Thanks Esther. I'm watching the weather radar and more severe storms may be headed our way over night. I'm hoping for Hale!

I can empathize. Hail has to be the worst because there is no way to prepare for it. You can prepare for frost, prepare for snow. The weather channel is good at predicting that stuff. But hail is a complete shock. By the time you hear it, it's too late. Hard to run around outside covering things while getting pelted. When it's over, it's often total devastation. Like you put all your plants through a shredder.

popmama, I know just what you mean. I've never experienced total devastation myself but I've seen people post pics on this forum and the damage is heart breaking. And those who are really into the hostas just feel so so terrible. Everybody is supportive and sympathetic.

May is hail season here. We had some yesterday but it wasn't too bad. But it reminded me of the ones that were. Maybe we should build little umbrellas for our hostas. Hey, now there's an idea!

May hail makes gardeners wail.

As if spr-inter wasn't enough, the next season will be spr-ummer

I love the click bait title. It got me wondering. We do not have this problem out where we are. Good luck with hail damage.

What a bummer. 2 years ago we had an early spring followed by a busy storm season. All my hostas were fully leafed out when we had a horrible hail storm. The hostas were thoroughly thrashed. I was so bummed that I couldn’t even take pics. They did recover for the most part, but now 2 springs later you can’t even tell.

It's that time for many of us. We're expecting severe weather today. I've found that row cover helps mitigate the damage from hail. Old sheets also help, as do cardboard boxes and empty pots turned over emerging hosta. Hail is usually accompanied by rain and wind, so you have to weight down cover so it doesn't blow away. Sheets and cardboard boxes have to be removed promptly as they become really heavy after getting wet.

This was the worst hail storm I've had. After this mess, I learned to protect them better. This photo won recognition for ugliest hosta on this forum in 2011.

bkay

Wow bkay, you've been through this before. Ive gone to all the trouble convering them when Friday was in the forecast but we don't get a lot of hail here and that is just so much work if hail is just about possibility. But then the damage after a few minutes can be so devastating.

If hail is expected, can you put bed sheets weighed down of course over your hostas? Do the sheets deflect the damage of the hail even if they are touching the leaves? I've never thought of doing this, but several years ago, an area less than 5 miles away experienced heavy hail that completely destroyed everyone's hosta leaves. I know that you would have to have the sheets anchored so that winds would not blow them away but if that could be done, would sheets help?

I would think that something like a box or an overturned pot would be better than a sheet. I don't know what kind of hail you have, but here, a sheet could easily get shredded. The problem here is that there is nothing that truly predicts hail. It comes with a thunderstorm sometimes. Sometimes you can tell it's coming but only a few minutes before. Last year we had one hail storm that was so bad that one of the big malls had to close for 6 months due to their roof being destroyed. Everyone in my neighborhood got a new roof after that storm as well. Ugly hostas? How about these:

Wow popmama - those are some ugly hostas - so sad to see that kind of damage. I'm with you - you just can't predict the hail around here - a few miles away gets nothing.

I knew from your title it would be about hail. Been there, done that. A nice gentle rain can suddenly turn violent! I was hit hard in May 2015.

Good thing most of your hostas aren't unfurled yet. How have they come through these recent storms?

sandy, that is a lot of damage! I imagine those with the biggest leaves are effected the most. I can't see any damage on the few I had that were unfurled. But today we have very high winds so it would be hard to tell the culprit if the leaves are damaged.

Happy to hear you did not have too much if any hail damage Barb! The wind was wicked here last night and I know you got it much worse if you are in the Windsor area. Hope all is well with you and all in its path!

Such sad hail pics.

It's wicked out today! I wAs going to trade my winter gloves for my garden gloves, but Me is thinking on keeping them for some more days, there.

H is in the forecast for tomorrow and Friday. I'm trying to work on a strategy now. I wish I had bought that hail cloth. I can cover some of my hostas with pots, but many of them are already too big for that. Ugh.

popmama, hope you made it okay yesterday.

popmama, hope you made it okay yesterday.

They predicted hail all of a sudden one day and all I could think was that I should have taken pictures sooner!

They are pretty good at predicting hail here. So, we generally have enough warning to use something I have on hand. I keep row cover and bed sheets (washed and folded in ziplock bags, so I don't have to handle dirty stuff) in my garden shed, as we have hail fairly often in the early spring. There is generally no time to GO find anything for protection like you have when a frost or freeze is predicted. I think that bed sheets help a lot. They might not totally solve the problem, but they minimize the damage.

I grow in pots, so it's also easy to stick them under a chair, on a porch or on the lee (usually the east side) side of the building.

Luckily, that season is mostly over for us. It's getting to be summer here.

bkay

Lots of hail today nearby, but I was spared. I did go out and cover a few things. I just realized I completely forgot to cover my minis. I'm going to have to remedy that tomorrow. They are predicting more rain and hail tomorrow.