I'm so sorry that you're dealing with this, I do have a feeling that a lot of us will have loss this spring. I've been a bit shocked not to see winter vole damage so far in my garden, but the ground is very wet here, so I do still have concerns about losing hostas this spring from heavy freeze/thaw cycles. Our pips aren't up, so I can't even tell if I'm in your boat yet, or not.

Yes, I would cut out anything mushy....no matter what the cause of the mushiness, it will help the plant to have it be gone. Don't forget to sterilize your knife/shovel, etc, before and after. Are you going to lift the whole hosta out? In that case, I would probably opt for soaking the whole crown a bit in bleach water, too, as an extra measure, since I don't know what caused it.

Your "hosta guy" sounds cool...kind of like the computer guy that comes to fix my computer....I'd love to have my own "hosta guy"!

Sorry that you have such a high percentage lost. Mine are all in the ground and are still frozen. I dug somewhere and after 4 inches movable soil I hit ice. Actually scraping with a spade produced white ice, was interesting to see. Bernd

i would suggest you not worry about F&Ice ...

one way or another it is going to die ...

just like everyone elses ...

ken

ps: this is where the 3 peeps who succeeded post their brilliant pix ... lol ..

Thanks Ken, for the invitation.

Sorry to hear your hostas had a tough winter, hope there's no more bad news. Mine are still dormant - in a couple weeks I may be singing the dead plants blues, too. We had a very dry winter, that will be good for the hostas, not so good for some of the other plants.

Maybe F&I just likes colder areas. I planted one ages ago. It hasn't grown well, because that was before I learned about amending beds, but it does OK. Top dressing that bed with compost is on the spring to-do list.

How I'd love to be one of "the three" Ken mentions but have to wait till pips appear this year! Fire and Ice that is. It reappeared last spring but had such tiny pips that I thought it was a mini and planted it among some other minis. Then when the variegation was apparent I gave it away to a newbie hosta lover, bought a new one and am waiting this year to see how it emerges. I will definitely post my results. :-)

Brandy, I really feel for you - you took such good care of them, too!
On the bright side(there is always a bright side) you get to hosta-shop again!

The only one with pips right now is U. Albomarginata (oh and Paul's Glory has the one that is trying to unfurl before it's even completely emerged). The rest are just eyes just emerged from the surface. We had a lot of rain last night and I noticed the eye on Fire Island is starting to look like a pip. I think a lot of them are still waiting for warmer weather? It's supposed to be above average this week (in the 70's) so that'll help, too. I was worried but the oak tree isn't "shedding" seeds yet like it normally would about the same time, either. So that puts my mind at ease plus the eyes are firm and look good on all of them so far. And you're right, I can always shop for more. It's not like they're extinct! Plus more survived than didn't so that is something to be thankful for.

I think 3 for sure of the U. Medio Variegata's are doing something... So they make me happy, too.

I'm pretty sure my final loss count will be more, most likely 6 (with Fire and Ice, I don't think it looks good at all) and maybe 7, but I really hope NOT, Orange Marmalade.

The good news is that I won't need to worry about pots... I have lots of pots. I was being sarcastic, in case you couldn't tell. :(

This time last season, I had just got Wheee... It's strange that no one has hostas right now for sale. And if they do, they are only bulbs. I prefer plants so I can see what I'm getting for sure. Oh well, maybe in another couple of weeks?

Here's a pic of one of the 5 Medio Variegata's "eyes" a few moments ago... Does it look like eyes to you?

Hi Brandy,

Time will tell, but...Yeah, they're kinda twisty and funny-looking right now, but I can't see any reason in your pic why those eyes won't leaf out OK. Opinions may vary.

Don B.

Here's a pic of all my empty pots now! :( It's a sad sight to see. But to be clear, 2 of them I bought in hopes of adding Avocado and Rainbow's End to them... On the bright side, now I have 5 more pots that need to be filled. So I can go crazy again this year!

Brandy,
Take heart, my Fire and Ice is not showing anything yet. The Undulata in front of it is already leafing out and that Guacamole has pips, but no sign of the F&I. It's come back every year for the last three years. I'm not worried.
Karhy