Some of the hostas are gone until next season but the Heatwaves are just slowly turning, I think trying to deny the inevitable. But it is very pretty none the less, just as pretty as during Spring. Xuling
H. Heatwave
What Hosta is that?
Heatwave. all gone now. I just cut the remains away this afternoon. xuling
Duh, I just noticed the name of the thread. hehe. Mine are all gone too, I think next year will be better. I moved a lot of mine out of the sun even though it was only morning sun it was too much during my Heatwave!!
I did think it was kind of funny that you asked, but then I do things like that all the time, so certainly cannot cast stones. All my Hostas are slowly dying off as this really is not the area to grow Hostas; and as much as I like them I am getting tired of caring for them so they survive the summer heat. I spent lots of money buying them and now I am wishing they would just go away. Silly attitude I guess. Xuling
xuling - you've done well to keep them going this long in your zone. I would imagine that if you can find native plants or plants that like that zone your gardening will be more fulfilling.
Yes, you are right about that. I did move all mine to the shade even though I did not have that much usable shade because of tree roots. I am going to do raised beds under the trees.
Whatever lives, lives and whatever dies dies. I have a lot of the sun tolerant ones and they do fine in the shade if you water them every day. I did not have time to water them properly so we just got a small sprinkler and move it from one area to the next. Worked good!!
So don't worry too much if a few die, just buy the sun tolerant ones for now on, keep them in complete shade and water everyday you don't get rain. They still need a cold spell though. Do you have low temps in the winter? They need 40 days of cold weather, at or below 40°. :)
Hi Virginiarose, I am in the same zone az you, my hostas are in pots, they did good last Summer, have about 30 of them, they are all down now. Should I cover the pots with pine straw or just leave them like they are. I also think to build some rased beds in the shade so they will look more then just pots, more like a part of a landscape. Etelka
Hola ViolaAnn, my yard is fillled with cactus and succulents and zone 9 perennials and xeroscopic plants, thankfully or I would give up gardening. But I do what I can with the Hostas and will continue to do so until they all die away. Same with the Tricyrtis, only the heartier ones have survived.
Virginiarose, all I have found by building beds under the trees is that the tree roots will grow into the raised beds and nothing is accomplished (sorry for the negativity).
Xuling
So maybe me and Etelka should stick with the pots, at least when it comes to tree roots. I actually like the way hers looks, the only thing I would do different is have a few more large pots in colors like gold and terracotta colored. I think the pots are a great idea, only in the high temperatures we get here they dry out faster. Actually the ones in the full shade did pretty good. I did not try those crystals yet and I know you cannot use too many because the plant will heave.. Need to experiment some with that one.
I do not put down any mulch or anything, just clean up the dead foliage and rake out the beds so the crowns can get air. No mulch! The cold is not our enemy it is our friend we need some cold weather. If you try to protect them by piling up straw or mulch you will just cause them to rot.
In winter they actually do better in pots here in the south because they can get more cold air sense it takes the ground longer to freeze. The only problem is that when the ground does freeze you do not have good drainage and so the plants will rot when the water pools inside the pot. So to avoid that just tilt them slightly so the water can run off them.
This blog says the 'in-ground' roots will stay too warm in zone 8 to please the hosta. Pots are better!!
http://www.hostasdirect.com/blog/category/hostas/
This is a nursery in the south (NC) and they grow a lot of Hostas, I like to order from these people because their plants are already adapted to the heat, even their Hostas because they choose the right varieties. Here is a list!!
http://www.plantdelights.com/Hostas-for-Warm-Climates/products/516/
thank you virginiarose, for the information, Is the NC nursery open to public, I travel that way in Spring to visit my son and famili in Elizabeth City, could stop by and buy plants in Spring. Thanks for the list on hostas for warm climate, I got few of them, but I guess I just bought them because I liked the looks of them. Most of my hostas are under a large Jap. Maple, so I guess I should not build a raised bed under it, because it will kill the roots. I can move the hostas but they would have more sun. In the back yard I have planty of shade, but the large oak tree has big roots and I would have to plant them in pots also. Well I will figure out somthing, right now I am into pansies. Here is the picture of the JM and the hostas in the Summer.Thanks again. Etelka
Plant Delights is open to the public, at least I have been there. And it is a great nursery, hard to find better. And I have ordered on line many many times. Go visit. Xuling
Wow, sounds like we all might be there next summer. My brother lives in Durham and I was planning a visit when I drive down, that would be great.
Etelka, nice looking garden! I love what you have done. I will be looking for more pots also to increase survival rate during winter.
BTW, they were talking about the first hosta's that emerge in spring, and mine is 'Sea Thunder', I have three and they come up a whole three weeks before any of the others. I had them in a raised bed with some other liners. I just took up this bed last month because all these are bigger now.
The first pic is the liners in the raised bed.
The second pic is Sea Thunder last spring.
Hostas are so beautiful when the are freshly open. good enough to eat. xuling
Sure looks better than Collard Greens! I am rethinking a raised bed under the Birch Trees. I had the small nursery bed there and no real problems except maybe not deep enough. I did put down newspaper and landscape fabric when we filled it with 22-40lb bags of top soil. Maybe the fabric was enough to keep the roots from coming through. I really like the look of a Hosta Garden under the trees, just gotta figure a way to make it happen. It's the only place I have left that is shady. I already have about 60 on the shady side of the house. Too many to buy pots for really.
I found a lot of those heat tolerant hostas at this nursery and I have ordered from them before, good prices too.
https://www.greenmountainhosta.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=bc3dad5b137e2a9a697e6008cd8e7aea
what a great location if it stays shady all day.
Yes! I have two huge Birch trees and not only shade all day but a full 20° cooler under the trees and always a breeze. I love to sit out there, it's just wonderful.
I have planted a River birch tree in the front of my yard. When I bought it it was small enough to fit in my mini van. That was 4-5 years ago. Now it is so tall that it was reaching the power lines. This Summer I had to have it trimmed on top so it wont. reach the electric line. I wish I read about the size of the tree before I have planted it. It is beutiful but by it being close to the street, I may have to take it out. I grew coleus under it, it looked nice. We learn something new all the time. Etelka
Wow, that's a shame Etelka! Mine were already planted in the side yard and were 7 years old. I thought they only get 40 feet tall. Now I find out they can get as high as 70 feet. Also I bought a Cherry Tree based on information right in this database. The tree was supposed to get 15-20 feet high and wide. Now three years after I planted it I find out it gets 40 feet, it is not the smallest cherry tree like I wanted it is the largest! Yikes. I made them change it in the data base too. If I had know I probably would not have planted it right there, but the sun was blistering hot out back and I do like the shade so far but the tree is only 12 feet tall, not a problem at all (yet). Live and learn I suppose.
susan