Holy Smokes! BEAUTIFUL roses! That makes me just pine and pine for all all those expensive and gorgeous roses! The only one in your bunch that I have is America. Mine has one bloom bud, but I am hopeful. Yours are so healthy. Look at those leaves! Mine were until we had 5 weeks of non-stop rain. Now they all have blackspot on their leaves and the insects have started munching on the rosebuds. I fed them with Bayer last week and hope that will take care of the problem. I already see an radical improvement in the new bloom buds. Bye, bye insects! So long Blackspot! I bet you have a lot of car wrecks on your street from passersby doing a double take! :) Thanks for sharing your bounteous rose garden. ~Annie

Sorry if this sounds like a teacher giving a lecture... cause I was a teacher and it is kind of a lecture... but you asked... and I know sometimes when I'm questioning a problem in my garden, it helps if somebody takes me back and talks me through the basics. I know you are already a successful gardener, so take this as a friend helping you walk through the question... As has been previously noted, it is hard to respond to your question because the plants you listed are mostly not "Small Leafed" Lakeside Dragonfly registered with a 7x4 leaf and a 30" diameter plant. Most of us would call that a medium. This one was actually registered as a fast grower, but I started them from tc and have found them slow - but not difficult in any way compared with others. Lakeside Elfin Fire This is actually a mini... leaf 3x1... and with all the white, it can be touchy. Minis do require special care in tough climates... small root systems mean they can heave out of the soil during the winter... they can be covered by larger plants or suffer in competition for food and water. I grow mine in raised beds where I can better control growing conditions. i've kept one LEF alive... had to pull off a bunch of green last year, and the remaining looks pretty good-but-tiny this year... I probably wouldn't plant another... Stiletto glad I grew a bunch of these from tc before I heard they were problems for people... I have 3 or 4 around the place... easy to grow mounds about 2 feet across... nothing special required to grow them, but I have found them difficult to divide... tend to disintegrate into lots of plant fragrments and lose the nice mound shape. That might be the issue with people getting them going... a transplant is often just a bunch of rhizomes and eyes with little "root" structure. Hanky Panky for me it is staying much smaller than most of the other Striptease plants,,, mine have not done well in deep shade, and have not done particularly well in a lot of sun... I think it needs lots of light but not midday sun. With all its color changes, one might guess it is not a particularly strong photosynthesis plant. Also watch for sporting... I've got one that is almost overwhelmed by a sport that looks like Moonlight. Fire & Ice Notoriously difficult... too much white, not enough chlorophyll... Warwick Comet I don't have it Lakeside Paisley Print got a small one last year... no issues so far... good first year growth. I did put it in a bright-light holding bed where I can monitor soil and moisture. Allegan Fog - grows like a weed for me... or should I say, like an Undulata ;-) I keep chopping mine back to keep it in a 30" diameter space... mine is on the north side of a garage, so relatively low light... still grows surprisingly well considering how much white it has... (note: London Fog, the sport with little chlorophyll, is growing for me... but not nearly as fast and staying much smaller...) Wolverine - considered a pretty easy plant for most... and not small leafed... actually, with a registered mound size of 38" and leaves 10x6... I don't know if that is a medium or a large. Mine always stays around 24" So... the real question... why does an experienced grower like yourself have success with larger plants and less with these medium to small plants? Part of the answer you are getting here is - except for a couple on your list, it is not the plants. A Wolverine or Lakeside Dragonfly should not take any substantially different care than your successful medium - xlarge hostas. So there are only a few things to look at. Light... are they getting bright shade and not too much direct sun? Many hostas in too much light will have smaller leaves - the plant doesn't need as large a leaf to make food because of the brighter sunlight and it also protects itself against water loss from the hot sun by keeping leaf surface area down. If the conditions are too harsh, the plant will hang on but dwindle... until it passes on to that big garden in the sky. Soil - well drained soil? Young or struggling plants have trouble in heavy soil... hard to expand the root system into heavy soil, plus a tendency for moisture to hang on too long and rot the roots when it is wet and cold. They also have trouble in too light/sandy soil as the moisture doesn't hang around long enough for their small root system to keep them hydrated. Water... with well-drained soil, it is pretty much impossible to overwater hostas. Younger plants and smaller plants, with less-established root systems, are particularly susceptible to set-backs from insufficient water. root competition - young and small plants, with less-established root systems, will have a hard time getting the water and nutrients they need if they are competing with roots from established trees and shrubs. Larger hostas that are already established can (sometimes) hold their own. Your term dwindling may give the hint. They live, but don't thrive. One or two of the above conditions are not being met, resulting in struggle and/or death. Lots of good gardeners have designated special areas... a "holding bed" or nursery bed... melissa even has a NICU bed for those that are really struggling. You might want to consider creating a mounded area or raised bed with excellent soil and light conditions - I've even seen these in full sun, with a sun cloth canopy - where you can put the little ones in and monitor them... keep the moisture right... get them established... and then move them into more challenging garden conditions later.

Here's my article titled SPRING HOSTA TIPS: Spring Hosta Tips The snow is melting and Spring is on the way. Youve been anxiously waiting for the chance to walk through your gardens and dream about the new plants youÂve ordered from your favorite mail order catalogs. And, you canÂt wait to put your gloves on and get your gardens cleaned up. Hold on. Tip #1: DonÂt remove that winter mulch until the last frost is gone. Early arrivals, like montana ÂAureomarginata may require additional protection from that late season cold and wind. When all danger of frost is past, then go for it. Get your rake and wheelbarrow. Tip #2: Thoroughly clean your gardens. All debris should be raked and added to the compost bin to eliminate a breeding ground for slugs. Be careful not to rake or step on the eyes that are just popping up to avoid damaging the leaves which are about to unfold. Are your plants in good shape? Tip #3: Look to see if the frost has heaved your plants out of the ground- especially young hostas which were planted last year. As the ground freezes and thaws, freezes and thaws, and freezes and thaws (get the idea?), those plants may need to be tucked in on several occasions. Can your friends easily read those plant labels? Or has the name tag completely disappeared? Tip #4: Make sure all plants, including new arrivals, are accurately labeled and the tags are in good condition. Remember that large hostas will cover up name tags that are too close to the mound. Perhaps you have trees and shrubs which need to be pruned. Tip #5: Spring is the best time to prune most trees, and shrubs after flowering. Those branches which are dead, or make it too shady, should be cut off cleanly, chipped up, and added to the compost bin or reserved for a woodchip path. That pile of leaves, garden waste, and grass clippings from last Fall should be flipped over now. Tip #6: Turn over your compost pile. You may want to add a little sand. The warm, rainy weather will turn all that stuff into black gold. Then when those hot summer days reach 70 or 80 degrees, apply that free mulch around the base of your plants. How is your supply of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides? Tip #7: Take an inventory of your gardening supplies- tools, gloves, hoses, sprinklers, wheelbarrows, fencing, tomato cages, etc. Shop and replace worn out items now so that youÂre not stuck in the middle of a job. Spring is a great time to divide and transplant your hostas. Did you promise to give a hosta to a friend, or donate a plant for the hosta auction? You can create interest and educate others about gardening, and eventually turn your neighborhood into a hostaholic community. Tip #8: Spring is the best time to dig in your hosta bed. Review your garden records from last Fall to see which ones need your attention. How wonderful to see those long awaited hostas shoot up, bigger and stronger than the year before! Tip #9: DonÂt neglect to apply a slow release fertilizer. But donÂt over fertilize, and keep those granules off the newly emerging leaves, or crown, of the plants. Above all, enjoy the fresh Spring breeze, the chirp of the robins, and the signs of life as they appear, knowing that old man Winter is giving way to a new season of hosta gardening and fun everywhere!

I too suspect excess dosing. Wipe the inner gasket, that seems to be where the water is held. Are you getting a lot of suds? That would indicate too much detergent. To add to what Asolo said, I'd run an occasional hot cycle. Probably could use it for some of your clothes anyway or else just run a cleaning cycle possibly with some old towels in there. Maybe a bleach cycle occasionally. Many just use dishwasher detergent or use Tide washer cleaner, Affresh or something like that. But I think an occasional hot cycle might go a long way in solving your troubles. Being in NYC you shouldn't have excess moisture issues. Does the air circulate where you have your machine? I think Asolo was alluding to what capacity machine you have? Model? If it's the small capacity you shouldn't need to use much and with either, you need to measure carefully. Powders seem to be easier for many people to measure than liquids. Some claim that liquids cause trouble more than powder but I've had no such experience.