I have Peace, Virginia Reel, and Rainforest Sunrise. I would consider them small hostas not mini. I like all 3 of them though. Wendy

Thanks Wendy :) I probably should have said mini-small since that's what I meant...a bit bigger than teeny tiny is just fine, hehe.

Where are you in NE Ohio? I'm in Concord just Southeast of Mentor.

The only two I don't have are Mouse Trap and Radiant Edger. Of the ones left, the only ones I found a little touchy are Hope and Cherish which are slow growers for me, but with extra attention should be fine.

I have Little Treasure. It's usually quite reliable, but this year only came in pretty small. I really love LT. I also have Rainforest Sunrise, which is absolutely lovely and has grown consistently very well for the past several years. I had Cherish one year, a few years ago, and it never did anything, and did not come back the next year. I just got Virginia Reel this year, seems to be doing well so far.

I can only comment on Rainforest Sunrise, but it's definitely NOT a mini, so if you really want minis, take that one off your list. But wait. It's so pretty put it back on your list of "smalls"!

LOL, thank you all. I did figure that Rainforest Sunrise might get a bit too big, but even then it would be much smaller than my others, so "small" is just fine there :)

Wendy, I'm right by Brecksville. Do you grow your minis/smalls in containers or in the ground? Do you do anything special for them come winter time, or treat them like the bigger hostas? Not sure if they'd need mulch on top of them or not, but my others only get mulch around them.

So far, Cherish is definitely getting off the list. Hopefully others will share their experience with Hope (LOL)...as of right now it's undecided... And of course if any others are tricky too, please do let me know. Haven't heard from anyone yet who has Mouse Trap and Radiant Edger.

Gary, I meant to ask you how you grow your minis/smalls too (in pots or in the ground and with or without winter "protection" or any other/extra care)... And which part of Ohio are you in? Thanks much for sharing the info about your little guys. Am excited to try some, but also been afraid that they might be too fragile compared to the bigger hostas. Doesn't help that a chipmunk has been digging in the yard for the first time this year. The existing hostas have thick and/or long roots so it hasn't bothered them (thus far?), but not sure if the little ones would be flipped right out of the ground. I wouldn't mind having them in pots the first year, but that wouldn't be a permanent type of situation. Then again, the chipmunk has dug right into some small pots I have in the yard too...hoping that that's only because there are roses in those, and Mr. or Mrs. Chipmunk apparently likes to chew our rose buds to pieces. Some of the hosta pips have been on the menu too, but only a very few so far.

I have 3 Rainforest Sunrise..LOVE them..I HAD Little Treasure..never did well and eventually disappeared..Blue Mouse Ears isn't on your list but I love mine..have a few planted in 3 locations and all do well..one uprooted but I replanted and now it's fine..

Thanks much, might have to rethink Little Treasure... Blue Mouse Ears was on my original list, but took it off after the list got too long anyway. If enough of the others get off, BME might come back on. I do like its shape, but the little blue it has to it would probably not last long at all in the spot I'd want it in, and not sure I need/want just a solid green. Decisions, decisions.

I have several mini. I'm only growing a few in the ground, blue Mouse Ears, frosted Mouse Ears and surfer girl. The rest are growing in pots. None have been attacked by slugs so far. In pots I have Mini Skirt, Church Mouse, little Treasure, Pandora's Box, Cracker Crumbs, Holy Mouse Ears, and Dragon Tails. I feel I'm forgetting something??? My pots go in an unheated shed in the winter, they have all done great. I also have a few smalls in pots, Rainforset Sunrise and Corkscrew. By the way, Blue Mouse Ears is a great grower!

Sherry

Thanks Sherri! Do you water (at all) the ones you overwinter in the shed, or keep them completely dry all winter?

And forgot to ask, what has your experience been with Little Treasure?

Blue Mouse Ears would be no.1 on my list, it grows like crazy and has sun from 2-6 in the afternoon in the pot. And it has the cutest flowers and here in my region I do not take the small ones inside, they stay with the others beneath the hedge to protect them a little, but that's it. Little Treasure is having problems here too, don't know why, maybe too much sun. I had it planted in the garden, but put it back in a pot some weeks ago, maybe that will help.

Got Toy Soldier in spring, nice looking, the years will show how it develops.

Back to BME...:-) with Jessica Alba, Little Treasure and Lakeside Lollipop in a big pot, they make a great combi...

Thanks Karin :) Any idea what was munching on your Little Treasure?

Your pot combo looks beautiful, you could literally sell that as a wonderful gift "basket." (I certainly wouldn't mind getting THAT as a gift, exactly as pictured :))

Is that a light in the pot with them, or a watering mechanism of some kind?

I would have thought that Little Treasure would need extra sun due to its light center, but if more sun isn't good for it than maybe it wouldn't be a good choice for me. The area I'd like the minis/smalls in gets a good amount of sun, although I haven't yet paid attention to the exact number of sun exposure hours like you guys do. It's the Northeast corner, right under/around a small dogwood tree. But, if need be, another location could be found...

Little Treasure has not done well for me, it disappeared after one season. It may not have had enough water. There are several people here who have beautiful ones. I recommend Dragon Tails which is not on your list, and if small is ok have you thought about Curly Fries?

Pretty Birds, it is a sun powered light, the pot is near the sitting area, so I have put some lights around there in different pots, makes a nice illumination at night :-) I have read about Little Treasure that it does not like sun so much, that's why I put it back in the pot, it was too exposed at the old place in the garden. And I have a lot of slugs and snails this year :-( The neighbours are neglecting the strip of land because they start to build soon, that's a perfect hidy hole for those ugly hosta eaters...

I'm doing a lot of rearranging through summer to find the ones that fit perfectly in place and companions :-) Those four are in separate smaller pots, so easy to get them out if they grow too big next year and some extra protection through winter...

Kathy, thanks for sharing your LT experience...I'm leaning towards no on that one now since it seems to be a hit or miss.

I was originally thinking about Dragon Tails or Curly Fries, but the seller said that to him they only look nice as a single eye, before getting overcrowded. Not sure how they are with slugs either, but they do look nice to me either way. Wouldn't mind dividing them if they do look better as only one or two eyes, so I guess I'll reconsider them again.

Mines in a pot, and it's pretty well spread out. I guess it depends on what you like. I'm hoping it eventually fills this pot. I left it in it all winter, but our winters are mainly mild here.

No access to any pictures at the moment but I can definitely recommend 'Tick Tock', sort of like a mini-'June', may not be the fastest grower but I really like it. 'Radiant Edger' is nice and as others have said, 'Rainforest Sunrise' isn't really a mini but it's a good grower and it's no accident it was the 2013 HOTY .

Pieter

Thanks everyone, appreciate all the info and pics!

Gary, your raised "mini" beds are beautiful!!

Very nice recommendations and photos. Minis are so cute, but get lost in my yard.

Kari, gorgeous pot of miniatures!

Pretty Birds, WILDernessWen5, I'm south of Akron. Lived in Brecksville a couple years.

North Coast Hosta Society is having a hosta sale this Saturday 6/17/17 at Bay Village, "Cahoon in the Village" My first time to event, but I'm going to see how it is. Nice club, joined last year.

You're still pretty close :) How badly "addicted" are you? I was just fine with my reliable old trio of hostas for a good 7 years, but then came across this place. Your guys' pics are so much better than HostaLibrary and Google alone. Anyway, my collection exploded in less than a year, although most are duplicates since I like repetitive patterns. The OCD prevents too much randomness, but some of the "loosely" arranged shade gardens I've seen pics of on here look so much more serene. Anyhow, I don't have much to show/share yet since the newbies are all babies. Don't have that much planting area anyway, but stuffed a bunch in to let them grow and then decide what to move, what to thin down on etc. Unfortunately a lot of newbies get fried the first year here, but trying to be patient to see if they can handle it better next year. All are on the Northern side of the house (small corner in Northeast and Northwest) but apparently not a whole lot of shade from the house alone (and only one small tree). I am watering them in like crazy this year though, hadn't done much of that up until last year.

Have fun at the hosta sale! I don't dare join any clubs yet. Need to thin down a bit before I can "look" at any new/bigger hostas :-S Maybe the minis/smalls will hold things over until then...maybe :P

Kind of medium bad. First ones in 95, joined 2 garden clubs and no one heard of hostas. Enjoyed fun trades here on GW 2000-2008, found online nurseries too, expanded to abt 100. Had 3 yrs of deer, etc and lost 35 Regardless of what Ken says, hostas can die. ;

Now I browse many many sites on line extremely often. Look at every yard. Retired and joined 2 hosta clubs and am now at about 160 varieties. Mostly Large types.

I slowed temptation by not going to nurseries, but now I have most of what they have anyway. I constantly tell myself buying is easy, who is going to dig the holes?. DH does but not too happy. Told him I'd hire a nice looking strong young man to help, but he didn't like that idea either.

I can stop any time I want ....... noicant imhopeless :)

LOL, love the description of "medium bad" (to addicted), and the "threat" of hiring a nice-looking strong young man to help dig the holes :P (And funny picturing you looking for hostas at the garden clubs back in '95 and no one knowing what they are...compared to almost every home having at least one type now.) 160 varieties is a lot to me... I have just over 30 varieties now (most in triplicates), and am up to my ears in hostas for the yard space (no more "pot space" left either). And yes, hostas do die...just lost one of the new ones to rotting, and its neighbor seems affected too, but am trying to stay hopeful that it'll recover after being cleaned and disinfected. The deer seem to be staying busy with other things at the moment, and the rabbit fence helps with those critters, but the chipmunks are fairly new (definitely had a population explosion this year and doing more damage)...frustrating although cute at the same time. Then there's the mole that keeps digging holes in the main flowerbed too, but at least we've co-existed for several years already. Don't mind the chipmunks shredding rose buds to pieces as much as I do chewing new hosta pips and eating newly emerging astilbe to the ground (which don't recover as well or as quickly as the older hostas).

Blue Mouse Ears grows very well. I've got 2 good sized clumps. I've added quite a few more over the years and just got 6-8 more. Giantland Mouse Cheese is not a mini but has done very well since last year. Rainforest Sunrise is about 4 years old and is 12-14 inches high in my yard. Just got Mini Skirt. Mine are all in beds--I've always been too worried to try and keep them in pots. Nice to see other folks from NE Ohio on the site.

Thanks Miles :) I'm glad to hear that the minis/smalls can do just fine in the ground, especially through the winters up here. I might end up trying an even smaller numbers of minis (this year) than originally planned, only because I got too many other new additions within the past year. They all look/sound so nice and hopefully by next year I'll have most of the ones I wanted. Rainforest Sunrise kinda reminds me of a smaller Dick Ward, which may be why I want it despite of its bigger size compared to the other little guys.

Pretty Birds, my potted hosta go in my unheated shed slightly damp after all foliage has died back and it is cold, usually November here. I bring them out when the weather warms up and water them, I haven't lost any minis in the ground d or in pots. Little Treasure has done great for me in a pot, has increased quite well.

Sherry