I'm a beginner !

I'm glad it worked for you

you may be alone here, in your conclusion... but whatever makes you happy. And I do agree, that is not how I would grow hostas, or anything else for that matter.

"I'm glad it worked for you"

I think you made a wrong turn and entered the wrong forum. This is a place to discuss and share all things hosta by beginners and veterans alike who share a passion for growing hosta.

But, I'm glad it worked for you.

......just when I thought I would never say "snarky" again.....

DD

This post was edited by DelawareDonna on Thu, Sep 25, 14 at 13:48

I guess it is what ever turns your crank what you plant and what you may like or do not like. If it worked out for you great and if you don't care for hosta great too. What ever , you possibly do if it makes you happy .. go for it. US on this forum (HOSTA FORUM), we love hosta whether we are beginners and can't seem to grow anything else.

Glad it "Worked out for you"

You obviously skipped over the "minor accents" part.....

Of course, there are places you can't grow hosta. I'm in Texas and it's difficult here. A hosta would not last 15 minutes in full sun at my house. But, I love them anyway and will provide the best shade I can and buy the better adapted varieties for my situation.

There are places you can't grow mums. Mums are full sun plants here. Mums and hosta do not grow in the same environment here.

I'm glad you found a solution to your ugly hosta. Others got a good deal when you allowed them to dig them up. You got something that would grow well in full sun. Win, Win.

So, it worked out for everyone. Isn't that great?

bk

This person knows very little about hostas and is blaming them for his own ignorance. Then comes here to show off his lack of knowledge in a snotty way. Quite funny really.

Denis

Personally, I think there is enough snot being thrown around by a lot of people here. It certainly prevents anyone from posting least the slugs invade everything else in the garden.

Someone makes a mistake, tried to educate others, gets tossed into the "box" then a few members of the mutual admiration society ponce all over it.

Too bad, it happens in many forum/web sites.
Sours the milk.

There are solutions for slugs. If you want hosta, you have to accept that they are slug magnets. They must taste really good, because rabbits, deer, grasshoppers, cutworms, slugs and all other kinds of critters like hosta. Every plant has it's upsides and downsides. You choose the ones that look good to you. You look at the critters and diseases that like them. Are you willing to battle the critters, diseases and environmental elements that your chosen plant requires? If not, choose something else. Choose something easier for the location. That just makes sense.

Welcome to the hosta forum, bye the way. We like to grow hosta. We grow hosta in from Jacksonville, Florida to the Silicon Valley.

We'll find a way.

bk

"Have a wonderful day, and enjoy those mums."

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 0:33

What a lovely wall and house.

I have a similar area / situation and had decided to plant Kale and Chard along the cool moist wall.

It worked great for me as I do not have issues with Cabbage moths in the area.

Hosta grew well in the area; I was just neglectful about applying Slugo and did not feel my laziness was fair to the plants.

Half the fun of gardening for me is figuring out the right plant for the location. I usually end up moving plants around 2-3 times before I find the perfect location (for both the plant and my aesthetics :) )

Margaret

I just painted it last fall: Dark blue with a tan trim.
Note the Yellow and White Forsythia plants. The orange Emperor tulips don't seem to show from this angle. I will have to fix that... (:

The wall has been inheriting a list of plants that bloom through out the year. It starts with crocuses, then daffodils and Spanish bells (blue and white), cushioned cosmos, then pink Sedum and finally orange manicured mums.

A benefit for Hosta, it does cover up the withering leaves of daffodils. But then again, so does comfrey...

Emerogork2- This is a hosta forum. Do you have any hostas other than that row of undulatas that you dug up and gave away? There are landscaping forums and I think you could use some help from them. Good luck, and have a nice day.

-Babka

I wonder if you might try the inside of the same wall with some hostas? Or, if the DH does not want flowers in his mowing area? But if mulch covers the space adjacent to the stone wall, the hostas inside would at least have their roots shaded and thus a modicum of heat evaporating your water.

Nothing demands that there be an entire row the length of the wall. I'd try some special new hosta introductions that could be planted periodically in clumps spaced a good distance apart, as a trial. If they thrive, then return to the wall and space a different hosta type between those clumps.

Undulatas are good in masses and so are things like Gold Standard. When conditions are right.

You have a beautiful property. And zone 4? Wow! Hosta should grow very nicely just about anywhere up there.... The right hosta in the right place. Definitely not "one variety fits all" though.

I'm a long way from zone 4, and I have to adapt my techniques and planting locations to suit my climate. Yet I manage to have some in full sun many hours a day from the time they emerge in March to the time they go dormant in November/December, by misting them to cool the air when it is hot. And, I apply slug pellets to control those unwelcome guests.

Here is a view of my hosta garden. I covet shade for them, but those against the tall lattice shade screen get full sun from noon on to the time it goes behind the trees to the west across the street, during the longer days of the year, when the sun is on its northern trek.

Enjoy your garden. For me, hostas are worth all the effort to keep them. And it isn't easy here.
But this picture shows how H. Gold Standard is mass planted to great effect. Not in my garden though!

GardenWeb also has numerous perennial forums you might want to consult.

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: Index to GW perennial forums

You have a lovely property and home, Emerogork2. The specific type of hosta you planted is not bad-looking, in my opinion, but it is of very thin leaf substance, compared to most, that the sun and slugs/bugs tend to tear them up quickly, so they can and do lose their looks earlier than most hostas. There are a lot of really beautiful and durable hosta varieties that can be added to complimentary effect on your property. If you choose to, great. If not, great. It's your garden. Plant and enjoy as you see fit. A few nice varieties would look great interspersed with your other plants. If you prefer an alternative, just as well. It's all good. Just my personal opinion. Happy gardening!

Don B.

"There are landscaping forums and I think you could use some help from them. Good luck, and have a nice day. "

I really enjoy garden web and like browsing and occasionally posting in forums that are well outside my areas of expertise. But this thread saddens me. I thought this was a friendlier bunch than it appears here.

Emerogork, you have a beautiful property, stone wall, path, and plantings. Don't despair by the response you've gotten here. Remember, if all else fails, you've got orange emperor tulips!

Well, I can kinda see some folks defending the OP, but when you go to a Hosta Forum and make a statement like "My conclusion about Hosta is that it is for beginners, as minor accents, or good for where it is a struggle to grow anything else." I can see where folks might think that smacks of troll...or ignorance of hosta...or both. Perhaps the reference to thinking out of the box touched a nerve that has been touched before and the OP felt a need to strike back, albeit an ill-placed and ill-thought retort.

tj

Agreed, TJ.

Don B.

Now tell us all by this picture of one of our own hosta members yard
and their beautiful hosta at their finest and say this is for beginners. I only wish my yard looked this great. I could just see these above this beautiful wall but then again, you don't like hosta. Too bad there are more then just green ones, green and white or white or green.
TJ you said it all

We grow plants.

Having this post turn into a me vs them is not healthy or worth any of our time.

This postr had issues with a slug prone plant as a border.

Granted the hostas are for noob statement may have been unwarranted but this forum did initially accuses the poster of being in a box as far as creativity goes. Fairly judgmental IMO without knowing the person and their experience, hosta are not a noob plant and we have many highly skilled horticulturalists in our midst..

We are happy to provide growth tips, but do not expect support if your initial and follow up posts consist of bashing.

We are the hosta forum. We love hosta . Don't expect us to bash them.

Margaret

If someone comes needing help, we'll give it as best we can. We are generous with our help to all who ask. He/she didn't ask for help or advice.

"Chip on the shoulder" wanted to tell us how lousy hosta are. Our natural inclination is to tell him/her how they are mistaken, hosta are beautiful plants and then try to solve the problem. Then "chip on the shoulder" tells us how dumb we are and how mums are better and they already know more than we can tell them. We've all seen this exchange many times.

When someone comes to any forum and says, "knock this chip off my shoulder", I don't think it's inappropriate or snotty not to indulge that request.

In this case, all we've done is agree with him/her. Mums are much better for this person, in that location, than hosta.

My suggestion is that we not give him/her the dissention he/she came here looking for. That's not snotty.

bk

On the other hand, Em simply mentioned that the choice to plant Hosta there turned out to be a bad location although it was very inviting. I read it as if it was being mentioned to either help others that may have the same problem or may be thinking of using the same setting.

For this, Em was put in the box.

As for the Mums, I do not recall any suggestion for anyone to dump Hosta for Mums. It was only mentioned that Mums worked there instead.

It is interesting, in another web site, it is suggested that there is a slug fest going on here and that "the slugs are in the Hosta again".

I doubt that any of this "Knock the chip off one's shoulder" idea benefits the forum at all.

Trolls be as trolls accuse.

Deleted.

This post was edited by bungalowmonkeys on Sat, Nov 1, 14 at 19:35

Kow-wa Bunga! Love the hairdo on your naked jewel troll.

LOL, Guess I should mention that is not my kid! Although I do have some cute little trolls. I try to make the kids Halloween costumes and that cutie came up when I googled kid troll costume.

In my condo community it is against the rules to plant mums for all of the reasons Bunga stated. I personally hate them.

DD

Mum Salad? No thanks. I'd much rather eat a hosta. (Prepared by Luuk, of course) ; )

Don B.

As much as I see this as a friendly forum , I think we all maybe have lost track of what this forum is all about and now it is started to look like a witch hunt or burning at the stakes. We maybe are sounding a bit of a bully bunch and possibly should end this soon. I kind of feel sorry for this person that possibly did not choose her/hiswords wisely; I know I am done commenting now. Hopefully everyone feels the same
Faye

What I believe happened here is that Emerogork2 told the hosta forum that mums (in his situation) were a much wiser choice than having hosta and that hosta are to be used "where it is a struggle to grow anything else." I believe that this thread should have been posted in the annuals/perennials forum not the hosta forum. What is the point of going on a hosta forum and claiming to dislike hosta? Why would I go on a dog forum and mentioned that I much prefer cats to dogs?

So I agree with Faye that we should all put this thread to rest. If Emerogork2 is interested in posting a new thread with a question in regards to hosta, I am sure we would be willing to provide information and help in any way we can. We are an active forum and all share the love of hosta.

This post was edited by newhostalady on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 19:29

"What is the point of going on a hosta forum and claiming to dislike hosta? "

Personally, if I knew much about Hosta, I would have taken the opportunity to educate Em about Hosta instead. Maybe that comes from being a college professor. If nothing else, you are drawing a lot of attention to it.

"So I agree with Faye that we should all put this thread to rest. "

Welcome to the Internet, it is not going to go away unless the Sysop removes the thread. Anyone coming in here is going to see this mess that has been created from one small comment. Then again, everyone that wants to, can rewrite history here and go back to edit their posts.

I begin to wonder why so many got so up-in-the-air about this unless Em hit a sensitive nerve? I can only surmise. There certainly was no continued tell insulting your precious babies.

All of my plants are my babies. If someone comments negatively about my garden, I would try to find out why it is not liked and then I would either make an adjustment or reconsider the source.

Moccassin - is that pic with the waves of Gold Standard from the 2006 National Hosta Convention? It looks familiar!

I only stop in on occasion these days, but speaking of national conventions ........ don't go to one and say hostas are just accent plants for beginners. There are bound to be a few people there that will disagree!

Teresa who can get just about anything to grow as long as I put it in the right location

This post was edited by teresa_mn on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 22:44

Teresa, do not know where the picture originally came from, it was in several threads here, and we always have trouble finding it. To my way of thinking, it represents the best example of a successful mass planting of hosta. They sure did it RIGHT.

Yes, it was the 2006 AHS National Convention in Valley Forge - I took several of those photos which have been posted.

I know the orginal plantings of this garden.

Bruce

That Gold Standard garden is AMAZING...Do you think there may be a few naturally-occuring Captain Kirks or Abracadabras in there? It would be so fun to go sportfishin' in that! : )

Don B.

Bruce - what were the other rows of hostas? I remember the picture from the Hosta Journal.

Teresa

The all green ones were some reversions back to fortunei hyacynthina in the rows of Gold Standard.

Can't recall right now the others!

They would have been planted in the early 1980's.

Bruce

Well, since we're on the subject, I was interested in these comments above:

"Back to this box accuser, he has a quirky, sarcastic humor (mentioned a few times), sometimes a bit dry. Some intelligence also helps with the understanding of what he types. Otherwise some jokes will fly right off the screen and past you. Now don't read that and think I'm saying you or the OP lack intelligence when it comes to humor, because that is not what I'm getting at. Just a fact of his writing style and the way his thoughts get typed."

I, too, was rubbed the wrong way, so to speak, by the box accuser, because his was the first response I received to my very first post on the Hosta forum. I nearly didn't come back. But now I know that his style of communication and mine simply don't mesh. That just happens sometimes. All people don't operate on the same wavelength, and that's OK.

So I can fully understand Em's reaction.

"

Doubt any Captain Kirk's as those Gold Standard are original stock descendants, while the Captain Kirk's came from later descendants in tissue culture!

Ah, I see, thank you, Bruce.

Don B.

I enjoy Ken's sense of humor, and he's right, more people should think 'out of the box'. I see too many traditional gardens full of too many perennials and a large lawn, looking for curb appeal.
Ken has been around gardening a long time and has a lot to offer beginners.
I don't have many Hostas because I live in the Land of Slugs and would have to mulch with slug bait to keep them at bay. It's all a matter of growing plants that fit your climate and situation rather than continually trying to fit in something that doesn't belong.
Mike

Yeah, but if you don't know Ken at all, he can, and sometimes does, come off as a real pr!ck. (And you know this, Ken. You sometimes cultivate that image) I understand littlebug's viewpoint.

Don B.

Since everyone gave his comments on this, I would like to state that from my own experience :
- growing any hosta in full sun requires a lot of attention and watering.
- any hosta with thin white tissue is a very poor choice with slugs around. Even slug pellets will not help much.
- in that location a row of 'Guacamole' or other sun tolerant hostas would survive.
Good luck!
Bernd

First of all -- sweet wall and lovely yard!

While I have to agree that Ken can -- as a Don pointed out -- "come off as a real pr!ck", I really did not find Ken's comment about thinking outside of the box something to get offended over (if that was indeed the issue). I think most of us at one time or other have been "stuck in the box" and benefited from someone pointing it out. Doing so does not mean one has to go with those out-of-box ideas ... one may find that the "in box" ideas really were the best options for them. But it can spark some creative solutions that may prove useful.

I do agree with Ken that the height of the hosta chosen was less than ideal, and in that regard mums can also be problematic unless one is willing to trim them down once or twice a summer. With trimming, I can see the mums working as well as a much shorter type of hosta -- preferably with thicker, less "slug-magnetic" leaves. Having one interspersed amongst the mums or whatever plants the OP settles on for that area could look very nice indeed and might be less of a slug issue.

I do agree with TJ and others that it was quite understandable that folks got their noses out of joint when the OP said:
"My conclusion about Hosta is that it is for beginners, as minor accents, or good for where it is a struggle to grow anything else."
It does come across as pretentious and condescending, and it seems to indicate ignorance or a bad case of "sour grapes" on the part of the OP. Nor did it make any sense at all to drop in on a forum dedicated to hosta only to gripe that "hosta didn't work I'm going with ____" instead. It would have made more sense if the OP, having had that disappointing experience, had instead inquired as to alternative hosta, hosta + other plants combos, or effective slug deterrents.

@Bungalo -- I really like mums ... outside. Few perennials provide a late summer/fall show that can hold a candle to mums. I am not a fan of their fragrance but that is hardly noticeable outdoors unless you stick your face down in them. ( Wouldn't want them flavoring my salad either -- never heard of anyone doing that before.) But for a late season color show they are great. Never have had an issue with them being invasive or self seeding either.

@Bungalo -- "Obviously everyone is pointing out the hostas that got tossed, are ugly hostas. They are probably the ugliest you could possibly purchase."
Not sure where that came from, you have me puzzled there. Yes, Don pointed out that the hosta the OP had tried "but it is of very thin leaf substance, compared to most, that the sun and slugs/bugs tend to tear them up quickly, so they can and do lose their looks earlier than most hostas", but that is hardly the same as saying they are ugly or the ugliest one could purchase.

The landscaping forum which someone suggested might be of use for additional ideas, but another would be the perennials forum or even the annuals forum (assuming the OP doesn't mind planting yearly).

deleted

This post was edited by bungalowmonkeys on Sat, Nov 1, 14 at 19:36

Are those mums or marigold?

In reference to those as being ugly Hosta, I wonder why when I pot them up for the garden sale, the variegated ones always go first.

Looks like marigolds to me too.

Lmao!! They are marigolds. Shows how much I know. Ill grab a pic of the mums, which have been confirmed to be by the pool. Adding marigolds to flowers im not a fan of.

edited - after a long talk about my salads as a kid found out they did indeed contained mums, marigolds and dandelions. Apparently different parts from each plant. All of which I just assumed were the same plant, a mum!

This post was edited by bungalowmonkeys on Fri, Oct 10, 14 at 19:14

Three hostas have shown excellent slug resistance in my yard (I do not use any slug bait at all): Halcyon, June, and Blue Ivory. All three of them also tolerate a good amount of sun in my yard; however, when I gave some of them to a relative who had them in full sun (with almost no watering, I may add), only Halcyon still looked decent, but lost its blue color (turned green). Therefore, even though there are many slug-resistant hosta varieties available now, it is unlikely that such shade perennials would do well in full, scorching sun. (On another note, a blue scabiosa pincushion flower is doing wonderful in the relative's yard -- its flowers are kinda cute, but the foliage looks too weed-like to me.)

You might have better success with astilbe--with regular watering.

For a full sun location such as yours, I would suggest sedums (stone crops). They are sun perennials that can tolerate a good amount of drought, and definitely love the sun. Some of the taller ones would hide your wall. They bloom late in the season and therefore look good up until mid-fall. Autumn Joy and Autumn Fire are tried and true in most yards, and they multiply very easily from divisions (if you start out with just 4-5 stalks per spot in the first year, you will have nice-looking plants the following year). Some of the others would likely be munched on by rabbits and other furry critters.

Another possibility for you might be the groundcover roses. They are short, love sun, and don't need much watering once established. Some of them are said to be disease-resistant, but that doesn't always hold true. In my experience, it's a hit or miss...some are plagued by powdery mildew or black spot, which can be treated with regular spraying, but some of us don't like that much maintenance. I think trying one would be worth seeing how they do in your yard, but give them 1-2 years before dismissing them. If you do end up liking them, you might not even have to buy a bunch since some of them seem to spread/root easily.

Also, there are shorter varieties of spirea bushes that should do quite well in your yard, although their blooms aren't necessarily as showy. Gold Flame and Gold Mound are two of my favorites, and they are pretty much maintenance-free once established (although they will appreciate watering after the first year too, if you give it).

Lastly, you can also try coreopsis (tickseed) and some dwarf weigela varieties such as My Monet. I don't have any personal experience with them yet. From what I've read, the tickseed is a tough plant, and there are many colors and patterns available now. I'm not sure just how sun tolerant and deer resistant the weigelas truly are, but think they do well in full sun with watering. Hope this helps.

Hopefully no one here will mind me suggesting other plants. As much as some of us would love to have hostas, some of us just don't have enough shade for them. I've gone through several before finding the three that work for me. All others were sunburned and/or torn up by a combination of slugs, rabbits, and deer, which was quite frustrating so I do understand this person's reaction to them. For me, it has been worth the struggle to find the few hostas that have made it through all the abuse because in my yard everyone likes them the most. That said, I would definitely encourage people who are turned off by slug damage to try some of the resistant hostas. If you can't find the more "fancy" ones locally, try ilovehostas.net (excellent seller). You will generally only get 1-2 eyes when purchasing some of these beauties, so be prepared to wait a year or more for them to grow into nice mounds.