a tree in is a "tree well." However, because I've seen a strong tendency for my Hostas to sink, I've been mounding my Hostas up so they don't sink down so far. Not sure why they sink so much except the deer dance on them and the moles keep moving the soil underneath because that soil is so much softer than the surrounding ground, thanks to heavy amending. The ground here is horrible and as anti-Hosta friendly as you can get.

Here is what Stained Glass's well looks like after a winter of being danced on from above while being tunneled from underneath. You can see the split ground to the lower right, where a mole tunnel rises along the ridge of the well, while the Hosta sits in a sunken middle that's been trampled. This is what half my Hosta wells look like. (Hard to see how dramatic the differences are in ground levels, but it's significant).

Here is Surf's Up. Pretty sure this is crown rot and it's a goner.

hostatakeover & MadPlanter, it seems like you know some are gone for sure, but I'm holding out hope for you that some MIAs will still show up. Even with the warm spring and early start of my gardens this year, some hostas are barely starting to show. They don't care if it's been warm, they're coming up when they usually do. Maybe some of yours will, too. .....But this is depressing to hear about so many losses. Hang in there.

Don't write Stag's Leap off yet. That's what my Clear Fork River Valley is doing, only it's not as far along. Mine are just tiny nubs on the side of the crown. With luck, you'll get a "fairy ring" hosta. Eventually you can divide it if the empty center bothers you.

Manhattan popped up yesterday, and I bought Mighty Mouse and Ice Follies today. No signs of life in any of the other hostas. Will probably replace Olive Branch, Aphrodite, Warwick Comet and Curly Fries. I'll give it another week, maybe something will come to life. If not, we're going to be near three hosta nurseries Mother's Day weekend, great opportunity, and hey, it's Mother's Day.

BTW, now I want Stag's Leap.

Thank you, MadPlanter. I'll wait, for sure.

Cheesehead FINALLY broke ground. It's definitely smaller than last year but at least it's alive. Northern Exposure, Sourpuss and Niagara Falls are goners for sure, but one silver lining is that a division of War Paint has reverted back to Niagara Falls, so I'll just dig that up, separate it, and plant it where the other one was. :-)

On the soil and compost forum they talk about a bathtub effect, where heavily amended holes don't drain because of the heavy surrounding soil.

I'm taking a gardening class where we've been warned about "killer compost". Apparently some broadleaf herbicides that are sprayed on grazing land can come through the gut of cows and horses unchanged and then persist through the composting process. If you are using composted manure to amend your holes you may be applying broadleaf herbicides to your hostas.

Killer compost

Kathy

"Bathtub effect." Now that's a new one but I do remember when I had lots of holes dug, open and waiting for a Hosta, that when we had a downpour all the water would sit in the holes, but only for a few hours to a day and a half ~ tops. I recall seeing the water oozing through the sides of the hole so I knew the accumulated water wasn't just from having an open hole. With enough rain and snow perhaps the crown rot WAS a result of bathtub effect.

I don't use composted manure and now I'm glad I don't. I buy pallets of Miracle Grow Potting Mix and mix that in with good dirt we have hauled in by the truckload. I USED to mix the Miracle Grow PM with the dirt I dug out, but it's SO full of granite and hard, red clay it wasn't worth all the work picking the rocks out. That is one thing I did different last year and perhaps it's too dense for the roots to breathe, as I didn't mix in any pine fines other than what was in the pot.

Thank you, Kathy. I learned something new that probably points to the part of the problem.

I mix in my old Miracle Grow, along with compost. We go through 4-8 of the 2 Ft. bags a year and that's one way to get rid of the old stuff. Haven't had any trouble yet, hope that continues. We've got heavy clay, but at least there's no granite.

I was ready to blame a well effect from spinout bags, but only three of the plants were in those. Some were near the edge of a retaining wall, but plants on either side are fine. Some were first year, some were old. There just doesn't seem to be a common factor. I'm blaming Kismet and weird weather.

There's a hosta leaf coming up about 6 feet from where Aphrodite should be. I know I didn't plant a hosta there. It's in the middle of a full sun groundcover plant. But I'll watch and hope. I found A. and Frozen Margarita (one I left off the dead list) at a local nursery, so they can be replaced. A. can be a tricky plant - I was so happy to have one that actually grew and bloomed.

The Frances Williams that shrank to two leaves has turned all green and is probably getting tossed. I'll watch it for a year and see if it does anything interesting.

Curly Fries and Robert Frost might have baby bumps. Fingers crossed, another week will tell.

Hope you're finding some late bloomers.

I went through about 250 bags of 2 cubic ft. Miracle Grow Potting Mix last year. For me, it isn't the Hostas that are expensive, it's the DIRT! Lol!

Nothing else has showed up aside from what I've already mentioned. I think I'll find that, like you, some of my losses are just too random to explain. My garden was pretty small until last year so, aside from small Hostas which don't do well here, I never really suffered losses like this. I dug a couple out of the ground today and they look like everything else that hasn't come up: rotted crown with seemingly healthy roots.

A couple I'm going to replace because it was important to have them (Sourpuss, Dino), others are simply too expensive to purchase again (Black Limerick), or don't excite me enough to try a do-over at this time (Cease Fire, Surf's Up, ect). I'll use the already dug holes to place some of my new Hostas for this year in and my back will thank me.

Hey, I'm excited for you on that surprise Hosta leaf that's showed up, MadPlanter! Could be something altogether new and unique and best of all ~ beautiful! Hope so. Post a photo later in the season when it's bigger and more discernible......I'd love to see it.

Good luck with Curly Fries and Robert Frost. Let us know on that, too. (Baby bumps....lol)!

The solution to the bathtub effect is to dig an entire bed instead of a planting hole, according to the soil and compost forum. If you think dirt is expensive wait until you need to rent heavy equipment! Lol.

Kathy

Hey, HTO, it may be too late for you to try this, but just in case:

I replaced Curly Fries and Ice Follies, and put something new in Olive Branch's spot. Being optimistic (and a lazy slob), I put the remains on top of a half full container of potting soil and ignored them for a few days. Amazingly, all of them put out tiny leaves, so I re-potted them yesterday. They look OK so far. Guess they just needed Ken's driveway treatment. They're still iffy, but where there's life there's hope. Of the ones that I left in the ground, everything rotted away to nothing except Clear Fork River Valley and War Paint.

We've had endless rain, might have made the in-the-ground rot worse and encouraged the ones left sitting in the air.

Wow, awesome, MadPlanter! So glad you were able to salvage a few. Always nice when you can save even one that was dying.

In addition to the losses I had about 7 on life support so I dug all of those up and, when it appeared they were going to survive, am now replanting them with a slightly lighter soil that hopefully will drain a bit better. Ordered a few replacements for ones that were affordable "must-haves" and the rest of the empty holes will get lighter soil and a new, different Hosta. Just planted my Stag's Leap replacement this morning. I did dig up the dying Stag's Leap and that's going to remain potted until next year as it's just too tiny to put in the garden now. We'll see if it survives.

I wrote a thread on this very thing but no one commented. It's been a really odd year for hostas here in southern Missouri, as well. Either they are doing very well or they are almost or are dead. No in between. Albomarginata, Fire Island and Wolverine are having an excellent year. Grand Tiara, BME, Wheee, and Krossa Regal are really struggling. I am doing what I can to help them. But I don't know what the outcome will be?

I'm in sw Missouri so maybe it's not just my garden after all. Does seem like something odd is going on, as we not only lost that young Hickory in the Hosta bed that I mentioned, but two weeks ago we discovered one of our huge oaks next to the house is nearly dead. My dog does go on the poor thing a lot (her "spot" is at its base) but I wouldn't think ONE medium-sized dog's urine could kill a 75 foot tall oak tree. Gee whiz!

Hope your Hostas make it, Brandy. Is it only 4 you're having problems with, or are there more? Did you lose any over the winter?

I lost several over the winter. June and Guacamole were the worst. But, I got 2 new ones and I hope they make it. Right now, those 4 are struggling. Some are doing better than others. But they are all putting up a good fight. So I am hopeful still. I've talked to those in the neighborhood and around town... Same story. Either they made it and are having a wonderful season, or they are almost or are dead. :-(

hostatakeover: If water sits in your holes for as long as a few hours (or even longer), I'd say you had a serious 'bathtub effect'. You said that the surrounding soil contains a lot of clay, and the backfill in the hole is a combination of imported topsoil and potting mix, if I understood correctly. That sounds like it could account for your losses, since the topsoil/potting mix will hold a lot of water even if the hole is draining properly, and your holes aren't. Furthermore, the subsidence caused by the deer and moles will allow spring rainwater to sit on top of the still-frozen soil below, which will also tend to rot the crowns of the hostas.