Brenda, the idea is for all participants to post a list on their GW profile of what are their most-wanted ones. It's like Christmas in the summer when you participate in these secret trades. You don't necessarily get only plants on your want list, though most try hard to accommodate those wishes. The 5 I sent Signet were not on her list, but she didn't have any of the ones I sent, lucky guess on my part. The problem with want lists is that they are only reflective of what you have been exposed to in terms of cultivars, it could well be that you'd be very happy to have something else that for some reason or other you simply have not seen before. I have always been happy to receive what may be duplicates of what I have already, since it is the thought that counts. Even if I don't really NEED another Minuteman I know I can always do someone else a favour with it. If you want to make sure you only get plants that are of interest to you as part of a trade you should do what I would call a targeted trade, like you and I did earlier this year. By seeing what the other party has potentially available your interest may be piqued by something you hadn't thought of before. For example, I didn't have Patricia on my want list, but once I saw what it is it was a no-brainer. I know there are some varieties I have that are of interest to you and I'd be happy to entertain another trade with you next year, like I'm trying to do with some of the other participants in this secret trade. There's nothing like being part of a circle of enablers...... Pieter

I would think hostas in pots would be different in different areas. Here, they grow beautifully in pots. They are like most hostas - they sleep, they creep, and they leap (at least some of them). Here, they are very carefree. If you do almost nothing, they will be nice potted plants. I have 3 or 4 hosta I've had for years. They didn't work where I had them in the ground, so I just potted them up and removed the whole bed. Other than watering, I pretty much ignored them for 3 or 4 years. All of a sudden one day, I noticed I had some really nice plants. They have to be watered almost daily in the hot part of the summer. If you put the pots on some kind of "stilts", it keeps most all the slugs out. By stilts, I mean pot feet or plant trolly or anything that breaks the contact of the pot and ground. We really don't have many problems with other pests other than squirrels. Squirrels are continually digging in my pots. My elderly neighbor loves them and feeds them corn and sunflower seeds. They plant their acorns, corn, peanuts and sunflower seeds in my pots. (I'm looking out the back window and see corn stalks sticking out of my pot of So Sweet.) Then, later, they go back and look for what ever they buried. I always have exposed roots in my hosta pots. I don't think there is much I can do about them. I think they need water in the winter. My hosta get natural rainfall in the winter, which I know doesn't work for you guys who live where you have lots of sub-freezing weather. I planted some hosta in a protected planter box last year and neglected to water them over the winter. I lost 2 out of 5. I did not get them from a specialty hosta grower, so that might have something to do with it. I will water them next winter, however. So for us in Zone 8, hosta in pots are wonderful plants for the deck or the patio. They're carefree, look good and come back every year. I've not found they decline after year 2. They just keep getting better and better. bkay

Since I had already treated several of my problems with various brews, I sent a chunk of Striptease and a piece of September Sun to A&M. They said they needed something that had not been treated. Those were in the early stages. One had the "orangey" stain and the other had the white mold. I sent a big chunk of soil with each as well. Then I drenched everything with that Bayer product that showed any symptoms or had been treated with a different method (I've done bleach baths and hot water on several earlier this summer. What I've noticed that I have not mentioned is the pot. I posted it to the container forum but did not get an answer. I think this is related. I've washed and bleached all the pots as they have been emptied and their contents trashed. I just wish I knew what it is or how it's spread and is it the same thing I had at the first of the season? (Brown dried up roots) The sample I sent to A&M earlier this year was from OBL. It, Francee and Paradigm had the same problem (and maybe several others). A&M said Root knot nematodes. Bill Meyer said root rot, judging from my photos. I was tossing OBL a few weeks after re-potting , as it was continuing to go downhill. I pulled it out of the trash, bagged it up ans sent it to the lab. ( Maybe I washed away most of the fungi when I repottted ir?) Then, Bruce Banyai said what we're seeing is August blight and bleach it. Of course, bleaching a hosta in Texas in August is probably a death sentence. I have no clue if it's being spread by an insect, falling out of the pecan trees, came in the potting soil or is in the mulch in the beds. If I buy new hosta, will they get it, too? Maybe I'll get a better answer this time. bk

I had a bar mitzvah to attend at a synagogue 1.3 miles from my home today. Not allowed to carry an umbrella or drive on the Sabbath, so I had to hoof it. Whew. I was wearing my North Face winter boots as part of my prep for the anticipated weather, a 700 down parka, and bringing a plastic rain poncho against the predicted sleet and freezing rain. Guess what? It proved NECESSARY! By the time I walked home, it was pouring freezing rain. Icicles actually formed on the edge of my parka hood! It was very slick to walk on iced sidewalks. But, walking home, I figured "At least my hostas on the balcony got of bit of water today!" See? I'm walking in terrible weather conditions, and what do I think about? My hostas! So, my hostas got a bit of watering today, right? WRONG. They are behind the railing, which is set back about 12" from the edge. I didn't see the wooden floor of the balcony the slightest bit wet. I will have to go out on the balcony tomorrow (fortunately, no precipitation predicted) and give a bit of water to all my potted hostas. Aw, the things we go through for our hostababies.