Aha! I think there will be room for 3 new hostas in new strip

10 years ago

I have been waiting the Doomsday rains predicted for today and tomorrow. Not a drop. Darn! I need that rain to soften the lawn so I can turn over the sod and create a new 18" wide planting strip on my main garden to transfer the salvaged hostas from the tree garden into. The hostas salvaged from the tree garden are High Society, Maui Buttercup, Undulata mediopicta, Blue Cadet, First Mate, Sparkler, Yellow Eyes, Cracker Crumbs, Raspberry Sundae, and Little Treasure. The Blue Cadet and U. mediopicta will be too large to put into the new strip, so I will offer them to my handicapped neighbor to put under her tree.

I will put Cracker Crumbs, Yellow Eyes and Sparkler, all three tiny minis, into the new 16" glazed pot I just bought. In the middle of that group will go tiny mini heuchie Ginger Snap.

That leaves about 8.5' of hostas to plant in the 13.5' space in front of the main garden. And surely there must be a couple of additional feet turning the corner around to the back of the Obligatory Bushes.

That means I will need maybe 3 more hosta to fill the new strip. I looked over the hostas of several of our favorite companies and what attracted me (because they are different from what I already have) were Ripple Effect, Grand Prize, Hyuga Urijro, Stitch in Time, Tomahawk, Marilyn Monroe.

Does anyone have experience with any of these candidates? Thank you so much for any insider info!

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Comments (7)

Steve Massachusetts
10 years ago
Esther,

Glad your situation has turned to your advantage. Of those plants you've mentioned I can highly recommend Grand Prize (which is probably the same plant is Grand Tiara), and Marilyn Monroe. Grand Prize is small but vigorous and has beautiful wide yellow margins. Marilyn Monroe has a lot going for it, beautiful rippled leaves with red petioles, white leaf backs, red scapes and lovely flowers that bloom late in the season. It's one of my favorite plants.

The only one I would not buy is Stitch in Time which has a tendency to become "unstitched". My understanding is that the Originator's Stock is a better plant than the TC. Hyuga Urajiro is a nice little plant, but not a favorite.

Steve
esther_b
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, Steve, for your "insider info". The new planting strip is not dug yet due to the lack of promised rain. Sunday will be the day I break my back digging out so much turf. Hopefully some of the promised rain will have come this way and softened the soil to ease my task.

So, Grand Prize and Marilyn Monroe are to be sought after, while Stitch in Time should be left on the shelf, eh? What about Tomahawk and Ripple Effect?
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What is the goal? Is the space in question between the edging and the walk? If the goal is to develop a garden in order to have a place to grow more plants, then the plants that appealed to one (and fit in the space) would be the plants to use. If the goal is to improve the looks of the house, there's no way the photograph (since the house can't be seen) would let one determine if doing this at all is a good idea. Since lining a walk usually makes the walk seem more narrow, and since walks are almost always too narrow to begin with, and because separating the lawn from the walk with vertical elements makes the walk feel confining, I'm thinking it's probably not a good idea to begin with. There are probably much better ways to improve the looks of the property. But then ... the picture.
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I look at my pitiful plants which are dwarfed in pots, and think Pfffffhhhh, no problem ..... ....and then Don posts that ginormous Key West, which is fantastic and it dwarfs Miz Olga! I cannot WAIT for something in my garden to look like that. Hosta are just about too exciting for me ole heart. I've taken steps to give Empress Wu room, and S&S as well. I had no idea about Key West though. It looks innocent enough in its normal nursery pot. Olga sure can breed giant hosta!
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ella - what a lovely space you created! To help keep the soil in good shape you'll need to add organic matter yearly. Compost spread as mulch in late fall topped with irregular wood chips has worked well for our beds. I reach into the beds in spring using whatever tool is handy to be sure the mulch is pulled back from the plants, but don't dare step into the beds because the soil is just too soft & wet. Slug control is 3 pronged - sluggo type bait, hunt & remove when soil is moist, & also spray with ammonia water... Repeat. Repeat. Especially vigilant late summer to get all the adults possible and in early spring spray often with the ammonia water to get in & around emerging hostas to prevent damage. You're right that Burgundy Glow ajuga spreads less vigorously than Bronze Beauty, but in my 9 month wet climate still spreads fairly well. --3 Burg. Glow bareroot starts from a plant swap this April -- poor soil mulched with coarse wood chips around stepping stones across a low area in part shade became 30+ by now in August spreading out 3 feet square! --spring planted Bronze Beauty 12" apart on center by the next spring was solid around stepping stones, hose reel, etc. That patch is easily 4 feet x 6 feet up & over each other so that not all even rooted just runners spread. Easy care for that area when stepped upon & an easy source of countless starts for other gardens. In another area about 10 runners removed & planted became 3 feet x 6 feet in a year's time growing over pathway rocks toward stepping stones in the middle of the path. If you keep an eye on it & remove the excess runners your hosta will be safe. Otherwise the ajuga will over run & shoot runners between stems & even into the crown. Since the biggest growth spurt is in late spring I just snip the runners in early summer before they root. I am running out of new garden space and friends who don't have their own ajuga patch.
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Jon - I see what you mean... those have obviously been there quite a while. Mine are pruned/limbed up like trees and create more of a true canopy. I just finally got all my hostas planted, and under the redbuds I ran into a few roots, but it wasn't bad. My trees are only a few years old though. We'll see how they do. NHL - Maybe it's a place that would be better for just some sun-loving shrubs....?
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mctavish6
10 years ago
I agree with Steve about Marilyn Monroe and Stitch in Time. I see Grand Prize as an improvement over Grand Tiara. The color is much stronger, see picture. If you locate it in sun the margin fades to white but during the summer it regrows new leaves with the yellow color. If you locate it in heavy shade it keeps the original color all summer.

Ripple Effect did not thrill me until this year. It was always blah and faded. Put it in sun and it's much more interesting with better color.
Steve Massachusetts
10 years ago
Esther,

I agree with Myrle about Ripple Effect, but I don't know Tomahawk. A good replacement for Stitch in Time is Mango Tango. Small size and very colorful foliage. Grows well and stands up all season.
esther_b
Original Author
10 years ago
Okaaaaay. Based on the recommendations here, I just ordered Ripple Effect, Marilyn Monroe & Grand Prize from Made in the Shade. A pity none of them were on end of season sale. I diligently searched the web to find them on sale, but found only one of them at any particular place. Even though Made in the Shade is a dollar or two more expensive, they have them all, so there will be only one shipping charge. If I find, after having the time to dig the 18" strip this weekend and transplanting the hostas I have to move, that there is sufficient space for the 3 new ones AND a heuchie or two, I will order the heuchie or two.
jadie88
10 years ago
Oh, what a wonderful silver lining to the rotten co-op board situation! Now your garden will be more lovely than ever. Wonderful varieties you've picked, too. I have Marilyn Monroe on my "must have" list, and Ripple Effect caught my eye in a big way at a display garden this summer.

Here in the Baltimore area we've been soaked almost nonstop for three days now, so I am willing our rain to head up your way!
esther_b
Original Author
10 years ago
Unfortunately, the rain seems to be bypassing us except for a spitting rain right now. And I NEEDED that rain to soften the soil for the addition of the hosta strip to the garden! So, I may have to run the hose on the "soaker" setting for a while Sunday to soften the soil. Then I can plant the hostas I saved in the garbage bags and wait for the 3 new ones to arrive to plant.

The OUTRAGEOUS thing is, now the mgt. is toying with me again. They told me in that letter to have my "plantings" out from under the hosta tree, and so I did. I only left the annual salvia, as it will die soon anyway. Guess what????

The dead tree is still there, but I know the "landscapers" have been busy cutting down zillions of trees and large branches all over the complex. So I wonder, with good reason considering their spitefulness, if they wanted me to dig up my garden for no reason except to ruin it AND they won't remove the dead tree as I asked.

I just ran into my downstairs next door neighbor, who has told me often how much she loves what I did with the Neighbor's Patch (she is one of the 2 "Neighbors"). She paid me a wonderful compliment just now---she is getting married next year and she wanted the name and color of my Easy Does It rose because she wants to use it in her bridal bouquet!!!

I just informed her about the co-op manager's nasty spiteful behavior about the hosta garden, and she was truly appalled.

Aha! I think there will be room for 3 new hostas in new strip

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Steve Massachusetts

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Aha! I think there will be room for 3 new hostas in new strip

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