She did have a circle of Albos around her (she has her own raised bed in the woods garden) until the deer and the voles ate most of them. I need to divide and transplant what's left of the rest of them so she has her pretty petticoat again. The raised bed is a circle about 9' across and the albos are planted around the edge so she has plenty of room to grow. I never want to have to transplant her. This is only her 3rd year so she has a long time to grow yet. Sandy

I would echo the caution as to size. I would suggest you look up the estimated size of each hosta and then plot out what your beds will look like in a year or two. I have just spent some time moving a lot of hostas out of a bed that is just 2 years old. They looked like many "wave" designs I have seen but some hosta were crowding out and even "eating up" some of the smaller hosta. I now find I prefer having individual plants allowed them to show their full form. I am thinking you have planted each hosta wih equal spacing disregarding the fact that they have very different mature sizes as others have noted. The bed I have created for my Empress is 7 feet by 7 feet to accomodate what I hope will be a 5 foot by 5 foot footprint for the Emoress itself and allownace for the Emerald Green Arbovitae and whirlwing hostas I have planted as a "throne" Even taking a mature size of at least 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot, I think the Empress will swallow a lot of your adjoining hostas. See if you can convince Myrle to do a plot plan with the mature sizes. I think you will find you have enough plants to spread to different areas, maybe double the size, depending on your taste for spacing. Photos of the hosta in each location even spread out on a table will give an idea of how they will look shortly. Swithch them around and see what appeals to you. If Myrle can do a photoshop composition you would have a "look into the future" which I hope you would share. I am writing this having done the very same thing I critique, so I hope you take this as constructive criticism. I admire your enthusiasm and know you will make it work and it will look fantastic. I just hope to give you the advantage of learning from my mistakes without have to experience them yourself. Jon

BKay, I'm beginning to understand that keeping hosta looking good is walking the razor edge. I've butted heads with prima donna plants before....they won until I figured out what worked. Like I now have happy bougainvillea but in a pot on wheels. But hostas don't take to pots that well, it seems, so hmmm, can I put them in a big tub and in a building with just a dehumidifier going? For the winter, that is? I've killed many a plant, just never quit trying. My latest method of gardening is BENEVOLENT NEGLECT. Or RECKLESS ABANDON. But I was taking notes as I read down this thread, because I dearly love to see those magnificent huge hostas, and was surprised to see mention of the problems I'll encounter being similar to BKay over in Texas. You guys are so friendly, and I appreciate you letting me join the discussions here. I've tried to participate in other GW forums and some just freeze newbies out. Even though I've been on GW since 2001.

Normally I would say you can fertilize until July 1st or so, but this year almost everyone has had above average temperatures for extended periods. Prevailing wisdom used to be that you fertilize for foliage growth in the spring, and roots in the fall. More or less the case. Top dressing can be done from early spring until the hostas go dormant. I agree that a newly planted hosta should not be fertilized. Hard to know how to treat all the hostas that suffered from hard freezes this year, many melted to the ground. I suspect those plants would benefit from a very light fertilizing or top dressing, and plenty of water for those who aren't being innundated with rain. My area got 5-6 inches of rain in 2 days this week, the hostas are all very happy.