After four years, I lost Guacamole over the winter...

14 years ago

I thought this winter was mild in comparison to other years. I can't understand what happened to Guacamole. Bluestone has it listed as hardy to zone 3 and I am in zone 6. It was in good shape last summer. Any ideas what happened? It is usually late to come up but all the other hostas are up and leafed out already.

It was a favorite because of the large fragrant blooms. Now I don't know whether to replace it or try something new. Thoughts?

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Comments (13)

tepelus
14 years ago
I'd replace it. The smell of the blooms is too good to be without. Perhaps something got to it, like a vole or something, which might explain the sudden loss. This is my Guacamole's third year, and it just keeps getting bigger and better. I just got Tortilla Chip to go with my Guacamole, but TC has a lot of catching up to do, it's just a baby.

Karen
thisismelissa
14 years ago
Guacamole is extremely vigorous for me in my zone 4 garden.

Any chance it got rotted out as the snow melted?
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gardenfanatic2003
14 years ago
Bummer! Sorry to hear that...

Deanna
epw0946
14 years ago
I also lost a large hosta, a Kossa Regal over the winter. I too wonder what happened to it. It was fine last year big and beautiful as ever. It shows no hope of coming up this year - it is just gone. There is nothing there, just dry dirt. If it was a Guacamole, I would definately replace it!! I just wonder why it was gone too!!
elaine
tepelus
14 years ago
Invasion Of The Hosta Snatchers, coming to a garden near you!

Karen
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
lol tepelus...oh, and cute combination, guacamole and tortilla chips. [g]

Well, I guess I'm not going to figure out what happened to it. I hope it wasn't a mole/vole. I do wonder if it were damage by an animal, if I would have seen some evidence, some part of the plant that came up? I haven't had those issues in the past. I don't know about the rotting, but I doubt it. I don't usually have wet soil and we didn't have much snow over the winter. Less than usual. If it were from snow melting, it would have died a lot sooner.

Oh well, just when it was getting mature size too. Looked great last year! Boo-hoo! Someone point me in the direction of a good place to buy one?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
why cant you figure it out..

if it rotted.. there will a dry rotted mess where the crown was ...

if there is nothing there... then something ate it...

if you have vole problems starting.. you better start learning about them .. they are not going to go away because you deny they are there..

guac is one of the driveway hosta.. they just keep getting bigger.. they do NOT just disappear ..

figure it out.. or you will regret it next year.. when the little baturd turns into a family.. and 20 more hosta disappear next winter ..

ken
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
Gosh Ken, I feel bad after you worked up a great passion about getting after those voles....I just went out to walk around checking things out and came around the corner of the garage and all of a sudden my eye landed on my 'Guacamole' Hosta !! LOL Wow. I was dumbfounded. There it was, fully leafed out! I can't tell you how many times I have gone over to that location and looked for any sign of that Hosta. I had evidently lost my bearings because I moved a Chrysanthemum out of there early this spring and the Hosta was peeking out from under a Viburnum carlesii that had evidently grown forward more than I realized. It also had a very similar color to the carlesii. Maybe it was hidden until the leaves unfurled.

Aren't these happy surprises in the garden great! lol Now I will have to move it in the fall and maybe divide it in two since I like it so much.

Thank you all for commiserating! :-)
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
BTW Ken, what is a 'driveway hosta' ?
anitamo
14 years ago
glad you found your Guacamole Ann. Gets the chips out, I'm coming over to celebrate with you. :) Ken coined the term "driveway hosta" a while ago because he says hostas are so tough you can just throw them on the driveway and they'll grow!
caliloo
14 years ago
Sorry to hear about yours.... Mine got buried last winter when my kids helped with clean up and rotted under a pile of leaves and old mulch. Sigh. I have 2 teeny tiny eyes, but I think I am going to dig it up and toss it.

Alexa
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Anita, it's so funny the way we get attached to plants. I was so happy to see that hosta...lol. That's a great term for hostas. I've always thought they were that tough too and Guacamole especially, so I was really scratching my head. I'm still surprised at how far it's under that carlesii.

Alexa, why not dig it up and pot it and leave it. You'd be surprised how fast it will come back. Mine started out two eyes about 4 yrs ago and is a very good size right now.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
seriously .... 12 posts later.. you turn off the computer and go find the thing bigger than life out there?????

geeeeezzzzzz .. you are worse than me.. lol ..

ken

After four years, I lost Guacamole over the winter...

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After four years, I lost Guacamole over the winter...

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