Hi All,
Just Had to share this wonderful news with everyone. Spring is here. I have 8,,,yes, 8 hostas popping up on the East side of my house. And one of them is definitely my 'Amime Tachi',,,yippppppeeeeeeeee,,,,also have 'Teeny Weenie Bikini' 'Delta Dawn', 'Invincible', 'Ice Age Trail' and I forget which other one's. Have their dates marked on my list though. Will be checking front beds this weekend.
Kelly,
just a few poking out here
Al
None here, my hosta/hostas are always the last to show their little heads.
Hosta or Hostas? That is one of the words I am never sure of the plural. Which is it? It seems like sheep or sheeps to me.
Kelly,
NO FAIR ! I mean....good for you. I tried removing all the mulch from my Chinese Dragon Supreme a couple of days ago and some of it was still iced in place at ground level. I'm guessing that I won't be seeing anything for some time. (I do have some ditch lilies up an inch as well as a peony.)
Keep us posted on their progress.
Marie
Kelly - Those look like BIGGUNS too! Yay! It looks like I lost one of my Fire & Ice :-( and the Matrona I got in a trade never rooted. Bummer. I thought it might've been too late in the year, when I received an un-rooted cutting. I thought I lost a Vera Jameson and Purple Emperor too, had two each. Well, one Vera was just barely peeking out of the ground yesterday and one Purple Emperor is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it, but they're still there, so there's hope, right? Crossing my fingers and toes that everything in the new hosta patch comes roaring back.
PG,
I Hope they come back big,,,they're different sized cultivars,,but what's coming looks good. I'm going to poke aroung in the front gardens this weekend to see if anything is coming in those beds.
Crossing fingers and toes here too. I've got sedum 'Matrona' if you want a start of it. Will you be at the round-up June 10 in Janesville or the weekend of May 22 when we're going to ChiBo. I can bring some along then. If not, send me a SABE and I'll get some out to you. Keep watching for 'Fire and Ice' from what I remember from last year, that one is a little later. As long as you can see a bit of a nub where somethings Supposed to be,,,there's still hope,,,,LOL
Kelly
I have lots of purple nubs where one is, and nothing else where there was another..hahaha. I'll try to make it to CBG, but don't bother about the Matrona, relax and enjoy the trip. It is common here, I can even buy a large plant at the end of the season for cheap, it's common here. ;-)
PG,
Know what you mean,,,almost like weeds. I got mine,,,it was huge and was about 5 bucks,,,LOL
Hope to see you for that weekend,,,I'm REALLY looking forward to it,,,,wish it wasn't long off still.
I have to get someone else to drive, I'm too neurotic to handle the traffic. I'm looking forward to meeting you too! I don't know if I'll buy plants, but I'm really looking forward to getting lots of great ideas.
PG,
LOL ChiBo is North of the city, you'd be on I 94 most of the way. Although down there, I 94 can get rather busy. I grew up in Wheeling. So I know how the traffic can be. It's funny, when we would come up here to visit my Grandparents, I'd always be bellering about a buggy or a tractor causing an accident cause they go so slow. Now, when I go to my Mom's in Wheeling, I beller about how people drive,,,LOL
Kelly
Yes, if I go anywhere else, I always think they are driving sooo slow. Unlike the Indy 500. ;-)
Still no signs of hosta here; they are always late but reliable here. By the way, when they start peaking out, is it a good time to divide? I would guess yes, but it is one plant that i have never tried dividing.
Sharon
Sharon,
You'll get different answers from different people about that. I think it's easier to divide in spring before they leaf out, that way you can see the eyes. A lot of people say to only divide in September. I have divided at various time during the spring/summer and haven't had a problem.
Kelly
My hosta are finally peeking out of the ground, they are always on the slow side for me too.
I spied with my little eye 'Little Sunspot' and 'Cascades' yesterday,,,hoping for more today.
I was so glad to read this thread this morning. I was so afraid my hostas weren't coming back as I'd seen nothing yet. We had such a mild winter and they're in a sheltered area. But you gave me hope they would be coming. Went outside for the daily Spring inspection and they are all popping out. Now I just hope we don't have hail. My daughter lives in Iowa City and she had golf ball size hail last night. They're calling for more storms tonight but I hope they're wrong.
Nancy
Nancy,
Glad to hear they are popping up. We got some rain last night and some thunder and lightning, but no hail,,,well,,,not before I went to bed anyway. I heard some places had hail the size of softballs.
I have little-bitty-tiny nubbins pushing through on some of my hostas. YEAH......they made it! I always stress over the first winter. I bought so many hostas last year, and some of them didn't get into the ground until September, that I was worried that their little root systems wouldn't be able to make it. So far so good.
As far as dividing hostas......I prefer to divide them just as they are starting to leaf out. When hostas are divided late in the season I think that they just have odd shapes and kind of leggy looking. I also think that it is good for the roots to have as much time as possible to get established before winter. Just my opinion.
Marie
Marie,
Glad you are seeing some,,,saw more of mine today also,,,gotta go look for more,,,LOL
More here today too.
Well, I just realized, duh, I'm in zone 5 BUT I'm anxious about my hostas coming up too, since this was my very first attempt at a planned "garden". Happy to report that I was wrong about that Fire & Ice, I have TWO more plants popping up now (that's a very happy surprise!) and several more that I forgot I planted, that's because I had to divide the hostas next to the bench to put in the Chocolate eupatorium. I couldn't just throw away the hostas I had to dig up, so I put them in the "holding bed" where they now live. Back in the hosta garden, I have four hostas (out of twelve) making a comeback. I take it I should wait to mulch that bed until after everything "pops" right? I don't want to smother any babies.
PG,
I don't use wood mulch ,,,but I'm so Anal I would wait until they are all up,,,LOL If you don't have anything in that bed that you want to seed, I would just Preen it and let it go until they are all up.
Well, I spied with my little eye 65 hostas today!!!!! Yipeeeee,,,wooooohooooo. That makes a total of 86 that have spied so far,,,only 180 to go,,,,LOL
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH, My 'Amime Tachi' leaves are coming VERY nicely,,,,and they Are Striped,,,,,,yipeeee wooohhooooooo yeeehaaaa,,,,can't wait until they are big enough to take a pic.
Kelly
Oh I forgot! Preen, is that the pre-emergent herbicide? Or should I fertilize. I am no good at chemicals, sworn hippie throwback who likes the idea of Soil Soup. What does everyone else here use?
PG,
Yes, it is,,,,,I buy Preen N Green,,,it has fertilizer in it,,,I usually use Miracle Grow about once every couple months,,,,but I am going to try 2 new fertilizers/plant foods this year from the messenger co-op.
I'll second that vote for Preen - it's made a world of difference for me! Weeding is about the only thing in gardening I get tired of, and Preen has eliminated about 90% of the chore. I've been wondering about the Preen N Green - haven't gotten it yet - does it work well too? Dax
dax,
I always buy the Preen N Green,,, less money,,,don't know why but around here it is. I also was using Miracle Grow. I bought some Messenger and Mighty Plant through the co-op and Can't wait to try those on all my lovelies,,,,I'll have a jungle before you know it,,,LOL
I have a question. What does Preen do to the environment?
zen,
No idea, Haven't read the box. Someone told me about it a few years ago and have been using it ever since. Sure save time on the weeding but better check on the environment. Guess I'll have to do a little reading
Hi zen~
Great question! I abstain from using any chemicals myself, and so I think it is good to consider the broader impact of gardening. It is so easy to recognize the beauty that results from plants/flowers/landscaping....but many chemicals available to home gardeners have a less than beautifying effect on the environment in their full scope.
I happend upon a website www.scorecard.org a while back--among other things it provides a good look up tool. The active chemical in Preen is trifluralin. It would seem that there are worse chemicals in use, but there are reasonable concerns for use of Preen--especially considering one's geographic location--it is not water soluble--streams/lakes/fish/amphibians are at high risk. I'm sure greater study would yield a better understanding of its interaction w/ the earth.
MudGirl,
Thanks for the link, and the info.
Kelly
MudGirl,
Thank you. I do everything I can to avoid adding to the pollution. I look out my window at a creek that runs through two lakes on it's way to the Mississippi river. Everything I put on my lawn is in the water system very fast.
The site is great, I bookmarked it to my "living green" folder.
Pauline
Mudgirl......yes thanks for the Preen info. My neighbor uses it regularly and I have also used it......and feel guilty for not looking into it more. I live on a lake, that's on a river, that eventually flows into the Mississippi. I also have my own well. Nuff said.
What we all need in that case is this wonderful 'No Mercy' weeder that will be offered on the Foxfire Hosta Co-op which opens on Thursday at 5 p.m. You can check it out on their website at http://005300c.netsolhost.com/pages/3/index.htm
Steve now has a patent on this and it is a remarkable tool. He is selling on the co-op for only $20. His regular price is $32.95. The patent is new and the 'No Mercy' weeding tool is not available anywhere else.
Marie
That look's like a winner.
Pauline
Good good--I'm glad the site may be of some interest and help. It can be a challenge to keep on top of such details!
I spotted the No Mercy weeder on Foxfire's website a while ago....haven't bought a new garden tool in a long time.....and I'm really 'diggin' that one (pun intended....*groan*)--and his co-op $ is great!
Marie-have you actually used it? I tend to have my plants crowded in and wonder about not getting the plants along with the weeds.
Pauline
MudGirl,
LOL @ the pun.
zen,
Not to take anything from Marie and I know she will answer you as well. Steve has only 2 blades on the one side for that very reason. I have used mine and love it.
edited kuz I kant spel
This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 5:05 PM
Pauline,
Sorry, I wasn't watching this thread.....didn't intend to be rude. I've also been very busy over on our Foxfire Co-op.
This tool is great! However, Kelly is the one who knows about plants that are crowded together. (No Kidding!) I've been working on NOT crowding my plants, and had to dig up a new bed last summer just so I would have somewhere to plant things. I planned for mature plant sizes when I spaced things out so that I wouldn't have to move them any time soon. I have another bed in mind for this summer. Who needs all of the grass anyway. Anyway.......other than 'ditch lilies' and sweet woodruff, I don't have anything planted in tight. The 'ditch lilies' I hand weeded before I got my No Mercy, and the sweet woodruff is pretty much on it's own. It covers a large area, and I don't interfere until something gets large and out of hand.
I really do like the No Mercy, and mom & dad as well as my sister and her husband are very intrigued. They all need them. I have more creeping charlie than grass it seems, and with the multiple blades I can really get it up quickly. Hopefully I'm finally getting all of the roots so that won't keep reappearing.
Kelly and I have only had our No Mercy's since the day before Easter, so we're still discovering all of the benefits.
Marie
Sounds like i should think about this. I just put in two more beds today so will have even more weeding to do. Thank you.
Come on over to the Foxfire Hosta Co-op and join in. We're having lots of fun!
Ahhhhh, I'm happy to report that all but 1 of my hostas are up. Yipeeeee. The last one I'm going to have to wait on and see exactly where it is. I put 3 in later in the Fall and didn't have any tape for my labeler so I just put the plastic plant tags that came with the plants in to mark them cause I was Sure I would remember where they were.
Guess what,,,,I didn't remember. While walking around the garden with a customer one day, I was telling her about the 3 missing lovelies. She found the plastic markers that I didn't even pay attention to for 2 of the hostas. I have been searching and searching,,,,but can't find the plastic marker for 'Surprised by Joy',,,,guess I'll find it if and when it comes up. Duh
