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Let's see or hear about... the good, the bad and the ugly!

bchosta 8b west coast canada

10 years ago

A tongue-in-cheek review of the year that was, 2013
First the Good!
After a couple of years languishing in a slumber (perhaps a result of wanting to miss out on the particularly wet springs) Journeys End woke up and showed signs of finally getting out of bed!!!

I also picked up a replacement for the Remember Me that was initially growing well in a pot before I transferred it into the ground, whereby it promptly succumbed to rot (rain again!). Guess this one is destined to stay in a container. Took a few years to find one (eventually tried mail order), since the local nurseries dont stock a wide variety.

Whats more, I found a different way to branch out and contain hostas using wall hangers (I already have some in hanging baskets). My garden area is quite limited and running out of space, but these pots allowed me to continue elevating hostas! Equally, the pot size is manageable and will restrict the size of its occupants until they prove ready for the cut!

Next the Bad!
Thats an easy one - da*n deer!!! Although we have seen occasional deer in the last dozen years, this years visitors were many and frequent. Hit the hardest was the Guacamole tribe!

Finally the Ugly!
Just my opinion (with regard to my own plants), but two that I think are underachieving and not reaching their potential (I have seen stunning pictures elsewhere) are Blue Ivory and Emerald Ruff Cut. The former, whilst striking in colour, grows in a laboured manner, and in this picture, it looks like it wants to throw in the towel (saggy and droopy!). Perhaps, next year, it will perk up!

Equally, Emerald Ruff Cut has certainly lived up to its name! Rather ragged after spring, I took it from the ground and will see if a container can coax a better outcome!
{{gwi:936123}}

If you want to join this insallment of thrills and spills, you know what to do with the beans!

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Comments (31)

hostanista
10 years ago
I had some pretty "bads"....and "uglies". Don't we all? I SAID DON'T WE ALL? Please say yes.

Here's the worst : Austin Dickinson, devoured.

I vow to use ammonia this season to help avoid this.
hostanista
10 years ago
Here's another: poor little English Sunrise. Never got bigger than your thumb. On the advice received on this forum, I replanted (higher) but it was too late in the season to make a difference. We'll see how she does in 2014.
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hostanista
10 years ago
Another bad/ugly disappointment (but ultimately redeemed itself): War Paint.

Planted bare-root end of May, sprouted and then promptly disintegrated. A few weeks later, she came back fighting.
hostanista
10 years ago
Put this in the "bad" or "ugly" category, makes little difference. Maybe it should be in the "delicious" category - Lunar Orbit was a great meal by August.
hostanista
10 years ago
Praying Hands was a fine young specimen in August 2012, by July 2013, she was barely there. I will "pray" she has a better 2014.
bchosta 8b west coast canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Another good.

I've posted pictures of the casualties suffered at the teeth of the deer attack, but some survived! Just steps away (other side of the drive) from the carnage of Fragrant Bouquet and Stained Glass, three Guacamole still standing untouched! (later reinforced with deer repellent!). Unfortunately, the deer did discover the two larger Guacamole and Avocado at the back of the house before the cavalry arrived!!!
BC
coll_123
10 years ago
oh man, I am so grateful deer seem to respect our fence....going out and finding that would just make me sick!

Here is an ugly from a few years ago- Parhelion after a terrible hailstorm blew through in late June. As much as it pained me to look at it, and the whole garden, I left it all laying as is for the remainder of the season. A local antique shop cut all their mature hostas back after the storm and I swear they are still recovering. Here is Parhelion last June

Oh, and Emerald Ruff Cut....dont get me started on that one! It starts out so promising each Spring, and then by l mid-late Spring gets that awful, ugly dessication and I swear I'm gonna get rid of it. But then somehow over the course of the summer it seems to send up enough decent looking leaves that I end up letting it stay.
MadPlanter1 zone 5
10 years ago
The other uglies can at least blame pest damage. Barbara Ann just looks worse every year - mis-shaped leaves, dessication, scraggly - she's got it all. I'd think it was in a bad spot, but the hostas around it look fine. The next time I'm looking for a good spot, out she goes.
coll_123
10 years ago
Oh yes, Barbara Ann has been put on warning in my garden too!
bchosta 8b west coast canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Coll,
The Parhelion certainly seems to have bounced back impressively. Like you, I just left the "punk rock" hostas as they were, and three of the plants at the front did send out new shoots to try and camouflage some of the damage by October. The ones at the back... a different story! It remains to be seen how they will fare this year.
BC
P.S. The hostas have equally suffered at the hands of hail here in B.C., though thankfully, not for the past few years. I remember purchasing 5 new plants and tentatively placing them in garden locations - only to find them ripped to shreds the next day!
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
Hostanista...Yes, we all get this type of stuff. The peeps that claim they don't, well. they just aren't willing to show the pics ("What's the matter, Colnel Sanders, CHICKEN?" Mel Brooks' Spaceballs)
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
A couple of pics of the 'Good'...My 'Big Daddy'. Grew from a few blue/green leaves and stalks into a lovely blue with some mature traits, good size coming and great leaf-cupping . Bought it in summer 2012.

These pics are from summer 2013.
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
One more of the good to follow...
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
You could drink outta those cups!

Now, for the bad........
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
Before the bad was my 'Rhino Hide' little guy in a 4" pot. That's OK, I can work with this no problem.
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
'Rhino Hide' just wanted to sleep through the winter, and impress his master, Don Rawson. But RH wasdug from the ground in the middle of winter and got chewed on pretty hardcore. I didn't even think it was going to come up, as bad as it was fed upon...But he DID rise again, as if to say %^%%$#$&^%!! hosta-eating pests! If he has more positive signs of health or any type of vigor, that'll be a bonus!

Go little Rhino Hide, Go!!

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Sun, Feb 9, 14 at 20:48
coll_123
10 years ago
BC, I think that is a resilient family of hostas....so if I had to pick one for deer to eat, that would be it. My Stained Glass was a few feet away from Parhelion and sent up many new leaves after the hail trashed it. It was actually one if the only presentable ones by late summer. Hail is not the norm here either, knock on wood, but it guess it's always a threat for those that love hostas...its pretty brutal on them. I think it's best to leave any damage... Even as destroyed as mine were, very few leaves actually turned brown and " died". As long as there is any green, I'm leaving it for the good of next year.

I'm also with you on Blue Ivory- it has done absolutely nothing for me in three seasons.
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
And here 'Rhino Hide' was in early fall of 2013. Doing better, looking hopeful for 2014. We'll see.

I sited him in my secretspecialsitingspace, so...Fingers crossed!

Gotta think about the 'Ugly' part of the trilogy for a few minutes, BChosta.

Fun thread, thanks for creating it. We do what we have to until our pips start poking out, eh?

Cheers,
Don B.
Pieter zone 7/8 B.C.
10 years ago
BC, the last one you showed in your original post shows classic signs of foliar nematodes. Make sure you keep it well away from the rest of your plants to keep them from spreading.

Pieter
gardens1
10 years ago
Hostanista, your Austin Dickenson looks like a piece of old lace pulled out of the compost pile...Right now, even the compost pile would be a welcome site without snow...
bchosta 8b west coast canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the pointer Pietertje... probably just as well that its in a container now where I can watch it closely.
BC
bkay2000
10 years ago
Good:

This is my second year Striptease. Stayed nice all season. Very happy with it.

The Bad;

My second year Royal Standard had HVX

The Ugly:

Orange Marmalade is always ugly up in the summer. This year, not only is it ugly, It's reverting or sporting.

bk
jan_on zone 5b
10 years ago
I don't often move a hosta, but even after being relocated to prime real estate, 'Dancing in the Rain' doesn't want to dance.

Given to me by a friend who couldn't make it grow, 'White Feather' is pouting. I take comfort that many other people can't grow it either.

'Silver Star', another that has been moved into a 'better' spot is still in a snit. My notes say its name is really 'Ginbuchi Tashi' - perhaps it would be happier if I used that moniker.
bkay2000
10 years ago
Jan, I think I'd like that one better.

bk
User
10 years ago
The GOOD....
Lucy Vitols and Aspen Gold....I don't have deer, and so far no hail damage....but I do have falling pecans and sweetgum balls. This is in August 2013

The BAD
Fried Bananas was looking fine one day, the next it was all messed up with tobacco or mosaic virus. This showed up in April 2013

The UGLY
This cluster of pots all arrived around the same time. The worst one over a month later was my beloved STARGATE. It took all summer for it to perk up. And I had such high hopes for featuring it at the gate to my garden .... oh well, I hope it looks good this year, because I have a relief hitter on order, another Stargate.

My Austin Dickinson did not flourish like his sister Emily Dickinson, nor his Mistress Mabel. All three were side by side. I'm hoping Austin picks up the pace this spring.
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
Take heart, Mocc! This was my 'Fragrant Bouquet' I got in summer 2012, I underwatered it when I planted it, and it melted in record heat. Didn't know about the 'masking tape trick' and it stayed like this the rest of the season...

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Thu, Feb 13, 14 at 21:11
don_in_colorado
10 years ago
...But with the coming of 2013, voila! Fragrants are usually pretty tough, I'm sure 'Stargate' will be ok-dokey this spring.

Cheers,
Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Thu, Feb 13, 14 at 21:13
luuk
10 years ago
New last year, 'Saint Elmo's Fire' with some frost damage, even it is damaged I bought it because I liked the colors on this leaf, hope to see the same colors this year.
zkathy z7a NC
10 years ago
The good
This is how good my Loyalist looked before the third time I moved it last summer.
zkathy z7a NC
10 years ago
The bad
This is how bad it looked after I moved it. Behind Maui Buttercups.
zkathy z7a NC
10 years ago
The ugly
I'm reworking the bed its in and I have to move it again first thing this spring.
Kathy

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