Hostas

[torontotrini]

Hi folks. Hostas are plants that I've found more interesting and attractive as I've gardened over the years. I must admit that when I first started gardening in Canada (I don't know hostas in Trinidad/don't know if they grow in tropical conditions), I had very little interest in them/didn't find them attractive. That has really changed over time, and while I don't have very many, it's more a matter of limited space and proper settings for them, than an interest in having more than I currently have. I understand that there are well over 600 varieties of hostas, and I got to wondering how many different varieties we might have among the boarders who post here and on the other board. So I thought I might post the few I have, and see if there are some of us who would like to post/share pics of any different varieties they might have. I'm going to post this on the other board as well, because I know that while there are many of us who post on both boards, some visit/post here more often than on the other board and vice versa. So here are mine, and I would be interested to see how many different varieties we can come up with. Here goes.

ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/berfamilyreunion/album?.dir=165dre2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

[Dutchy]

That is one impressive collection Torontotrini.
I have but a few as they need to be in the wettest spots in my garden or become slug food.
The wetter the situation here the stronger the plant.
No pics as they are in your collection too ( The middle large leaved ordinary one and the white edged equally middle large leaved one) I lost a big grey leaved one but never replanted it.
I might at some time but Hostas do not like being overcrowded and I am a no soil showing gardener.

[Chuckles]

Fab Hostas TT. Some of yours are huge, if I had to choose a favourite it would be that 1st one, lovely shade. I have a few and keep them all in pots, don't know all the varieties I'm afraid. I looked at some beauties at GW the other day and to be honest I got a little confused by them all. Soooooo many varieties that look the same or very similar to me, but I guess to a Hosta specialist they look very different. Some were very expensive, upto £12 for a very small plant

I'll look some pics of mine out when I get a mo

[Chuckles]

Heres my mottley lot just starting to show signs of becoming snail fodder ;D There are 10 all in all but a couple of duplicates. The only one I know the name of is in the 3rd photo, tall pale green one on the right, Halycon.

[beanie]

Hi.T.T, lovely hostas ,they are one of my favourite plants, how are you keeping the slugs at bay, the only one they havn't attacked so far are ,Seboldiana and Frances Williams. I have a very nice yellow, Piedmont gold the new leaves look like butter.I can't post any pics because I'm useless at anything technical. A very good site for hostas is Bowdens hostas, lots of pics too. They also hold the national collection

[Rosefriend]

Hi TT thanks for some lovely photo's.

Can you tell me the name of No 23 - it isn't White Christmas or The Night before Christmas is it.? It certainly looks lovely, - they all do.

RF

[torontotrini]

I'm afraid I don't know the name of No. 23, rosefriend. I think the problem for a lot of us who like hostas is that we get root cuttings from friends, who probably got a cutting from a friend, who ..... and the name of th hosta gets lost somewhere in between friends.

As far as as the slugs go, I use the beer-trap thingy, and I do find that it works. They crawl in and drown; probably feeling quite happy. I also do a night patrol as often as I can manage, with a bright flashlight and a pair of sharp scissors. Very effective. I'm sure you get the picture. My neighbours have gotten used to seeing me skulking around the yard at night with a flashlight so they don't call the cops anymore. ;D Even with the beer and the scissors the slugs still get their bites in, and by the end of the season there will be the typical slug holes in the leaves.

[Deleted]

Excuse my silliness , what do you need the scissors for?
I have just planted Hostas for the first time and they just look great but the slugs are in heaven ever since.
robin

[snowowl]

He cuts the slugs up Robin yuk.I dont think TT is at all sqemish.yuk yuk yuk.

[Deleted]

Please tell me you are pulling my leg, yuch...

[snowowl]

No its true.Lots of people do this but i couldnt im to sqemish.

[torontotrini]

Well, I wouldn't say I cut them up. I think that's a bit harsh. I just snip them in two. And no, I'm not a wild axe murderer or anything like that, you understand. However, when it comes to slugs, I have absolutely no reservations, sensitivity or squeamishness about snipping them in two. I feel the same way about lily beetles. Other than those two creatures in my garden, I'm just a big softee. Although earwhigs are just on the edge of my tolerance radar, I must admit.

[snowowl]

I no you are not a mad axe murderer TT .I no lots of people that dont think twice about cutting slugs in half.
If i wasnt so sqemish i would do the same anything is better than having munched up Hostas.
You big softie you

[torontotrini]

I was only kidding snowowl, but thanks for the hug.

But isn't it funny? One of my cats recently killed a robin in my garden and it made me feel very sad/upset, but I can snip a slug in two or squish a lily beetle under my heel and don't feel any remorse at all. Maybe it's because I see the slugs and the lily beetles as pests but not the robin. I haven't let my cats out since then for fear they might kill another bird, even though I've put a small bell around their neck.

[Dutchy]

Hey Toronto, what is on the up now? Slugs or Hosta's?

[oldmoleskins]

dutchy said:

Hey Toronto, what is on the up now? Slugs or Hosta's?

And, while you're at it TT - is there anything other than slugs could be responsible for small round holes in the leaves...?

I was congratulating myself that I'd beaten the slug problem (new raised bed filled with bought-in- and-hopefully-slug-egg-free compost, surrounded by 6 feet of pea shingle laid over ground cover matting) but on close inspection there are hundreds of holes the size of a cigarette burn...

here you go:




OM.

ps the wire netting's to keep pheasants off them in the early (tasty) part of the year, could come down now...

[dirtyboots]

Love the look of that oldmoleskins, will watch this thread for the answer as I have some small holes too
db

[torontotrini]

Hi Dutchy. The hostas are still holding their own, so I think I'm still winning the war against the slugs; at least the battle of the day. I've been putting the beer thingies and that still seems to be working; not catching/drowing as many as I was earlier in the season, so I'm taking that as good news.

Hi oldmoleskins. Maybe it's snails. They go after hostas too, and I don't think the shingles etc are effective against the snails as they are against the slugs. Check through/under the leaves if you haven't done so yet and see if you find any of those little nasties hanging around, or do a couple of night patrols at different times of night. I don't think it's earwhigs. I haven't noticed the earwhigs around here going after the hostas, but you never know. Good luck.

[beanie]

i've had a very good season as regards the slug problem and any leaves that look to bad ,well i just pull them off ;D

T.T your hosta No.23 look like my undulata univittata. wish mine looked like yours though

[Rosefriend]

Hi OM - I have just had a look at my Hosta's and mine has a few holes as well and there are beetles crawling on the leaves.

I had a google and came up with the Flea Beetle but apparently there are loads of beetles that do it.

Mine look a bit like this one , although it says that they range in size and colour.



RF

[torontotrini]

Thanks for that bit of information rosefriend. I'll have to keep an eye out for the little nasties. I don't suppose they might like beer.

[Deleted]

These are mine in a right sorry state.

I think maybe hosta's are not for me



Sara

[oldmoleskins]

Blimey, that's carnage, Sara!

OM.

[torontotrini]

Oohhh Sara. That is sad, Your garden must be the slugs world headquaters. You've got to get back at them. Don't let them get away with that.

[Rosefriend]

Oooh that brings back memories - years ago I had Hostas that looked liked that. I put them all into tubs and then the tubs got too small or the hostas too big, which ever way you want to look at it.

I used to use beer traps and had more drunken dead mice than slugs so I got Slug Pellets which these days are far better/kinder than they were. No danger for Pets either. I also plant French marigold for them in the hope that they go for them first.

As I have neighbours, particularly one,that never does anything the slugs had a field day sleeping during the day at his place and munching their way through my garden at night.

So now I start early in the year and put out a lot of pellets and get them to come to my garden - mmmmh well I get hundreds that way and since I started on that tactic I haven't had too many problems.

Apart from a few holes I am doing fairly well. These are the two big ones.





RF

[torontotrini]

Really nice rosefriend. I've got both of them - don't know their names though - and they're doing well, with just a couple of holes as well. I should be seeing some flower stalks pretty soon, although the blooms aren't the big thing about hostas, but some blooms are nicely fragrant. You never completely stop the slugs. Doesn't matter what you do, they'll get their chompers into your hostas.

The first gardening season here when we moved house was awful. I only had a couple of hostas, and they didn't get quite as bad as what's happened to yours Sara's, but the slugs almost brought me to tears with the carnage they did. Then I found out about the beer trap thingy on the Garden Clinic board, so I started with it early in our second year here and boy, did it make a difference, along with the night patrols with the sharp scissors. I tried the pellets as well, but I prefer the satisfaction of seeing drowned slugs or a nice clean "snip". I'm pretty sure your hostas will come back next year Sara, even though they look pretty dread and wiped out now. So plan for next year against the little beasties. Fight! Fight! Fight! .

[oldmoleskins]

They're fairly fully in flower, now:



never found a beetle, but did see nibbled leaves where they poked through the netting - rabbits/pheasants - so the netting stays...

OM.

[Weeterrier]

sara said:

These are mine in a right sorry state.

I think maybe hosta's are not for me



Sara

Dearie me, Sara, What a mess of your hosta the slugs have made. I rather 'stick up ' for them, because I had not realised how troublesome they can be. Here are some photos of mine. I use absolutely nothing to prevent snail damage, but I have a small wildlife pond, so I believe it must be the frogs and toads which keep them under control. Would it be possible for you to construct a pond? Even a half barrel sunk in the ground with its rim level with the soil might make a difference.

[Rosefriend]

I must admit to liking Hosta's and used to have about 10/12 of them but I have gradually got rid of them due to them ending up mostly as holey hostas.

However I have kept 4 - 2 of which I love



Hosta sieboldiana "Elegans"

and



Hosta fortunei Aureomarginata

I used to have both of those in large tubs and they were fantastic - however I ended up having to plant them out and use up to a whole pot of slug pellets each year.

This is probably a damn silly question but I have found that Hosta roots tend to go a bit mad in a pot, - is it possible for me to put them back into large pots but to cap the roots on a regular basis and keep them still looking as they do now.? Or is it a case of keeping top and bottom equal as is so often the case.

RF

[Deleted]

Hi RF,

As you can probably guess I love hostas too. I grown hostas for years now but have never tried what you're asking. By 'cap the roots' do you mean trim them? If so I suspect if the plant didn't suffer the opposite of what you want would happen, i.e. stimulate root growth. I reckon the only answer is to divide the plant when it become too large for the pot - yes I know the downside to this is you lose the size and impact of the plant. Maybe someone else has tried this and can help.

BTW your hostas are gorgeous - I've got both of those and I love them