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Gingko treeHalcyonFernDeep Blue SeaAlbopicta FortuneiSnowdenChiemsee Blaue TaubeValley's GlacierAbiqua Drinking GourdFrisian Waving Steel

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June and the Japanese Maple glowing in the sun......SkywriterWaterslideHadspen Heron

Karin, your plants have lasted longer than mine. All I have is mushy leaves and dry flower scapes. The Halcyon family members lasted the longest with Remember Me outlasting all of them.

Seeds are all collected from my streakers and are drying in envelopes on my kitchen window sill. The ones you sent me are drying nicely and some have got viable seed in them. I will be cleaning them all soon and plan to start them in November.

After vowing to restrain my buying this year I fell off the wagon in spectacular fashion and increased my collection with around 60 new varieties. With that in mind I have decided resolutions are a waste of time and have around 40 on the list for next year. That does not include new Valley's from Jeroen, whatever Renaat decides to tempt me with and what The Alphabet throws up this year!

Here's to next year.

Dave

Lol, Dave,

congrats on your new resolution! No need to fight battles that can not be won :-) I'm having around 30 postponed from Jeroen and another belgian guy, mostly Valleys...And a long list with Renaat, an order with Fransen and Stefan from Dämmergrün, already more than 50 in total and the winter is not here at all :-( Ok, some I ordered for friends, around ten, that gives me room for more...

Found a wonderful one on facebook this morning from Naylor, called Mirror Lake from Jeff Moore and Gary wrote it will be available at Fransen next year...all those temptations...

The sun is shining now, we have 20°Celsius so it is out into the garden and cleaning up more...of the around 250 I have now most are dormant, I think 50 are still showing a little bit of green, but this year's biggest surprise is Valley's Glacier, it looks even better than in Summer but as the nights are getting really cold when the sky is clear it will be over soon.

Karin

Frisian Waving Steel looked gorgeous from spring to fall. Bought it last year and it grew so much and I would surely put it on my Top Ten list this year...

April

End of April

End of May

End of JuneEnd of JulyEnd of AugustEnd of SeptemberYesterday

And just to compare with last year August...

wow..grew a lot..a very pretty hosta..

That's a stunner!

It's sad to see them die back for the winter--I've still got some which haven't been touched by the cold weather. Last night it was quite cold in my area so I expect more will succumb to the weather this week. Love your gingko and Japanese maple. I bought a new one (JM) this year since the deer ate one of mine last winter. I dug it out and put it in a large pot, but they came back 3 weeks ago and started to eat it again. Guess it must be tasty. What color does your Japanese maple turn in the fall?

This maple turns a glorious red in fall, might be looking like this again latest next week...

But it is not the only one:

This one looks best in spring, later it is mostly a yellowish green, but I love it together with the hostas...
This one decided to grow right in the middle of one of my Lemon Limes...I'm glad that I have no deer around, living in the middle of town is not so bad...

I collect maple seedlings whenever I can and grow them in pots for the first years...I know a garden where I can find lots of them so I don't have to spend money for trees...it's a question of patience...

Pictures of Hosta Ventricosa taken on Sunday...this one is in deep shade and lasts longer than the ones in sun. The leaves look like velvet and I think it should be in every garden...

Gorgeous maples! I love the one with yellow leaves tinged with red. Are they in the ground or planters? If in planters, how do you protect them in the winter?

I always enjoy your pics..I would love it if the Japanese maple seedlings would stay tiny forever..so adorable with mini hostas..of course mature maples are fabulous..we don't have nice fall color yet on anything..my battery was dying but I took 1 pic today..Fire Island with a bloom that's still pretty..a few bits of Venusta next to the stones..and Golden Tiara?(guessing..was here when I moved in)..

miles, in my climate zone I can keep them in pots for a long time. The red one had been in a pot for more than 5 years and I could have left it there even longer. But I had this empty space in the front garden and it filled it up nicely with the years. When they are tiny I take them inside and keep them in a cold room and give them a little water from time to time.

nicholsworth, I would also like them to stay tiny, they are so cute! My poor Fire Island had a bad year. It got a late frost when a lot of leaves were already out and had brown spots after that and to top this a slug found it's way into the pot and had a feast on the new leaves :-(

Is yours in a shady bed? It is quite dark...

Golden Tiara is one of the hosta I have started with and it is such a good grower that I have divided it often and gave big chunks to friends.

I bought Grand Tiara, Emerald and Platinum Tiara this year and have Royal Tiara on next year's list :-) I hope they grow as well as Golden Tiara...

Grand Tiara

Emerald Tiara

Emerald Tiara

Karin..in spite of the problems your Fire Island has pretty color..and you're right..mine are in the shade..

Fire Island is in full sun from 2-6 pm and the leaves never burned here. I had much more hostas in sunny places than the years before and got really nice color results. I had to shower them a lot in summer, but it was worth the effort.

I thought by the driveway was one of my sunnier spots but you burst my bubble saying that it was quite dark!!...sigh...it's true..

I really love those woodland gardens, but they have not enough sun to bring out the bright colors and paintings in hosta leaves. Best example is my June that I moved to sun all morning and afternoon. It is only protected in the really hot midday hours. Not a single burned leaf...and we had two months with around 35°Celsius this year. That was an eye opener for me...I will concentrate on Rawsons list of sun tolerant hostas in the next years because the shadier places are all full now...and make some experiments myself, with hostas in pots it is easy.

nicholsworth - my Fire Island gets good morning sun and it is pretty green, and has been for most of the summer, although it was a beautiful yellow in the spring. I have a picture, but I took in sunshine, so it's hard to tell... I'd say it's about the color of yours, maybe a little lighter. But it bloomed quite a while ago. Interesting how the different zones/environmental factors affect the plants.

Karin - I wish mine could stay that lighter color.... very pretty.

windymess..mine were beautiful in the spring too..and the green now is like an apple green which adds some variety to all of my standard green..but as you said I would love it if the yellow color stayed..