Mary, newbie class of 2014 from Wisconsin. Recently discovered I love hostas when I realized I had over 40 in my yard

Lynn, guilty of lurking in 2014, from just a little north of Boston, and realized how cool Hostas are when the one I had came back all thin like tissue paper and white after winter, and I went looking for a replacement. Whodathunk there were SO many??!!! I love hostas!

Sarah, class of 2013 from Nova Scotia. I inherited an overgrown shady garden from the previous owner of my home and have been busy renovating it. I'm a very inexperienced gardener. I have always enjoyed visiting botanical gardens wherever I travel, especially Japanese gardens, and have always been more attracted to lush foliage than showy flowers. So it was a no brainer to get involved with the lushest foliage of all!

I like the hosta forum because folks are generally very kind and helpful and there is a good mix of the most knowledgeable people on earth and relative newbies.

First project - side yard

Backyard madness (getting rid of a pool pad by hand - stupid city backyards)

Backyard progress

Current project, getting the last bed planted!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 20:18

Welcome, you're the first to arrive. Take a look around. We're waiting on Ken for the appetizers and BK was bringing the beverages.

Paul

Not new to hostas or GW but new to the forum. Planted my first one when my son was 8 years old. He's 40+ this year. Had no notion they were such amazing plants back then but over the years have come to admire and appreciate their versatility & reliable performance. My current count is a mere 30 named cultivars altho' total plant count is much higher. I never seem to have any difficulty giving away divisions...

{{gwi:212016}}

I garden in north central CT in the garden my parents cared for when I was growing up. Since moving here, I've used hostas to enhance the look of my little green acre.

Devon, freshman class of '13.

With everything that life throws our way, potting hostas and working with plants in general gives me little moments of Zen daily.

I have always liked hostas and 6 years ago I thought I had all 12 varieties! Now I am at 150 and climbing, plus seedlings and I did my first crosses this year. I stumbled upon this forum last July and life has not been the same since, in a good way. Hosta people are the friendliest and there are far worse addictions out there, maybe cheaper, but worse for your health!

One of my sports of f. Hyacintha:

Also I wanted to add that if you are not already a member, join the American Hosta Society and your local/regional one too!

This post was edited by smithstudios71 on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 22:49

Margaret class of 1998 or 99. Stopped visiting the forum due to a bunch of regulars of this forum leaving for another forum due to some drama regarding posting too many pictures. I ran out of space in my small yard and don't like drama so just stopped showing up.

I bought a new house with a big yard (for Seattle standards) last August. Unfortunately the previous owner was elderly and let it go wild for 30 years... it was covered with laurel, blackberries and ivy... first pic after several days work...

The grass in all of the pictures was all of the yard that was not choked in invasive plants. I can be found in the middle of the picture next to the spruce trunk.

After 6 months of chain sawing Ivy pulling and blackberry root digging we had uncovered a hill in back leading up to a road .. further archeological digs uncovered 20+ pavers (can be seen re-purposed in below photo) and steps leading up to the road (we had no idea there was a road back there!) behind our house. Best of all was a blank slate for HOSTA!

~100 hosta, a bunch of Japanese maple, rhododendrons and a slew of other shade tolerant plants later, (don't tell my man I had a bit of a plant binge this spring...) I had shovel in hand and ready to dig!

Here is where we are at now. You can see the same Spruce, Weigela and unknown flowering tree that can be found in the original picture for reference.

Second picture shows how far back it goes...

Very pleased to see the forum is in a much better state (you can post all the pictures you want and very nice people :)

Ready to enable and be enabled!

Margaret

Rene... joined in 2008, left and came back in about 2011.

Like Gardenweed, I've gardened about 40 years. I planted some of the green and white ones in the '70s, was frustrated with the slug and earwig holes and didn't plant any more until my husband moved one of the green and white ones under a spruce tree where the grass wouldn't grow. I saw the possibility of a new bed, not realizing how difficult it is to grow hostas with tree root competition. I chose hostas from some of the big box stores and planted them according to flower color and bloom time. I ended up with a lot of the blue/grey ones in my first bed. My second bed was started after I discovered HVX.

I've found GardenWeb members very kind, and generous with their advice. I've learned a lot about hostas here and other websites. I've added over 300 different cultivars to my gardens and have multiples of some. I have to confess that I'm a hostaholic. My family is very supportive and haven't asked me to join hostas anonymous ...YET.

Margret/mstreke, I'm glad you've come back. I don't like drama either, don't mind differences of opinion but don't like personal comments, meant to belittle others.

I'm always ready to be enabled and love looking at everyone's hosta pictures and gardens.

Nice to meet you. Ken and Bkay are predisposed, I think. Anyone hungry?

I am very generous with the free pictures of food and beverages I find on Google. : )

Don B.

P.S. Sorry, I'm Don, I first joined the forum in August 2012. Hopeless hosta addict now. It's fun.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Wed, Jun 11, 14 at 19:16

Class of 2012, been lurking here for quite a while. Been gardening for 20+ years. Got sucked into all that goes with being a hostaholic about 3 years ago when we moved to Northern Virginia from Long Island, NY. I started working at a very large garden center here in Northern VA and my new house has a lot of shade. I love hosta's so much that it I designed my wedding bouquet around them last summer. :)

Because I just got my pictures back and everyone else is tired of looking at them. :) I'm the one in white. :P

I've been working a piece of heinous clay for the last 2 years and have starting planting about 2 weeks ago. Looking forward to getting some shots of it taken to share. For now you're stuck with my wedding photos. :)

Looking forward to getting to know all of you better and learning. Have really enjoyed looking at all of your beautiful pictures the last few years and recently ousted myself.

:) Kate

This post was edited by Kate1970 on Wed, Jun 11, 14 at 21:04

Loving all the comments and pictures....if you haven't posted here before, it is so much easier after you get the first one out of the way.....stop in and say hi. We're not a bunch of hosta rocket surgeons....some like the pictures, some the technical side, some like the fellowship of talking with other hosta nuts....and the rest of us are just obsessed ;-) .
Come join us.
Paul

Hi all,

Class of 2012 but only recently realized that when I tried to join.

This is the place my web searches often direct me to when I'm trying to find info on a particular Hosta or seller. These conversations are here forever and I'm thankful for it, as old discussions and pictures here have been the deciding factor in numerous Hosta decisions.

LOVE the pictures! I'm completely computer illiterate or I'd post lots of my own. I've tried several times but they're rejected for being too large (have no idea how to make them smaller).

Hi, I'm from the class of 2009. I stumbled in here from the passion flower forum one day to find out about something or another. I found a whole world of hosta that I did not know existed. I'm in Texas, so they are not common here. I already had some hosta in pots, so I knew it would work. I'm on the conservative side, so I only have 70 or 80 hosta, but I have some great ones.

I'm sorry about the drinks, Paul didn't tell me I was supposed to bring the beverages. I'm sure no one told Ken he had appetizer duty.

Welcome, all.

bk

Margaret, I have to say thank you for the awesome "before" and "after" pix of your yard. WOW, what a transformation! That's a tremendous amount of work, but clearly paying off.

Greetings to all the Newbies. Welcome to this wonderful fountain of mostly practical knowledge. MY first post was in sometime after 1996 when we first got internet access.

There are no hosta societies here in CA, and only a few people grow them as more than annuals. I have learned a lot over the years, and I hope I can pass some it it on so you don't make some of the same mistakes I did...and I have made a LOT.

I'll bring the wine!

-Babka

{{gwi:1040058}}

Class of 2004 here. Mostly a lurker these days.

Teresa - west of Minneapolis in Minnetonka

#%^*)ÃÂ¥+'?&%. Craaaaaap! I just dropped the cheesecake! Sorry peeps.

Wendy Class 2013, Been mostly lurking this year. Frankly, I don't like to write and I still haven't figured out picture posting so I've just been enjoying all of your posts and pictures. Ended last season in the hospital for a few days (I'm fine). Good news is I walked away from a 40 yr. cigarette habit. Kinda changes how I do everything. Needless to say due to poor overwintering I lost all my potted hosta last winter ( somewhere around 20.) Most upset about Peter Ruh since he sold it to me. Haven't been back to visit the Ruhs, or Van Wade, or Mr. Cory this season. Here are a few I've picked up at other places.
WILDernessWen's Newbie Class of 2014
Luna Moth, Spartacus, Touch of Class, Deep Blue Sea, Perry's True Blue, Lakeside Babyface, Blue Umbrellas, Wheaton Blue, Gray Cole,
Brother Stefan, Little Aurora, Regal Splendor, Peanut, Captain Kirk. Obviously I needed a few blues. Happy Digging , WW

Babka, nice selection.

Don B, thanks for the appetizers.....I was waiting to see if you might be bringing brownies (Colo. ;-)

bk, way to come thru with the beverages.

Wendy, sorry to hear about the cheesecake, glad you could make it.

Still waiting for some more newbie arrivals.

Paul

Hi There! I just discovered this forum last month after I had hernia surgery and started making a portfolio of all my hostas! I currently leave have about 68 named cultivars. I started growing hostas in the 80's when I first found how much I like blue ones (Elegans and Halcyon). While over the past 15 years I've had to move my garden about 4 times... I always try and take some with but always end up leaving many behind (lucky next homeowners!) I started in my longtime home in Minneapolis...hostas love Minnesota, moved to Missouri, and have been in NC for awhile now. Here is heavy red clay and lots of voles. So I've had some struggling hostas and then I started planting many hostas in pots. That works rather well. I do have many in the ground of course with PermaTill gravel or an underground pot made of hardware cloth. Needless to say I was a hostaholic who became a hostanista! LOL! 68 cultivars... and when will this madness stop?! I recently got H. Rhino Hide, H. Tokudama Aureonebulosa, and H. Punky... so much fun. Pictured: Dark Shadows
-Ethan

Of course, Paul, of course.

Enjoy...might want to start out with half a piece, just in case you've already had some beer or wine...

Don B.

That's a nice, big Dark Shadows, Ethan; Nice work.

Welcome,
Don B.

Ethan - when you lived in Minneapolis where did you live?

Hi Teresa! My parents and family owned a home in Kenwood on Lake of the Isles for 34 years until it burned down in 2005. I had huge mature Elegans and Halcyons there! How 'bout you?
-Ethan

I lived on the northwest side of Cedar Lake for 22 years. Now I live just 7 miles west of downtown in Minnetonka.

I will be here forever. I have too much invested in the yard to leave! :-)

Teresa

I know that intersection, Ethan. Welcome...used to live in the TC myself, but now in Wisconsin. I'm usually a fair weather forum participant, too busy taking care of business in the colder months.

I consider myself more a home gardener, than a hosta collector....that said, I do seem to spend copious amounts of "free" time lurking here, making wish lists, and then shopping for said wishlist (or good deals off the wishlist). My favorite posts are the ones with pretty hosta pics.

Don, sorry, I took 4 pieces of the cake. Just came in very hungry from hosta planting and needed the sustenance to go out and do more....

Mary, you think you're hungry now, just wait a couple of hours. The drinks are here somewhere, but I'm sure you'll find them. ;-)

bk

Hey - thanks for the snacks, and I love brownies!
I'm Karen... I don't post a lot because my husband and son are both computer hogs, and for some reason they don't want me posting at work??
I do check in here several times a day to be enabled. I have been so enabled that I bought 2 more hostas today and I don't have a clue where they are going.

hi

From Maine and I know I am a hostaholic. I have well over a hundred of them and can not stop buying more. The most beautiful sight to see is tall trees, red mulch, and hosta upon hosta of every size and color crammed into every available inch. I used to do flowers until one day I noticed hosta at the garden shop and i was hooked! Wish i knew how to post pics so I could share my beautiful hostas with you all.

Hello All,
I posted a little bit on this forum in 2012 and then sort of drifted away. Not sure why. This is a great forum with knowledgeable interesting members. I'm not a hostaholic, but am an enthusiastic shade gardener. My small backyard is dominated by an enormous willow oak tree (14 foot girth) which I adore. There was not a single hosta in my yard when I moved here 8 years ago. Now there are about 30. And they have now had enough time to sleep, sleep, creep, creep, LEAP and a few of them are quite spectacular. I just stand there and stare at them and start to smile. The appeal of hostas is interesting to contemplate. They seem to have a burgeoning generosity about them. I have found it nearly impossible to plant them far enough apart.

My user name is anniegolden. Annie was my dog, a golden retriever who died 7 years ago. Now I have Andy, who is, of course, also a golden retriever. I live in Delaware.

Hmm... What should I bring to the Meet 'n Greet? How about meatloaf? Someone else can bring the mashed potatoes.

Chris

OMG, a party going on and no music? How old fashioned is that? Well, easy to fix with all these wireless gadgets around here.

WildernessWin, do not fret we'll have you posting pictures in no time. But not tonight.

How did I not see this thread until the chatter got so loud I heard it in my Back40?

Well,in spring of 2010 I was smitten by hosta (plantaginea to be exact), and in 2011 late I discovered this forum. I've loved gardening since I followed my 2 grandmas around poking cuttings in the ground....but no hosta in those days.

Now I'm part of the southern contingency of container hosta growers, with a passion for them. Here is Mama plantaginea who started me on the road to 500+ hosta...in pots mostly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kool & The Gang Mix-Celebration!

Hi I'm and oldie but a newbie. I first belonged to this forum YEARS ago, and when I came back I had been deleted and had to re-join. I'd love to say I have as many hosta's as my fellow addicts, however that is not the case. I took a bad fall several years ago and had to have back surgery so my gardens had become neglected during the last couple of years while I recovered. I am slowly easing my way back into the fun, and of course my poor hosta's never let me down growing beneath the weeds and clutter! LOVE THEM for that! Most of my hosta's are from big box stores so no special types to speak of, but a great addition anyway. I live in TN and this winter was an especially rough one killing a lot of my other perennials, so thank goodness for my hosta's and their dependability. I've been gardening for about 20 years but I can always learn something new. Nice to meet you all!

No, I didn't just step on a slug.

I plant things too closely. Here's a photo taken this morning of poor Regal Splendor, getting squished between an increasingly enormous native hydrangea (which I cut back but it seems to not mind), and a patch of polygonatum (which has helped me to internalize the meaning of the term "geometric progression").

In my defense, the hydrangea was 8 inches tall when I planted it 4 years ago. And there were only 2 pips of poly the reproducer.

Would anyone like to share their own crowding problems/solutions?

Christine

Well, excuse me. I thought I was starting a new thread. Sorry for invading the 'Meet and Greet' with my squishiness.
Chris

Saving a few appetizers and beverages for the newbies, please check in.

Paul

I see the party is in full swing. I prefer Mojito's by the pitcher (my own pitcher!!)

Let's see - Senior - class of 2013. I have been gardening for 40+ years and know many perennials by their latin name. My claim to frame is "Hosta Island", a hosta garden I created in my community which I started 6 years ago. I'm glad I discovered this wonderful forum and the great group of peeps who hang out here. There is a veritable wealth of knowledge that is shared. Granted, there is a group of really crazy hosta enablers here who will lead you down the path to bankruptcy, but they mean well.

DD

I think the brownies are starting to kick in.....whoa.

Hi all! I'm Michelle from Saskatchewan and I'm very new to this forum. Started out searching on the computer for hosta problems and like somebody else said was always directed to this site. For two weeks I just read what people posted and then I decided it was time to join. Everybody on here has been so helpful to me, because I had or maybe still have the dreaded HVX virus. Very disheartening.
I've always liked gardening somewhat but was mainly annuals in containers. I have pine trees in my yard and never knew what to do there. We dug a pond and what do you do with all the extra dirt?? Shoved it under the pine trees and decided to make flower beds. That was maybe four years ago. Hostas caught my eye and I bought a few and some ferns and coral bells etc. The hostas have now taken over my life as I can't get enough. I was the kind of person that just bought what looked good at box stores and nurseries here. Now that I caught the darn HVX I will not do that anymore. I am into the collecting of different names now even though I have MANY with no names from the start. I have also learned on here that in my Zone I can plant more hostas in the sun.
Annie posted about squishiness and hard to plant far apart, well I am kind of like her too. Ive planted small hostas too close to one another and as they get more mature its obvious I have to move to a new location. Ahhh but its so much fun. I have over 250 hostas in my backyard and still growing with new varieties and hostas I don't have which is many.
Love the hostas, love the forum and all the friendly people that have given me great advice.

Yay, I love Mojitos! Here's one with Stained Glass and Sugar and Cream. : )

Don B.

Awww, MsTrecke, you are the one with the steps going up, finding a roadway up there never suspected? Ah, you do not know how many times since I read those posts, saw those pictures, that I've thought about the place. You say you don't like drama, but it had to be dramatic to coax a garden from the detritus of age....uncover a whole new world of your OWN. That's what I call MAJOR DRAMA!

I thank you for updating me about the familiar nursery names out in the Seattle area. Such a lovely place, I remember being there many years ago, the ferry ride from Gig Harbor, Pike Street Market, the Dungeness crab place up in Westport? I think it was. Whew that was a stinker! But the forest ferns, giant trees, the Pacific, the TEA! I was younger then, and had a marvelous time. :)

And it will be a great adventure this next 12 months learning the remarkable nature of so many folks who come to the hosta forum.

Great gardens built around hosta, by the folks who enjoy it all. Welcome newbies. I'm from the forum class of 2012.

[pst.....DonB......have we graduated yet?]

[I missed the brownies, I think somebody took a liking to them.]

[....but oh my that pitcher of Mojitos!.....Ahhhhh, carrumbaaaahhhh!!!]

This post was edited by moccasinlanding on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 23:33