Yes, it does look like HME. They often revert especially if stressed. I was looking at my HME today and it has some reversion after a terribly hot dry year last year.

HME is a sport of Royal Mouse Ears which is a sport of Blue Mouse Ears.

If you were going to leave it in a pot I would put it in proper media as opposed to garden soil.

It is adorable!

Thanks for your reply, peren.all.

I haven't decided whether to leave it in the pot for a while, or just put it back in the ground. It just looked so small and vulnerable there in the ground surrounded by all the big hostas. LOL.

If I leave it in the pot, I will get some proper soil. Right now, I don't have any at all, and that's on my next shopping list.

Thanks, Ken, for your reply, especially the explanation on the difference between media and soil. Since I'm not sure when I'll be out to get media, I'll put the baby HME back in the ground today.

I know it's a mini, but how much do you think she'll grow this year? Should I give her some Miracle Grow?

Here’s mine second year. The rocks around it started out as squirrel rocks to keep them from digging.

I think I left them as it keeps me from stepping on it. I steppedon Mighty Mouse last year and he’s still in intensive care. I find it’s best to plant them along edges of beds or near a marker like a stone.

debra

Very pretty, debra. Good idea marking it with the rocks. I should probably do the same thing, to protect it all summer, and also so I'll know where to watch for it next spring.

Btw, I think it is HME. The green part perhaps is Blue Mouse Ears. Holy Mouse Ears is a sport of Royal ME and RME is a sport of Blue Mouse Ears. BME can look green in spring. Just a thought.

debra

Agree that it is HME. Slow to grow, and often gets a green shoot, that I pull off.

-Babka

Went out to check on HME yesterday morning, and was met with a tragic sight. Three leaves were lying on the ground !!!

So I dug the poor baby out of the garden and put her back in a pot. (this time with bagged organic gardening soil)

Then later in the day, I found another leaf had fallen off. No more damage this morning, thankfully.

Below is a current pic of my baby HME. Any chance she can survive the trauma? Anything I can do to help save her?

(the leaf on the bottom right was the last to fall off)

Looks like some thing nibbled on it……… slugs????? Make sure none are getting into the pot. Just give it time and make sure it’s not planted too deep. So hard to judge with the little ones. :-(

debra

Just planted a bunch of new minis and small hostas in pots and containers. We've got a new type of aggressive squirrel that has taken over our area. They are smaller, with gray chests but they drive off the other larger squirrels. They have taken to digging in pots, ripping off leaves, etc. I have a new hosta on life support thanks to their recent vandalism. My local nursery said that deer spray doesn't deter them at all. They had a spray which I bought and they also told me to try using some blood meal. Anyone tried blood meal to deter small critters? I also saw online that squirrels hate bone meal. Anyone use bone meal?

We also have had 3 very bad years with an overabundance of destructive squirrels. This year I just have had it so I have been trapping them (37 as of last month) and taking them 10 miles away to the other side of a lake in hopes they will not come back. I hate to kill anything and I know others will move into the areas vacated but not as many I hope. We are taking a break because I don't want to take a mother away from her babies. 37 squirrels in 1 huge oak and 2 pecans, they were totally unafraid and challenging us when we would go out to work in the yard. They wouldn't even run away, this was their yard. I am now seeing 3 every day--that is a manageable number.

Frankie, the Simple Answer… Squirrels typically do travel about 2 miles but squirrels can travel up to 10 miles. You can trap and release squirrel 10 miles away from the habitat, but it would be better to release far than 10 miles in which case, it would be impossible for them to return.

I'm have a suburban lot but we're quite close to green spaces with trees and we get squirrels but have been 'relocating' them for the past 4 years or so. I have a Have-A-Heart trap on the cap of one of my fences that's used as an access path by them and they're so smart to go in by themselves I don't even have to bait the trap any more. They come into the raised door and step on the trigger when going to the other end. If memory serves we're up to 57 but it's been getting slimmer the last couple of months...May be it's time to bait again...

Pieter

Thanks Debra. I wondered about slugs. Poor hosta. I feel I should have just left the HME with the bigger blue one. Hopefully she'll survive the summer, and then I'll try putting her back in the ground before winter.

Good luck with your hosta on life support Miles. So sad when they are attacked by "vandals". 😒

I put bone meal in the bottom of my first Hosta planting hole and it was promptly dug up by the squirrels. I stopped using it and only had one or two other issues with squirrels until recently. Now they like to bury their nuts in my pots. (Take it easy Ken). It hasn't gotten too bad yet, but I have used the rock technique twice now.

Steve, I've had the squirrels in the past dig nuts into some pots but that happened in the fall. Now with the newer type of squirrels in my area, they dig every day. This morning I saw that they had been there already ripping out soil and exposing the roots of the minis that I just planted. They seem to have favorite pots, so far they haven't gone into the pots with the larger hostas, just the minis and the small hostas. I can't be out there before work and in the evenings every day replacing soil. One lady at the local nursery told me she plants in her pots and then puts chicken wire around the plants. I don't have the time or the energy for that.

Can you get a picture of the new squirrels? I would like to see if they are like the ones we have. Ours are the Eastern Gray Squirrel. They are just too in your face. No one in the neighborhood feeds them that I know of. I think there just aren't enough predictors and there has been a population explosion.

Sure I will get a picture and post it. Shouldn't be hard, since there are always 5 or 6 in the yard.

Look who's recovering from her trauma. 🙂

Surprise, surprise surprise! She’s recovering already.

debra

I'm so proud of her. 🙂

So glad it is rebounding for you!

HME is continuing to recover from the "attack of the slugs" or whatever ate her leaves. Just over a month has passed and looking so much better.

Still looks like tiny leaves are appearing. How long will that keep up?

Also wondering when to put her back in the ground. How long will she need to settle in, before the ground freezes? And will slugs, or other leaf eaters, still be around late summer?

Next time, mebbe an overhead projector for a size comparison? lol

Slugs are always around if you don’t treat for them. At least in my garden they are. I treat spring and fall with 10% or more vinegar or ammonia to water. I literally drench the plants in fall after they are cut back, that will kill eggs laid. Then when the pips come up in spring, I do the same drench to kill any eggs left or hatched. Makes a huge difference!!

debra

Thanks Debra for the slug repellant tip. Might try that in the fall. So 1 part vinegar to 9 parts water?

yes

Another question about the vinegar/water slug repellant, do you spray it on the ground around the plant? Or is it safe to spray on the leaves?

I'm having a major slug problem this summer, so I may need to do something sooner than later.

lots of good threads on the subject. Since I don't do it myself try this one:

slug killing recipe

You need to contact the slugs/eggs with the spray. My understanding is vinegar can damage the leaves but ammonia is safer. Also be sure you're using the right concentration and avoid spraying in the heat/sun of the day.

Thanks, Steve, for the reply, and the link.

My little Holy Mouse Ears is still doing well, and getting new leaves, in her pot. But eventually she needs to go back in the ground and get ready for winter. So I need all the slug repellant tips I can get.

Yes, to confirm steves answer…….he’s lucky he doesn’t have to do this like I do……2x a year!! But yes, 10 parts water to 1 part ammonia or vinegar. Or 20 to 1 if you like, just to be mean……..hahaha! 🐌

debra

Just thought I'd post an update on my Holy Mouse Ears. She recovered beautifully from the slug attack, and now it is probably time to put her back in the ground for winter.

Hopefully no slugs or other leaf eaters finds her. Still nervous about the vinegar/water slug repellant. Do I spray it on the actual plant leaves? Or the ground around it?

Here's a before and after.

My little Holy Mouse Ears is back in the garden, after her traumatic early summer incident, which was followed by a long, happy summer, sunning herself, and recovering beautifully, on my deck. Hope she survives winter, and then is happy being a garden hosta, not a deck hosta. LOL. Here's a current pic.

Great comeback on the mini!

Regarding the ammonia/water slug spray, it will only work on the slugs that it comes in contact with. So no need to spray the leaves if you don't see any slugs on them. The spray is used to drench the petioles at ground level. This would kill the slugs resting there and their eggs.

Yesterday we had rain in the afternoon. I went out when it was dark to check on an area I was finding a lot of leaf holes in. There they were: the slugs! So I sprayed the hosta leaves where I could see them. I drenched some of the hosta crowns and plan to check again after a rain.

I generally don't spray the leaves because sometimes it leaves marks on them. But since we are nearing the end of the season, I figured it wouldn't matter anyways.