Yeah, it gets slow here about this time of the year. Many peeps have already had the frosts/freezes that turn their hostas to mush.

I don't freeze here in CA, so most of mine are still looking pretty good, with a few turning fall colors. I'll be messing with them until mid Nov, when I just cut off any remaining leaves and tuck them out of Winter rains.

Things will pick up here in Jan, with seedlings sprouting and early purchases being made.

Sorry I don't have Maui Buttercups or Luna Moths.

-Babka

I am surprised it got SO quiet,now is when we all need to start trickling out some new pics, stories and ideas...

I am going into the leap year with many of my plants..fingers crossed. And what with all the hail and heat this year I didn't get to take many nice pictures ...

Once I start shoveling my drive, and plowing my Moms lane, I will be dieing to see some green leaves in the sun and shade ;)

In my zone 5a there basically is nothing to show. My hostas turn brown 1 leaf at a time, not like others posting here with all yellow. I am very happy that we had no frost yet, there is none in the forecast for the next 10 days either, that would be the latest I can remember. In the 1970s and 80s we had frosts around September 16.

Tree leaves are falling, my compost bins are full of chopped leaves and grass, there are still 1/3 on the trees. Since almost all hostas are still standing, some still looking very nice, raking around them would destroy them, so the rodents must be running underneath. I need to remove the leaves in areas where I saw holes and check if they need some more pellets.

This is the time to make a plan for next year. I noted which hostas I need to move around. I probably will only order very few because there is little place.
Bernd

I have taken up some of the time with building a new 3-bin composting center next to my coldhouse and trying to get it done B4 the trees drop their gold. In the past years I have used my rider to blow the leaves up along the edge of the streets where the city vacuums them up. The little pieces left on the grass were all that was left. I would watch them get vacuumed and wondered what the city did with the little pieces of treasure. By next spring I should have a pretty nice supply of leaf mold. One of the two finish bins has received the contents of a drilled 100 gal brine tank that has gotten this summers kitchen and yard goodies and the stuff under the surface looks pretty good.

Yes-this certainly is the time to be planning for the spring. I still have to finish getting my new "Noopiming Garden" ready for spring planting, but I am almost there. The west end has plantaginea (3), Guardian Angel, Earth Angel, Sweet Innocence, Queen of the Seas, and El Nino bedded in for the winter. Over on the maple side I have a 6 foot extention to the hosta bed ready for spring with only a Liberty and Diana Remembered bedded in sleeved pots for spring relo.

ken-this peep seldom is at a loss for words and i always feel i might be a little boring because of it.

i tend to say whatever i feel (LOL) and it often gets me into trouble.

Wow - there is that little Caps Key!

Les

Babka, your experiences overwintering hosta will be of interest to me. We also have a lot of winter rain. However, we also have freezes, which last year ran as long as 14 days in a row. Unusual, but I expect to have that option again.
So what special do you do if the plants hibernate, and the roots get rained on? What way do you protect them?

I was planning to cover them with pine straw, heaped up deep and loose. For my big tropicals in tubs too big to move, I also heap up new-fallen whole leaves over the entire plant, with blankets on nights that go down to hard freeze zones (at least 28 degrees), or else I buy the baled hay and poke it in wire cages around the stalks of my bananas.

Thankfully, this year, my yard friend/house sitter has already weeded every bed in the garden, so I don't have to do that when we return south. I will have to plant the hosta coming south with me though. Which means hauling in lots of new soil while the temps allow for hard work.

the hosta forum always dies.. as they start going dormant ... and half of mine are dormant ... between about now.. and 1/1 .. there wont be much going on.. unless you make it happen ...

i would put your pots near the door you go in and out of .. outside .... and when the hosta are dead to the media.. just put them in the garage ... or even better.. a free standing shed .. or just on the north side of the house .. tipped on their side... just before they freeze to the ground ...

i dont understand this part: then let them cool down in the dark ... perhaps i dont know where you plan on the aquarium being ...

if you take them from a warm house.. straight out into winter .. they will not harden off properly .. and that could lead to rot ...

good luck

ken

i would not mess around with bringing them in the house.. nor tyhe aquarium. nor nothing else.. once you start adding variables.. or chaning the natural cycle ... you will vastly increase your chances of messing it up ...

Here is a pic of Luna Moth. This is the real Luna Moth;all the others are pretenders,Lol! Phil

{{gwi:1029365}}

Phil, you make me laugh!

That Luna moth is impressive.

bkay

What's remarkable about H. Luna Moth is that it is the same color as the insect. This is the original clump in Bill Myers garden.

Steve

Oh, and for Leafwatcher, here is a pic of Maui Buttercups at Mason Hollow.

Steve

That is way more texture on the Maui Buttercups than I was expecting ! That picture makes it look like a bright Drinking Gourd , which is fine with me that is a look I can appreciate.

As for the Luna Moth, I don't know why, but it so interesting to see the original plant... It also seems to show the adult traits early.
As to the second picture,
What a nice range of colors ..it cheers me up having just looked at it.

Next year we all need to hold some pictures back to share over the cold winter. I just hope I can get caught up with some of the great stuff that is posted here all summer long.

I got Luna Moth last year. I suspect that if it's like it's mama, it will have a leap next year. This family of plants have some wonderful growers: Birchwood Parky's Gold, Parky's Prize, Sweet Home Chicago, and now Luna Moth.

I have them all grouped together, so it will be interesting to see the differences in pattern, while leaf shape and coloring will be the same.

Maui Buttercups....
in my garden, this one tends to scorch a bit. I have had it in dappled sun and in more sun and it scorches in both locations. If I were planting this one, I'd keep it out of the sun.

Steve, thanks for showing both pictures. Now I know how large my little Luna Moth will get, wow. It must help a plant to get large and mature, probably leaves get thicker. My Maui Buttercup only gets morning sun and is rather worn out by now, slugs seem to love it inspite of Buggeta pellets.
Bernd

I have resisted Maui Buttercups because I am not a big fan of cupped leaves, they collect everything and usually look messy, but I may have to change my mind on that one! Beautiful!

Luna Moth might have to be on my wish list this spring also after seeing that...

Sandy

What is the streaked dark green hosta behind Maui Buttercups in Steve's picture? I love it!

I'm pretty sure it's Kiwi Full Monte. It's a blue sport of Striptease.

Steve