Oh Santa, I see your Fragrant Bouquet looks great. And all of the others too. I agree with you, Satisfaction looks fantastic. It is one I've had troubles identifying since 2010, so I'm not sure if I have one or TWO of them. Time will tell.

My Fried Bananas is doing okay, and one of two that I have produced seedpods. But, it was not a new one this year. It replaced an older one in 2013, which I threw out before I knew what cold damage looked like, and that was likely the problem. I still regret my mistake and my unreasoning fear of VIRUS in my garden.

Here are a couple that were new this year, and they look fairly good.

Quesadilla, a fragrant streaker new this year

Montana Aureomarginata, cannot wait for it to get BIG

Dorothy Benedict, trucking along like a champ, a gift from LOTG around June.

All Jazzed Up, a fragrant streaker, perked up and looking pretty good by August. Those tall ones have to struggle to stay crispy in our hotter climate. But when they get going, I like the look.

Squash Casserole, I got a second one of them since #1 is looking so fantastic. Play to my strengths, and a backup in case something happens to #1.

Moon Glow, doing fairly well, a medium.

Color Festival, another fragrant new in 2014

The Striptease Family Portrait...all on top row are NOT new. Everything else arrived this year, which is six newbies. But here are the names:
From left top to bottom: H. 'Striptease' - 'Gypsy Rose' - 'Kiwi Full Monty' - 'Snake Eyes' - 'Juha' - 'Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' - 'Hanky Panky' - 'Cabaret' - 'Erotica'

I had a bad hosta year this year. With the late freeze, the loss of my neighbor's large elm tree and a problem with pots with bottoms on them, it wasn't the best year ever.

I picked up some great plants, though. I can't believe how great Cathedral Windows and Squash Casserole have done. Both came from Hallson's. Then, I got the great Manhattan from Jeff at LOTG as a gift. I can hardly wait for next year to see how that one will look, along with LS Cindy Cee. I also got my coveted Pride and Joy this spring from Don R. It has done very well. It reminds me of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Even though they weren't as pretty as they sometimes are, it's been a great year. I've learned a lot. Ventricosa types needs more shade. Fragrants need more sun. Give Paul's Glory some more shade starting in July.

So, I guess it's been a pretty good year after all.

bk

The new plants did well,but the older ones,due to the late freeze, didn't fare so well. Looking forward to a better 2015. Phil

BKay, while you are a zone different from me, I think you and I share the same experiences with the plants. I'm not sure if the "Texas factor" gives Santa a harder climate to grow in or not, but with sensitivity he has grown some fine plants this year.

My ventricosas want a lot of water, and definitely morning sun. I like their characteristics, and their purple/white striped blooms, very prolific bloomers, not so prolific seed setters. I think of ventricosas as my brown-eye dominant gene pool, they mark the progeny with that cupie doll twisted leaf tip and mostly the very pretty full leaf shapes. I'll try Heartache in more sun next year, it is a gold ventricosa hybrid, not a sport.

Some few of my plants are going down quickly this year. We had less rain in August than normal, and watering did not keep up with the heat. The new lattice shade screen caused me to rearrange some hosta, which may have upset their normal sun exposure. However, in the long run, like BK says, give the fragrants more sun (and more water), and the others morning sun or limited afternoon sun.

I'm trying to plan placement of the roll of 100' x 6' 90% shade cloth. I don't want to put it up before the pecan trees drop their leaves, which would make a holy mess. But it occurs to me that the proper winter shading, as much as the summer sun shading, will serve to keep them in good shape for the short periods of cold we have. Just so I come up with 40 days below 40 or thereabouts, we should have a lovely spring in 2015.

I cannot believe that this passion for hosta began in 2010, jumped from MA to AL in 2012 when I went from 10 hosta to 200 before fall arrived, and now I'm dealing with 500 + pots of them. Thing is, you don't see the pots so much.

One comment though, and it is about an older hosta, my first Lakeside Black Satin. It is still a small thing struggling, even though I got it in 2012. The larger one from 2013 looked lovely and satiny jet green this year, but not #1. I had the pot of LSBS sitting on top of a tub of vitex agnus castus (false hemp tree or chaste tree), thinking to give it more shade. Well, I picked it up yesterday to make sure it was okay, and discovered that the surface roots of the vitex had grown into the pot through the side holes. No, it was not hosta roots, it was vitex roots. So perhaps that can explain part of its puny appearance. I'll have to extract the hosta and separate the roots, then be sure to set it on some dowels. Even with holes on the sides of the pot, for proper drainage, strange roots can infiltrate the choice planting mix.
Just an observation because our green world in the south has a built-in fast growth rate, and a long growing season. Most of us have a time of freezing weather, but some areconsidered "subtropical" .....

I wish Paula/ILoveToGrow would check in on this one.She has a coastal garden and in Florida to boot. .

Note:
I tried Dust Devil last year, and it got southern blight and died quickly. I tried it again this year, and it went heat dormant. I'm not sure it will make a comeback. I'll not be replacing it.

At this point in my planning my hosta garden future, I envision not replacing the ones which do not adjust or flourish here. I know it is a difficult climate/zone. I know some are better adjusted genetically to growing in cooler climates. That leaves plenty of hostas which will perform beautifully in my garden and in containers. I do plan to try more in raised beds with adequate drainage and where I can assure them of a cooler winter dormancy. Like in the area adjacent to the east wall of my solid cement Teahouse where morning shade exists and protection from afternoon sun. Placing them outside the drop line of the eaves to avoid rain during our wet winters, and maybe covering them, might let me put some of the giants in the ground. I'll be repotting up to a large container Sagae and Victory before spring, into large tubs. There will be no moving them once that happens. Both are setting nice amounts of seedpods, and are a joy to grow.
Meanwhile, I have my experimental in-ground bed along the driveway which is doing okay, but not spectacular. In it I have Blue Angel, Winter Snow, Empress Wu and S&S. All those are doing okay, but I'm not sure if they might have shrunk up on me just a bit. Allowing they may have been set back by transplanting a year ago, I will hope to see good growth next spring. Millie's Memoirs (medium) is increasing in size though, and looks perfect. The ones which are not doing okay are Love Pat, Alabama Gold, Fragrant Queen is hanging on but not looking vigorous. Big disappointment there. Maybe I'll try some green fragrant hosta which are duplicates--but not much sunlight reaches the driveway bed. And Wheaton Blue is doing fine, so is Grand Tiara and Golden Tiara. Sugar Daddy is holding its own, I wonder if it will increase in size next spring. I do not water this bed frequently, but there is a row of trees behind it in the neighboring yard. I'll check for root competition next spring.

bkay…..I know loosing that elm next door had to make you sick. Even though you had a hard year I'm glad that you had some winners on your list.

Moccc…..your Dorothy Benedict looks fabulous. That looks a lot like my Loyalist, which took a massive hit from getting the slightest of direct sun in the late spring but still looks healthy in a ugly sort of way. All of your Striptease plants look exceptional, also. I need to put some of those on my want list.

I'm fortunate to have as much shade as I do and the late freeze didn't hit me like it did 300 miles north where bkay is, so I lucked out on that. What worries me about my area is that it gets and stays much colder in Dallas (I lived in and near Dallas for 30 years) than it does here in San Antonio. A hard winter here is 20 days that gets below freezing. I'm not sure if your winters are closer to bkay's or mine, and although I do have 6 or 8 hosta that are in their second and third full year, I am worried about one of those winters where we rarely even touch 40 degrees at night all winter and the affect it will have on my plants. That's why Chris suggested I go for the Fragrant family this last spring to see how they do.

I have tried two in the ground, a Drinking Gourd that is in it's second year and looks decent but small and almost no growth. Also one other blue, which the name escapes me at the moment, that I planted this spring and looks identical to what it did the day I planted it. I may pot that one when it cools off.

So…..at least as far as the 20 or so I have now, it appears that summers will not be an issue for them. The big question is what might happen with a warm winter, which is not at all unusual here.

I am here Mocc. I could not wait to get home to answer as this question is one I can answer. The hostas had a great year. There are seed pods everywhere so fun must have been had. I was at work and missed most everything. Because of my long hours I had sprinklers set up everywhere and I would sit, half alive, and shoot photos of them as I watered almost daily. This was not the best rain year here. Recently as my hours have lessened some I have gotten the chance to weed my poor babies. I have an open field behind me, not mine, that is sending me bad seeds and was not mowed this summer. I have a few that closed up early for heat exhaustion and Raspberry Sorbet in early August for the second year. I was pleased as I lost no one over the winter and the growth rate good. Early in June a major storm passed through. I remember seeing it from work on the other side of town where I live and I was hoping it was raining at my house. I got home to find my leaves damaged as my son said It was the storm from hell.
I love my hostas as they have done well for me here. This is my 4th year with many and all are in pots. A few are still in bloom and I may try to grow some seed this winter if the seed ever ripens. They had a great year. Now it is time and we will see who will still be hanging on at Thanksgiving or expecting something at Christmas. I do not order in the fall so I will be working on my wish list.

I've never used sprinklers on my hosta. Does anyone use sprinklers? Paula just mentioned she did. I read an article on another forum that someone from Dallas wrote. She says she turns on her sprinklers at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

I'm trying to come up with some way to make this easier and perhaps better.

bk

bk normally I do not use sprinklers but this year I had so little home time and could not hold a hose. I needed to do a large area and they actually worked out well. They were high up and mimicked rain. I have yet to loose a hosta this summer and saved time. I have thought about putting in a system with a timer and sprinklers for earlier watering as I do not like to water in the evening or night.

We get really low humidity in the afternoon during July, August and September. That coincides with high temps. Everything I own has brown edges. It always does this time of year. They still grow well and look good until July 1, then the brown edges start. Some are late to develop them, but they all do by September 15.

It's always been that way, but I blamed myself for missing a watering. This year, I didn't miss any watering. It happened anyway. So, I'm trying to decide if there is an affordable solution or just something I have to live with.

bk

Most of my hosta pots are in a huge pecan shell mulched area that is full of assorted ground planted plants. The entire bed is watered via drip irrigation sprayers which run anywhere from 1 time a week in the winter to every other day in the summer. I still do hand watering of the pots anywhere between once every other week to every day, depending on the season/humidity/temperature/lack of cloud cover/rain, but the sprayers do hit all of my hostas in that area. My Guacamole and Sum and Substance leaves pretty much cover the pots and prevent the sprayer water from getting in so those have small sprayers inside the pot that also come from the drip irrigation system.

bk….drip irrigation is inexpensive and super easy to put together. I get all of my stuff from Home Depot. I have 7 beds in my yard. All are watered with drip irrigation sprayers. They can easily be set up on a timer to water only your pots.

This post was edited by santamiller on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 21:02

I think mine did pretty good since they are my first and just planted the first week of August.

A different view

Mocc, I know S&S (and probably its sport Winter Snow) takes a lot of water even here up north, so maybe it's not the best choice for your in ground experiment. Also, Blue Angel was a slow one to start for me, even though a lot of people seem to have no problem with it.

Blue Angel grows well for me. It is highly rated in most trials in the south. It is susceptible to anthracnose, though.

bk

TN, you bet, yours look really good ...to be put in the ground during the height of summer, you are doing something RIGHT.

And Eleven, my choices were from the ones on hand at the time. I added olla jugs to Empress Wu and S+S to keep water in the root zones Winter Snow was doing fine until DH stepped in the middle of the crown. It is making a valiant effort to reflush, and is beautifully bright green. I care not for Minuteman nor Patriot, so they were chosen as sacrificial lambs. Fragrant Queen is a duplicate, nonessential. Alabama Gold well I wanted a hometown boy to be among the volunteers. For good reason I call it the experimental driveway bed. It runs along the driveway on the west side of the house. Neighbors to the south have water oaks, sweetgum, and camphor trees along an unmaintained yard. It is fairly dry and I water this area lightly. We have good rainfall annually so this is tough love.

One which is doing beautifully all season long is Millies Memoirs, a medium.