Definitely Carolina Blue,and Blue Umbrellas,as they are blue hostas. My Carolina Blue gets morning sun,and looks good in the spring,but now,it is green,mainly because it is July. What town are you in? I am in Franklin,also in the mountains. Oh,and welcome to the forum! Phil

Why the bags? Are you planting under Maple trees? If you have Oaks, I'd forgo the bags and just plant.

As for shade, almost all will do well, just not as well as they would with a few hours of morning sun. I would stay away from white centered ones like Night Before Christmas. They will be very slow in full shade. Other than that, no problem. Blues will tend to keep their wax better in full shade. Leaves will tend to be fewer but larger in full shade. But it's not a problem.

Phil (Hostafreak) is in the NC mountains. His garden is in full shade in a woodland setting and his plants do just fine. In your zone/latitude too much direct sun isn't a good thing. An optimum situation for you would be to trim some of the tree limbs to allow more dappled light.

As for bags preventing vole damage, it's possible they help, but you can't be sure. The little devils will go over the top if they can. Don't pile the mulch too high around the bags. Get them from Wild Rose Distributing.

Can't offer any advice as I'm in a totally different environment. Just wanted to say I love the screen name.

Welcome.

bk

Thanks Phil! I am in the extremely small town of Cliffside which is about 30 miles on the other side of Hendersonville from you. We are not quite in the mountains, but have a nice view from here.

Steve, We do have lots of oak trees. There are 2 large ones on the side of this area. If hostas will do ok near those, I won't worry about the bags. There is a maple tree in the other bed, so I definitely need them there.
Night Before Christmas has actually been in this bed for a couple of years, but like you said....it's been slow. I will move that one to the other bed. I do love it.
Thanks for the source on the bags!

This is what I learned to used for the hosta on the hill which had lots of voles damaged the past cpl years.

oh, oh, OH!! Melati -- I love your vole-control!!! where did you get the blue baskets? I want to do this. Brilliant idea!

Roxanna, I got them from the dollar store, would prefer black but got whatever colors they had available lol.... Blue/red/green/orange, just leave about an inch above soil level to prevent them going thru.

Love the wastebasket idea! Thanks

I also use those wastebaskets from the dollar store (dollar tree). I also have some in spinout bags, but I am doubtful they would keep out determined voles...the fabric itself is not that tough. In fact, I had some folded bags stored within a black garbage bag in my garage, and some mice got in there and made a nest over the winter, and chewed holes in some of the spinout bags.

In fact, I have one hosta planted in a spinout bag and it seems much smaller this year, so I should pull it up and see if there are any vole holes. It seems like if you are going to plant in those bags where voles are a concern, it would be a good idea to use gravel outside the bag.

Ok, of the ones on your list that I have, I have June, Sleeping Beauty, and Paul's Glory in the most shade in my garden...of course I have no way of knowing how it compares to your shade. June reached a nice size, but it's colors reflect the shade- its not as light colored as other Junes I've seen.

Sleeping Beauty hasn't grown well, but it does grow, and the edge even turns cream by mid summer.

Paul's Glory is looking pretty good this year, actually! I'm sure it would be more impressive with more sun, but it's actually catching my eye this year. I will try to get pics of that one and sleeping beauty tomorrow.

This is what my June in full shade looks like...the colors are a bit saturated because it's a cellphone pic.

Michelle:Nice to hear from you. I have the following and will comment:
-June; mine is in 3-4 hrs am sun and is wonderful, but have seen her grown in almost full shade and also a beauty.
-ventricosa; I have 3 which grow in locations varying from mid-day sun to dappled to almost full shade. It is a wonderful species (don't capitalize the "v" on a species) and you will love the fantastic display of deep purple and white flowers)
-Vulcan; It is a new purchase this spring and is planted in 3-4 hrs. am sun.
-Liberty; My 3rd year plant is in rather dense dappled shade, full shade from my house in the am and lightly dappled from a huge sivler maple to the west in pm. It is GORGEOUS thbelle. My Sagae from which Liberty is derived gets 3 hrs late am sun and is being challenged by Liberty.
-Whirlwind; This very manageable hosta iis one of my faves. It lives in the dappled sun under a Black Walnut tree and I feel benefits from not having too much sun.
-Paul's Glory; Beautiful in mostly shade with only dappled early am sun and shade the rest of the day. It doesn't get the golden yellow centers as it would in more sun but I prefer it as it is. An alternative would be Old Glory.
-Niagara Falls; I really liked mine which I'd bought last year. It was potted for this spring's planting and the squirrels dug it up and ate the crown because of the lack of walnuts last year (drought). I am going to replace it, and give it dappled sun. I don't know for sure, but I feel it would really hurt its appearance if it were scorched. After all it is, like ventricosa, an all green hosta.

That is the best I can do, Michelle. Don't be a stranger and do let us see what you have decided on. No list I have ever started ends up the same as when I started it. LOLAM! How can a hostalover just make one list and stick with it? Not this gal.

Theresa

the dollar store waste baskets are PURE GENIUS ....

i can not say any more than that ...

ken

coll_123 Your June looks great. Look forward to seeing your Sleeping Beauty and Paul's Glory pics.
I am going to check the $ stores here for some of those baskets. I know all creatures must have a purpose, but really what is the purpose of a vole?
It has rained and been overcast so much this year it's hard to remember exactly how much sun this bed actually gets. I'm pretty sure I will put ventricosa, Carolina Blue, Blue Umbrellas, Whirlwind in here. I will probably try Sleeping Beauty and Liberty also. Are there any of the yellow-gold hostas that hold their color in shade?

thanks, Melati! i will look for the baskets asap. as Ken says, they are PURE GENIUS.

Don't tell the guys at $$ store or the price will go up. So far haven't lost any hosta to moles but will give Myrle a heads up as she does have these nasty creatures eating on her hosta on the banks by her drive way. I am sure she too has read this.

One thing I am concerned about with the dollar tree wire baskets though, is rust and them eventually just falling apart. For a buck, I'm not sure there is a lot of longevity there. I have one basket in the corner which is pretty rusted. Its coated with rubber, but I don't know how long that will last under the soil.

tarheelbelle, this is my sleeping beauty in full shade...really hasn't grown a lot. For me, this is a slow family of plants unless I start with a really big one. (I started with a big June)

And this is Paul's Glory in some pretty dense shade. At least I THINK it's PG....I don't find the substance all that great so I am wondering if it is a mislabeled Gold Standard or something else. Hm.

regarding the yellow-golds in the shade, most of them are going to require some sun to bring out their full brilliance. One that had a nice color for me when I had it in the shade is Sea Gulf Stream. It's prettier now that I have it in more sun, but it still looked nice in more shade

My Sea Gulf Stream came this spring, and I like it. This one came from Naylor Creek Nursery

Garter Snakes, Indigo Snakes, Owls and Hawks might starve to death without voles. I don't understand why we don't build habitats for the above snakes instead of saying "eek, a snake". If I had them in my yard I would have no voles.

the KKK River is up for the first time in a year. The other morning two young men (sigh) were carefully walking along the emergent weeds on the river bank. One suddenly grabbed and came up with a Water Moccosin by the tail. It was about 3 1/2 feet long. He held it for almost 5 minutes while his 'bud' took pictures with his phone. When he finally released it, unhurt, he left out his breath which I think he held for the full 5 minutes. What a adren rush he had, and I don't blame him. I once removed a copperhead from my Mom and Dad's yard and released it into the woods. I'd pinned it down and grabbed it behind it's triangular head. I am not a 'eek' gal!

Toads in the garden are good (they love slugs) as are Guinea Hens, chickens and ducks which most urban laws don't allow. Snakes are GREAT in the garden because they prey on Voles, Ground Squirrels, Gophers, and even tree Squirrels, Ground Hogs and Rabbits avoid Indigo Snakes. They can get over 6 feet long but only pose a threat to humans if you try to grab them. who'd want to: they smell like putrid rubber. I know. I'd once rescued on that was caught in a plastic mesh. It wasn't my most pleasant 'rescue'. The snake was almost 8 feet long and 4" diameter, but the opening in the net was only 2". it would have died had I not released it.

All that being said, I still don't know what the value of voles are other than fodder for other creatures great or small.

Ken, with a thousand hostas, a dollar a basket is waaaaay above my budget!

'Eco' friendly Theresa
Maybe this should be the subject of another thread.

I know they say they are great to have in gardens, but I had garter snakes and still had voles...and then I had toads and still had plenty of slugs eating my hostas...and then there was that time when I almost stepped on the garter snake eating the toad. So i'm ok without all those things, lol. ;). Haven't seen a snake or a toad this year and I'm cool with that.

Thank you for the pictures coll_123. They look great. Can't wait for all these hostas to grow some more.
I was told by a local nursery owner that voles were free bleeders and would die if cut by a sharp object - such as glass or pieces of wire buried with the plants.
Unfortunately, Terri, I am one of those "eek girls". lol I'm getting better though.

Unfortunately Michele, I am a bleeder so no glass or wire buried in MY dirt. I refuse to grow roses because they attack me. lol
I work very hard to preserve my blood and smack a mosquito hard enough to kill an eagle when one tries to suck my blood.

Coll - that must have been one hungry garter snake. Toads are supposed to taste terrible because of the stuff we think gives us warts when we touch them. It is their defense because they sure can't run fast.

Theresa