Hard to grow hostas?

13 years ago

Am I the only one who finds some hostas just plain hard to grow? I have about 500 hostas, most of which are doing really well, but there are those few that just seem to get smaller every year. Some I have moved to different spots with different sun exposure, etc., so we'll see next year. Fire and Ice, Jimmy Crack Corn, Little Aurora, all have gotten smaller every year. Are these as finiky as they seem, or am I just not talking to them enough?

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Comments (9)

jennaj_z4mn
13 years ago
Fire and Ice is difficult to grow--mine is doing okay--I got it with threads for roots that were literally tied together with thread. It gets afternoon sun--directly for an hour or so, then just bright light. I am afraid to look at it wrong!!! I grow JCC, and it does fine. Not sure about LA.

Here is a link to Don Rawson's list of difficult to grow hostas. He has created an incredible database--check it out and bookmark it if you don't have it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Difficult to Grow Hostas
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
BINGO!!!!

a good start on a list of complete wastes of money ....

you can add Gexpectations.. and a bunch of others..

perhaps don has a list somewhere...

get rid of them.. and make your life easier ...

life's too short to waste time on these

ken
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Wow, this board is really buzzing! So many comments in such a short time period from such helpful gardeners! Thanks, all, for responding and for the warm welcome. I'm in NJ. I actually have that in my profile, and I'm unsure as to why it's not showing up on my posts. (I don't see preferences to show/hide it.) jadie88, I was searching for variegated Solomon's Seal last summer but had no luck finding it. And this year I decided I want to try red astilbe with some lighter-colored hostas to brighten up some areas between bushes. I don't have a lot of money to spend because I'm starting my raised-bed vegetable garden this year. But I do still need to add to my gardens out front. I planted them last spring after buying my house in the fall. The front does get sun, but it's rather uneven; the right side gets more than the left due to the sizes of the trees in front. I didn't realize how much of a difference there was until I saw how the plants/flowers were growing. The impatients on the right side seemed to triple in size, while the left side did not get much larger at all! So now I must forget about having a symmetrical look out front and get to replanting. ken_adrian, I'm not sure what I was thinking! Of course, more hostas! I can't wait to read through this forum to get more ideas and become more educated on hostas! (My mom had hostas when I was growing up, but she was amazed as well when I showed her photos of some of the varieties!)
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That oak tree is quite frankly known as the "resurrection oak", as it has come back from the dead three times already! It was about 3-4 years old and someone snapped off the central leader. I trained it back and same thing happened again - could have been deer, my younger sons, who knows, Maybe a lawn mower accident, happened to a few of my trees in pots and in the ground. Finally planted it in the ground and it got broken again. BUT it had good root stock so I moved it to Virginia as a 4 ft whip. Worried a tad about the 3 regrowths from the broken center leader but then planted it in bad clay and said " Go to it, young oak tree" One son caught me fertilizing it with chicken manure (special grade) and said no way that tree dies now! So, no, it won't die; yes, good to be concerned, as I am a spokesman too many times for dead trees that are mulched to their death. The soil line will be below the current tree "shoulders", so I am sensitive to the problem. Since I planted the oak slightly high ( which is probably why it is growing well) I will be watchful. Thanks for the concern. Ken, I do have some of those old Banyai banana plants to give away again - just can't kill them. Bruce
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Gary, you are mistaken as are many others. It's never been hard to grow hosta in pots until the last two years. Feed them, water them, pot feet, done. I lost a few occasionally, but it was not really much of a problem. I had hosta that I'd had in pots close to 20 years. I actually have one of those left. It's a hobby I've enjoyed for many years. Time will tell if it's time to move on. If this last batch of hosta samples I sent to A&M's diagnostic lab don't have an answer, I think I'm done. I'm really not into spraying, drenching, chemicals, bleach baths, etc. It takes all the fun out of hostas for me. (Sherry pointed out that I have not had much pleasure in my garden lately and I realized she's right.) On the bright side, my So Sweet, Lakeside Cindy Cee, LS Shore Master and Pride and Joy still look good as do several others. bk
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mosswitch
Original Author
13 years ago
Great Expectations was one I would have trashcanned a couple of years ago, but it is doing fine now, after I moved it for the 3rd time. Had it 5 years. I'm just going to wait the others out for a year or two, I moved them all recently, and we shall see. Revolution is another one I can add to that list. Maybe it's just the plants: I have two Blue Shadows, one is doing great, the other is just a pissy little thing with lousy color. jennaj, thanks for the link.
ninamarie
13 years ago
I trashed Snow Cap and I am considering trashing 'Spilt Milk'. I think I hate it. Mine keeps reverting to all blue, and, to me, the streaked part just looks diseased.
in ny zone5
13 years ago
I had 35 different hostas which grew huge without trouble for 20 years, and they became boring. Then last year I started buying 85 new modern cultivars to make life more interesting. Now I have a little trouble. Eskimo Pie reverted to a tiny solid green one, Dancing in the Rain is still small with more leaves - but looking like Fire &Ice. One of the actual Fire & Ice shrunk to little nothing, the other two are fine. A.McConnell is just sitting there. Ginko Craig got lost.
Bernd
schoolb1
13 years ago
Thanks for the info.Wish I had seen that list before I ordered some of these,Judy
tepelus
13 years ago
But, I like my Spilt Milk, it has increased in size and eyes this year and the color and streaking on it has been great. It's starting to turn a bit greener now, but that seems to be normal. And it, along with all my other hostas, have those stupid little holes (and hail holes) that everyone else seems to be having as well, are the only things wrong with it. Now, I just cursed the plant.

The ones failing for me right now that I'm trying to revive are Fair Maiden, Jewel Of The Nile and White Dove, but WD got ran over by a jet ski trailer tire, so it has an excuse for not doing well. The other two do not!

Karen
hosta_freak
13 years ago
I've had a few hard-to-grow hostas. Loyalist,Thunderbolt,Morning Light,Jimmy Crack Corn,Ginko Craig,White Wall Tires,and believe it or not,Krossa Regal! It never seems to grow,and I've had it for years! It always comes back up,so it stays for now. Phil
loisflan
13 years ago
Here's my list:

Eskimo Pie - ready to trash my second one
Brim Cup - what a pitiful sight - drawstringing
Ice Age Trail - keeps going blue (Big Daddy?)
Fragrant Bouquet - it's no bigger than it was in 2006
Cherish - two tiny leaves each year since 2007
Loyalist - I think it's finally gone - RIP 2006-2010

Hard to grow hostas?

Comments (9)

jennaj_z4mn

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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mosswitch
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ninamarie

in ny zone5

schoolb1

tepelus

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loisflan

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Hard to grow hostas?

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