well ... tomorrow is september ... they suns in decline.. and they are shutting down for the season .... you presumably planted them in the heat of summer.. perhaps you didnt water them enough ...and just maybe.. they hate you .. lol ..

the only expectation i had the first season.. was that they lived ... next year is your happier year ... and even better the year after ...

and.. once they get better established .. they will be more weather and sun proof ...

ken

I think they hate me too ! haha i love hostas, why don't they love me back!!

I did plant them in June, but i watered them well. They looked fine all June / July, they just started looking sun burn August. The past month we have been non stop rain though, do you think that could be an issue, too much water on hostas ?

One of the first hosta families to go down in the fall are members of the hyacinthina family, and 'Patriot' is a member. Of all the hosta cultivars we have available to us they are probably the ones with the shortest season: late to emerge and early to go down.

Pieter

Ok that makes sense.

I have one more patriot that I wanted to move with these three. Should I move now before they go down or wait till they come back in spring ?

Patriot needs some winter chill to thrive. They grow pretty slowly for me here on the 7B/8A dividing line. Patriot may not come back in 8B. The owner of a nursery in Aiken told me he quit carrying Patriot because it didn't survive the warmer winter there.

Hostas that come from Plantaginea are a better choice for the south. That's the parent plant for all of the fragrant ones like Fragrant Bouquet, Honeybells, Guacamole, Stained Glass, etc.

Useful link:

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/topics/lawn_garden/commercial_horticulture/ornamentals/thriving-hostas-for-southern-louisiana-landscapes

WOW. Great link, thanks ! I have some friends with Patriot in the upstate so i just figured i would be fine too, but it is a much different climate. But my home depot was flooded with them so they fooled me !

I guess i will see if they come back and if not I have some shopping to do :) What time of the year would you expect to start looking for new sprouts ?

The Patriot and Whirlwind plants I have are among the last to come back in the spring. I actually gave up on one of my Patriots this year and dug a hole for a replacement plant only to find that the Patriot was there, just beginning to send up pips when other Hostas in my garden already had leaves.

'Halcyon' was not on the list from that link, but any thoughts on it ? My store has these on sale $1 end of year sale and I would like to add a blue if i could !

I'm in 8a. Krossa Regal, Halcyon and Blue Angel are blues that have done well for me. I found Patriot a little picky. It's a sport of Francee and Francee is an easy hosta to grow. The white edge is not as wide as on Patriot and Minuteman, though.

Francee

Look at the Lakeside hostas. They were bred for the longer seasons of the South and are prettier, longer.

You may have better luck with growing in pots.

bkay

June is a Halcyon sport and does well for me although it is slow to increase in size. I'd guess Halcyon would be similar. Don't know how it would do with less winter chill, though.

Krossa Regal is on that list and does well in the heat. There is also one called 'fragrant blue' that has some plantaginea heritage and should do well. That's a new plant in my garden this year, though I'm still evaluating it.

Of course, for $1, why not give it a try?

Exactly, they are cheap so might as well! They had Francee i just am not a big fan of the white edges, maybe because i have Patriot and Fire&Ice. Both are first years to the garden so if they dont come back, Francee will be their replacement! Those were both knee jerk decisions at Home Depot without researching first. How do you think Halcyon will look against verigated liriope ?

They also had Francis Williams and I liked that a lot, again just not sure about such mild winter? Any thoughts there, I may get both.

I've seen FW in my area that comes back every year. It does tend to suffer from leaf dessication but is otherwise a nice plant.

I am in 9b. I grow just a few fragrants, and they do just as well for me as the others. My winters are warmer than yours but my summers (mostly) aren't so hot except for this week when we've been setting records over 100 degrees. No a/c in most homes here. Olive Bailey Langdon (an FW look alike) has done well for me for over 15 years!

Try them all and see what works for you!

-Babka

I would not do Francis Williams. It has ugly brown spots almost from the time it comes up and never looks really nice. Olive Bailey Langdon was not as bad to get the brown spots, but it had the uglies by mid-summer. (Babka lives in silicon valley, so what does well for her will not necessarily do well for you. She loves her hosta and spends the time to keep them looking great. She also grows in pots.)

If you want nice hosta, leave Home Depot out of the equation. Home Depot has the plants that are cheapest for the grower to start, not necessarily what will do well in your location.

If you want hosta that will do well, do your research. The Louisiana trials are a good place to start. If you are interested, I have info from some trials at the Dallas Arboretum. Look at the photos of the plants that will do well for you at the hostalibrary.org and decide which ones you like. At the top left of most photos there is a link to themyhostas.net database. It gives you an idea of how large they will grow. It's not always accurate, but will give you a general idea. You can assume that yours will get 1/2 to 2/3 the size of a hosta grown in Ohio.

Buy your chosen hosta from a reputable hosta dealer and have it shipped to you. The larger the plant you start with the better your results, in my opinion. A "good grower" hosta costs more than Home Depot without a doubt. It is worth it, though. There are lots of threads about good growers.

If you keep futzing around with Home Depot hosta, you will not likely be successful in growing something you will enjoy.

JMHO

bkay

Whitewater, are the FW that you've seen just wilted or sun spots and turning brown?

Bkay, do you have those Dallas trials?

Frances Williams is notorious for spring dessication, no matter where it is grown. These are not sun spots, or drying. The white tissue on the edges dessicates, even in protected shade. Of course there are some exceptions... I had one that did just fine one year, but that was about it. Bkay has given you very good advice!

-Babka

Babka describes it well. There's one at work planted in quite a bit of sun. Started with brown edges in late spring. The leaves now have thick brown edges and the entire plant is ragged looking.