Up late while my teenager does homework.

I caught the hostas asleep. Low temp tonight of 36 predicted

1. Assorted.
   2 Krossa
2. NOID
3. Soul Shine unfurling for the first time

Fingers crossed for no frost.

my predicted low temp for tonight is 37..just 1 degree higher than yours..still not far from freezing..Tues was 28, Weds 34..

I was shocked by Tuesday's weather..

the weather seems to be "off" in lots of locations..

I enjoyed seeing your Krossa Regal..mine are large pips..they vary from 4 to 10 inches..I did a head count..13? 14? growing in 8 spots..

Yikes RE low of 28 on Tuesday for you, NW. I was surprised that we actually got to 33 last night.

utog..they say snow's a good thing..but seeing my plants flattened was rough..this spring has surprised me..I've had almost identical temperatures as the people in warmer zones..

45 here this morning but the air is very cold. I took off all the trashcans, pots etc. that were covering the plants. Most look good but a few got scrunched. What I did notice was significant holes in several which I missed earlier. I am sure that I didn't get out early enough to drench them so I will have to do that again next week when it's in the upper 70's here. Nothing appears to have frozen which is interesting since the hydrangeas usually take a hit and I left them uncovered. Still some bits of snow in large pots that I don't move in the fall since they are too big. All of the magnolias look bedraggled and the crab trees have lost all of the gorgeous flowers they had on Monday. Lots of tree branches down all over the area since the wet snow on the new leaves was too much for the trees to handle. The forecast is for one night next week when it's going to be in the mid-30's. None of this is good for the plants and shrubs.

miles..my macrophylla leaves are pretty ugly..I usually don't have leaves..isn't it unfair that I unexpectedly have leaves and then we have record cold?..

Utog, don’t you do a vinegar or ammonia drench on your hostas that get eaten up? It would help. All your plants look great!

Miles, I uncovered my hostas this morning. Everything actually looks pretty good. Sunday morning we are predicted to have temps close to freezing for a couple of hours only so I don’t think I will recover them. I think they will be ok.

debra

I have not done any drenches. I am still relatively new to hostas.

I am finally home for the weekend. The plants survived 2 nights of frost warning, with lowest temp of 33 F this morning. I made it home in time for the blue hour.

First Frost(s) and Virginia Reel are the yellow marginated ones. Blue Tooth is looking very blue.

Mystic Star

Dream Queen

Great Expectations

4/23/21

Bulletproof is BLUE.

My son and I like this area of the garden. The big bench is behind us.

Climax. Those cute little unfurling pips are about 18 in tall, so don't be fooled.

Happy Dayz

Afterglow,

Deep Blue Sea,

Remember Me, grown in full to part sun,

Mango Salsa

Lakeside Prophecy Fulfilled,

Parisian Silk,

Queen of the Seas,

and what appears to be a marginated sport of one of my Blue Hawaii’s. Last year this plant was throwing some variegated leaves that looked a bit like Dark Shadows. We'll see what this does.

Dancing Queen with Jack and ferns

Dancing Queen

Waterslide

Cutting Edge

Sun Kissed

Rhino Hide, slow grower, pretty

Virginia Reel

Sagae and Invincible with unfurling autumn ferns.

Thunderbolt is finally photogenic on its 4th year.

Atlantis, a slow grower for me.

Infatuation

Spilt Milk unfurling.

Apple Pie (Avent) is quite a plant. 2nd year, but was huge when I bought it from Plant Delights autumn 2020. I have never seen it in the spring. It is lutescent, because is golden yellow in the autumn. It appears to have a long growing season, which is great in my zone.

Apple Pie

Valley's Lemon Squash (2nd year)

Golden Meadows

Monster Ears is a cutie (small, not mini).

Tangerine Tango with friends

Lemontini has reclaimed its place on the stump.

My horde, again. I have new arrivals acclimating here, as well as the permanent guard. Most are awaiting their assigment and placement in the garden proper. All are in pots except the Undulata albomarginata in the back.

Utog, love so many of your hostas! The colors on Bulletproof and Remember Me are stunning. Also your Spilt Milk has such great patterning. Your Dream Queen is looking good too. I planted a Rino Hide, a small one and after 3 years nothing was left of it. Same thing happened with the Thunderbolt I had. I do have a King Crimson Red Maple out front and the roots run under and thru the hostas. Some I may have to dig up and clean out the roots this year.

debra

Thanks, Debra! My garden is crazy. Thunderbolt has been growing better since I planted it at the base of a red maple. Ditto for Dream Queen and Great Expectations. That makes no sense, unless my soil is poorly draining and too moist.

Blues

Blue Tooth as the rain begins.

Plum Delicious

Dream Queen

Elegans

4/25/21

Regal Splendor, Dark Star and Paul's Glory (emerging) with ostrich fern & liriope.

The front yard maple garden, mostly planted over the past year, max 2 years.

The happy trio again.

Striptease

4/25/21.... the perfect date.

Mystic Star and Sagae with astilbe, autumn ferns and blooming azalea

Spartacus leaf with Secret Love

You're So Vein

Tokudama aureonebulosa has just unfurled.

utog..everything looks great..I love the blue and green combinations..
Bulletproof looks pretty with the Japanese Painted fern..
is that Italian Arum above Deep Blue Sea?..I'm curious about it..don't have it..
Remember Me looks good..I love everything that resembles June Lol..
I have violets too..even yellow ones..
love Dancing Queen..
wish my Autumn ferns had as many fronds..
is that a sensitive fern with Thunderbolt?..
Apple Pie is a hosta I'd buy..I'd also buy Valley's Lemon Squash..

Love the blues--everything looks so fresh so pristine. Blue Tooth is gorgeous. Your Tokudama is amazing. I just got one from the Hosta Store which I put in a pot and it's about 5 inches tall with leaves beginning to unfurl. I have one in the ground which hasn't started to pip yet. I planted 2 Tangerine Tango last year and I am anxiously waiting to see what pops up this spring. I didn't spray in the area of the yard where Valley's Lemon Squash is planted and it has been decimated already by holes. I need to get out there tonight and drench what's left. I am expecting temperatures in the low 80's tomorrow so things should really take off. Does coffee help with slugs? I have a new container of Sluggo (Costco had it perched right at the entrance of the store) and have sprayed some of the yard, but I am already behind.

Nicholsworth,

Thank you!

Deep Blue Sea is paired with Asarum splendens and native columbine, so I think the arum-like plant is the Asarum.

My autumn ferns were there several years before the hostas as part of my terraforming project. They are growing so fast that I would share divisions with you if you were nearby.

Thunderbolt is among several ferns, but the light green one most present in the photo above is Marsh fern.

I do get slugs, but I think that their damage is less than what my plants sustain from growing under the oak trees. I think half of my hostas are growing in pots, which slows the slugs down a little. I have used Bug-Geta sometimes, but not in the past year. I think I will try the plates of cheap beer periodically this year. I hope the dog doesn't get drunk, though.

Miles, coffee doesn’t work, nor do egg shells......the only thing for them is vinegar or ammonia.....sorry to squash those ideas. I tried them before I learned about drenching.

of course you can go out at night with flashlight and tweezers and pick them up..... :-)

debra

undertheoaksgardener..I looked up Asarum splendens..that is your plant that I thought was Italian Arum..my wild ginger has round leaves and is just green..I didn't know there were variegated gingers..

this is a screenshot of the plant that I thought you had..

it's so nice that you would share your Autumn ferns if we lived closer!..I have quite a few..I just wish they'd grow..

I didn't know marsh ferns..I have an unidentified fern (bought it unmarked)..I thought mine could be a sensitive fern..looks similar to yours..

In the morning light 4/27/21

Sugar Plum. My favorite green hosta and my favorite purple petiole hosta. Bob Solberg makes great hostas!

"Sportsball", a nice sport I found being sold as Striptease 4 years ago. It is stable. I sure hope I do not kill it.

Mourning Dove between Sugar Snap (another Solberg!) and Brother Stefan

Sunset Grooves

4/27/21

Remember Me. I am glad I got this one 3 years ago. It has a terrible reputation, which it has earned elsewhere. For me, she has been a dream! I grow her in the ground in a wire basket in full sun-part sun in a rodent-infested garden next to a dead Japanese maple tree and its saplings.

Spilt Milk is getting pretty!

Journey's End is developing its coloring.

Touch of Class (or Catherine, label lost long ago, bought both from same store at same time, identical) with young Nigrescens in foreground.

4/27/21. Last photo is Mama...Tokudama!

Bridal Falls, 2nd year, bought as a replacement last year when cut worms took the first one. Nicholsworth, there is that same Asasum splendens!

Pea Pod is back!

Mike Shadrack hosta and Cup of Grace

Tokudama

4/27/21

Mini-pot with Picasso (just divided), Cameo (so mini), and Miniskirt (requires annual division else it will take over the pot).

Liberty, slow for me, yet worth it.

I liked the light here. Tall one in center is Krossa Regal, then L to R is Luna Moth, May, Golden Meadows, Chodai Ginyo, Avent's Apple Pie

Question on minis in containers. Just ordered myself a bunch of minis and want to know how deep are your containers, those of you who grow minis in them? I don't have any hostas in containers so this is new for me.

Miles, I will defer to the experts on growing minis. I am still learning. The mini pot above is very deep (12 in deep and wide), and filled with Miracle Gro potting mix (the one in the light blue bag). I think it is too deep, but the plants do seem to like it well enough. I just started another mini pot with slower draining soil (top soil, I confess) in a shallow, wide pot (4-6 in deep by 12 in wide). Minis, especially mice, heave themselves to death in my zone. I find this quote helpful, from our local legend, J. C. Raulston:

If you are not killing plants, you are not really stretching yourself as a gardener. —J. C. Raulston

N2hostas, Asarum does not run wild like Arum italicum does. I think Asarum spreads by rhizomes to form a mound.

Blue Hawaii garden

Blue Hawaii and Undulata

Queen of the Seas and Glory Hallelujah

Kiwi Full Monty and Grecian Vase

This garden in wider view, including Viking Sunshine and Summer Squall. All of these plants are young, small.

Green and blue

Devon Green (not Green Devil)

Contrasting blues with different forms--Hovercraft and Jetstream

Tokudama flavicircinalis is unfurling!

Lakeside Cupcake looking its best for the whole season. It belongs on the the driveway.

Snake Eyes. Do you think Sportsball is Snake Eyed?

Dinner Mint and Dream Queen

Lots of stuff here, but I am focused on Coast to Coast and Blue Perfection next to the blooming azalea

Variegated Solomon's seal is finishing its blooms.

With my young companion...

Mourning Dove

Honey Bunny (new, Solberg, no lineage listed) and Honey Bear. Could they both be sports of Honey Pie?

World Cup, Sun Kissed and Cutting Edge

Elegans with a little elf sipping from a cup in the shadow.

utog..another silhouette pic!..this one's great too!..

your garden's looking good!..we had 2 inches of rain Wed night..I had standing water (common in our high water table neighborhood) in my usual spots..so I didn't walk around in back today..

my still unclipped ratty winter foliage on an Autumn fern..they're slow for me..

the Japanese Painted ferns look fresher than the Autumns beside them..maybe because the Japanese Painted ferns die back?..

n2hostas..my green ginger is a good spreader..plant it with some space..but my craziest groundcover is this Lamium galeobdolon..can you see the variegated plant behind this bleeding heart?..that's it..

miles..there was a post a long time ago where someone used a wide shallow container for mini's and had success..

when I clean, weed and top with compost these plants will look prettier..

April 2021 has been good

Delta Dawn

A view of Ventricosa aureomarginata

Guacamole, Stained Glass, and Secret Love

Sugar Plum's "legs"

4/30/21...first photo is another view from the garden bench after a busy work week.

Elegans in a pot, grown in too much sun.

Summer Squall in the early evening

Tattoo (for Debra)

Waiting for rain. I will water tomorrow. I watered yesterday.

Monkey Business, Tattoo, and Tokudama aurenebulosa

Parisian Silk

Bletilla striata 'Gotemba Stripes" in bud with hosta Orange Marmalade in background.

My cool corner...Deep Blue Sea in left back, then Fog Light and Tokudama in middle, with Mike Shadrack and Cup of Grace in front. That big gap between Fog Light and Deep Blue Sea is where Warwick Comet died this spring (cut worms).

4/30/21

Heat Wave is back! This was my most photographed plant last year, and I only got it last year.

Golden Meadows, also a new addition last spring. I repotted it last year, but it looks like it will need to be repotted. It is a good grower for me, but I think it is because I am growing it in a pot.

Center of Attention is quite a beauty for the first part of the season. It gets tattered by mid-summer, but that's OK. It is worth it for these lovely spring leaves.

Regal Splendor and Paul's Glory have woken up to join Dark Star and the ostrich ferns.

Apparently I grow roses and other stuff.

Yellow Oso Easy rose

Baptisia Blonde Bombshell

Baptisia Carolina Moonlight

Coral Knockout rose

Yes, I have to grow the roses and baptisia in wire baskets, too.

Goodbye, April 2021.

Afterglow

Snow Cap

Elegans at twilight

Earth Angel

Which hosta is the last one.....Earth Angel?? Your Elegans is doing well. I bet if you put it in the ground it would double in size.

debra

Debra, that is Earth Angel! I will caption the photos later when I get to my computer. You discovered one of the reasons I grow my hostas in pots: to limit their size so I can have room for more hostas!

utog..don't laugh..my small baptisia planted last year..it has "blue" (purple) blooms..I have a tag but forget the name..the character logs are to protect it from feet..