This primula, a welcome harbinger of spring, was green and budding under snow cover. This was yesterday after the rain.

H. 'Rainbow's End', 11 pips, new 2013 - I was surprised to see how round the leaves look as they unfurl. I was expecting them to be more elongated. That will come in time.

I have a lot of new hostas from last year that I have not yet seen in pip form - this spring is very exciting just for that alone!

Pasqueflower - this is one soft and furry perennial! You can't help but brush your fingers through the plant - it begs to be touched.

H. 'Ann Kulpa' 17 pips, new 2012. A good grower for me in zone 5. I will try to keep the slugs off her this year! She is a pretty, strong one despite the negative rep. in terms of her pale centre.

Spelling Police.... Marrakech has a "c". I bought a t-shirt in Marrakech and I wear it often, so the spelling stood out to me. ;-)

Jo, yours is positively glowing. So happy to hear that Spring has sprung at last in your neck of the woods.

-Babka

H. 'Sweet Bo Peep', the first hosta to unfurl - and... A fragrant! :-)
This little hosta is a gem - so shiny, green and petite looking. When in flower this one is a very pretty hosta. Thank you, 'Invincible',!

My Four Smiths...the streaked seedlings from Doug Beilstein's breeding programme, gifted by Devon. :-). They are being "trained" for the outdoors. Adorable bunch.

Three new H. 'Dream Queen' to make up for the one I lost this winter.
Also a new H. 'Abiqua Drinking Gourd' (HOTY) and 'Liberty' to replace the one from last year that also died over the winter.

Something I dug up from around the cottage a few years ago.

A new H. 'Diana Remembered' that was inadvertently left outside on a colder evening recently...the white edge on a leaf is a little touched by cold. I usually take them (newcomers) into the garage for overnight.

H. 'Trifecta', a mini, 2 pips, new 2013-1 pip. Already displaying promise of tri-colour. The two outer leaves on smaller pip show some discolouration but the inner leaves are pristine. :-)

H. 'Wheee!' 18 pips, new 2013 - this is one interesting looking hosta when pipping - a strong looking plant! She looks indestructible. :-). Her craziness is yet to come.

Jo, that white flowered plant you dug up around the cottage is DutchmanâÂÂs Breeches. Started some from seed quite a while back, but bunnies would mow it down when it was first emerging each spring. Thought it was doomed but it is persevering as a lot of the native plants tend to do.

Paul

Oops, Babka! Thank you! Didn't catch that one - I hate to misspell hosta names.
P.S. Thanks for looking! Glad that you popped in...we from the north are finally getting out of our winter funk and into the swing of things! You must be blooming all over in CA, eh?

Yes it is, Paul! It disappears each year after flowering ( similar to habit of old fashioned bleeding heart). Frances Williams covers it completely - it's a good partnership for those two. :-). Have lots of baby seedlings...I just leave them wherever they appear. I am going to bring home the hepatica I rescued from the bush...I always miss the bloom time!

Nice pics, Jo, looks like everything is waking up proper...Thanks for sharing.

Don B.

H. 'Silver Star' 8 pips, new 2012-4 pips...good growth rate! This was a birthday gift from Cindy, my main hosta supplier, Hosta Fever. This one is a hosta that is very upright and intriguing as it grows. Last year it had a couple of beautiful "silver" on the white margins. I can't wait to see what it offers this year.

Lose a Hosta over the winter and then buy 3 more in the Spring. I like that Strategy. Increases your odds of success.

Steve

You betcha, Steve!

Did the same with GE, but that one's going just fine! Doubled from last year! So I had 2 more picked up for me! Can't have enough of a good thing! :-)

I'm so glad I culled the blue sports of both my Junes. I now have at least 4Junes plus the sport! Safety in numbers and all that jazz but I just love these beauties.

I'm looking at Sagae today, and he's looking back at me with that "uh oh" look! He'll be next! When I moved him last year I could barely, just barely get an edge of him on two shovels, then fell on my a$$ when I was pulling backwards! I'm still fairly strong, but that was extremely heavy, even for me. I want more of him, but not to start with a young'un...a division. :-)

Jo

Now this is odd! I culled the blue sport off June last year and potted it in its own pot. Here it is, obviously with a piece of the real June! Separation anxiety? Lol

H. 'Krossa Regal' pipping...amid my neighbour's red maple roots! Looks like I'll be busy tomorrow trying to un-mangle these roots from KR before the pips progress any further!

H. 'Lancifolia' - the leader of them all! Look at her go!

Hey Jo, everything is looking real good. Love the purple Primula.

I'm with Steve---lose one hosta, buy three more of the same! LOL Those Dream Queens look "dreamy."

Eighteen pips for Wheee after one year is fantastic. I am sure it will look awesome when unfurled.

Spring is such an exciting time. I, too, am enjoying watching my hostas grow . . . including the hostas of forum members.

Keep it up, Lady, you are on a ROLL!
I am sold on Marrakech with your photo of it pipping. It looks like a golden Wheee! actually.

Slugs off of the Ann Kulpa? That one is a hard sell and mine is not looking good. Of course, I did have to repot it. But I saw a slug today that I can send you to eat the biggest Ann Kulpa inside of 5 minutes. Biggest one I ever saw down here.

We had 4 inches of rain during the night, and this morning even the slugs were seeking higher ground. I saw this on the Lexan pane of the back porch, a good 8 feet above the ground, he had to climb up over rough stucco to get there. I was inside taking this picture. EWWWwwWeeeee. But you can have him if still alive after I laid a trail of bait beneath the deck steps. I put down a LOT in case this one was hungry.

Hope any slugs are all on diets in your neighborhood.

This is amazing...spring was so late, so were the hostas. But look at this peony 'Plena'...and a piece of another ... it is right on time - it will bloom this month as it usually does. All my peonies are shooting up very quickly.

My 'Albopicta' is to the right of it but out of the frame.

NHL, yes, Wheee! is doing great - I didn't take note of growth from last year but she was very full when I bought her. Impossible to say how many pips it had last year. This is one hosta I will have to watch for ... I am keeping her in a pot this summer, then into the ground in September.

I agree with you. I am enjoying seeing all the photos of everyone's hostas. The party has barely begun. When the orders start arriving, I am sure our wish lists will start growing...again! :-)

Mocc, ughhhhh, thank you for your kind offer but I will have to decline! I've been squishing a bunch of small dark ones like yours! I thought Marrakech
would catch your eye! And it would certainly finish off a trio or two in your garden! Ann Kulpa took a little chewing last year but it is a pretty tough hosta in my opinion, at least she is here, to the north.

As far as those slimy chewers are concerned, I'm hoping the very cold winter has taken care of some of them.

Jo, nice set of pics, thank you for sharing! It's about time that the northern contingent gets some action, right? I'm seeing great amounts of pipping every day now, and even some unfurling...

Thank you, Mary! Unfurling is good! Way to go, we are on our way now, aren't we? Two of my "struggling" are A-OK...Big Daddy and Made You Look popped up a pip so far, not a goner like I thought. :-)

Ann Kulpa is just starting to unfurl. Hadspen Blue has the most darkest, duskiest blue/black pips on it. I have to try and take a pic of it tomorrow.

One of the northern contingent signing off. G'night!

Jo