Santa, whatever you are doing will work until you know better, then it goes downhill with a big OOPS. At least, that is my experience! And I am chuckling here, because I too started with about 6 or 8 plants and that was in 2010 when we had a house in Massachusetts too. I put about 3 in the ground in Alabama in 2011 May. Next year, which was 2012, by about June I was welcoming #200 in the mail. It was my Hosta Sparkler, still have it noted on its name tag. As they say, the rest is history. How far will it go this year for you? Now that you've made contact with the forum, we'll have to see. It's a wild and crazy ride, and it becomes more exciting as time goes by. As a side note, I ran into an old acquaintance at a meeting. She is a master gardener, so I mentioned that I was growing hosta now. To which she replied that oh, hosta don't grow here, they always die. Words to that effect. So I said I'd like to show her MY hosta, along about late May or early June, when I have everything all spiffy and under control. It is an amazing sight, and I want to see her face when she treads down the garden path beneath tall sasanqua camellias draped with spanish moss, solar lights twinkling on as the light fades, and the tall liriope and the naturalized ferns hide all the pots, the cypress mulch quiets our steps. It is total MAGIC. Then we'll see if she still believes hosta don't grow here. And I won't share a single plant, they are not mature!

I remember the days before I-Village bought the gardening website. We had a guy called "Spike" who would send us to Disneyland link if he didn't like the tone of our messages. One fellow posted too many pics "hosta of the day" that inspired our friend Papou to take notes on his new beds, and that fellow Hank Zumach was banned. That was back about 2001, I think. Where would one go to suggest pinned threads? I cannot find a moderator link for Tamara. I never got an answer when I repeatedly reported a spammer on the bathroom forum that took up more than whole page of posts for a few days within the last week or so? I've been here a long time. Too long, I guess. I have seen the FAQ first set up, then updated, but now much of that info is out of date. It seems to me that between the Hosta Library and the American Hosta Society websites, all those bases are covered. -Babka

Bill - If you haven't thought about using PVC boxes over your steel pipes, they also work (not structurally sound by themselves, but good over steel supports) and can be quite low maintenance - no warping, no rot, no painting or staining, just an occasional scrub. Some folks don't like the aesthetics, but they are easy. Not sure what colors it's available in other than white, since that's what we've used. You can get it thicker than the typical fence post covers and build your own boxes if wanted. PM2 - The solar panels are great. They provide more than enough power for the shop (except for the 3 phase used by large machines, provided by a generator since we are near the end of the line and don't want to brown out the neighbors) and we use the power grid as our battery so the only cost is the meter fee. (NH has net metering so the meter runs backward when we are generating.) When we eventually have a house down here we will use the extra power to reduce the house bills. Since we have the space, pole mounted panels are more efficient since they don't heat up as much in summer as roof mounted, easily adjust seasonally, and have simple snow removal on the infrequent occasions that they don't self-clear. This picture was taken fairly early on, when the west end of the bed was brand new and the rest of the bed hadn't grown much and I hadn't yet filled in with large perennials and clematis. It gives you a slight idea of what I'm trying to distract from in addition to the solar panels: storage sheds, propane tank, and lots of stored raw material that goes into making bowls and heating the house and shop. (I usually try to take my photos to reduce the visual impact of these since they aren't and won't ever be totally hidden.) From June 2010

Rob...how in the world did you get that one??? Hosta #1 Moon Split, Danny Van Eechaute ONI (Not Registered) Introduced by Danny Eechaute of Belgium, Moon Split is a sport of Velvet Moon. (Velvet Moon, a sport of Abiqua Moonbeam that was introduced by Hansen/Naylor Creek in 2004.) Moon Split should be a medium size plant, like Velvet Moon. Here is a link to the pic which I posted: Moon Split Here is a link to additional pics: Moon Split Hosta #3- NO CORRECT GUESSES SO FAR! This plant is still very expensive. A single division was offered for sale last year for $350 by the nursery which introduced it (it sold quickly). Another division was offered this fall for $295, which sold quickly also. Here is what the description says: "S/M - This outstanding plant is a sport of Obscura. It has wide yellow/gold margins on shiny medium green leaves. Named for our first granddaughter, it is as vigorous as she, but is slow to reproduce."