Thanks for the responses. Good questions. Some are planted under a Bradford Pear tree, pretty much full shade; while others are planted under a large pine tree and in some canna lilies. Soil is about 6.5 ph and was amended three years ago with peat, potting mix, and Black Kow. Osmocote has been added to the beds about once a year. I have a soaker hose snaking through all beds which gets connected several times a week. Plus, the lawn irrigation system soaks them from the top twice a week. The beds never seem to be dry. As to dormancy, the zone is 7b to 8 and we do have some freezing temps during the short, 2 month winter. The hostas certainly disappear late Fall to early Winter and don't show up again until April. I'm concerned with 5 to 10 plants out of 80+, the others seem pretty happy. As to whats left, basically they are minature plants whose leaves just seem to fall off or otherwise disappear. Great Expectation went to bed last year as a normal leafed plant, woke up this Spring as a small leafed fellow (1-2 inch leaf length) and finally just disappeared. The soil in general is sand with loam and sticky black mud mixed in. Seems to grow other stuff pretty well although unammended it does hold water when it finally does get wet. I'm mystified. John

My mistake. I meant to ask if it was the washing machine - not the dryer. The only clothes I put in the dryer are pajamas, panties and socks. I wash all of my clothes in cold water. After I washed the black sweater, I used a dryer rack in the dining room. There's no vent in that room. After I washed the purple sweater, I hung it on a hanger in the guest bedroom. There is a vent in the guest bedroom, but it is not near where I hung up the purple sweater. I don't think it could be the drying process that caused problems with the purple sweater because the shrinkage was noticeable as soon as it came out of the washing machine. The next time I do laundry, I'll check to see if there's hot water getting fed into the washer. badgergrrl, this mostly happens with cotton blend clothes. Today's camisole is 95% cotton/5% spandex. The gray and black sweaters are 60% cotton/40% rayon. The purple sweater is 100% cotton. Strangely enough, I have a pink blouse (some kind of rayon blend) that shrunk after I hand-washed it. That's why I was starting to think that I am having water problems. I washed that one in Woolite, which I always thought was gentle. Thanks for your advice, and thanks for listening to my rant!

I'm brand new to this forum, but I believe I can answer your question. There are quite a few fabrics that have wool content that can be washed, but I would first test a small piece of the fabric to be sure. You should process it just like you would if you were going to wash it with your other clothing. If it shrinks, then you can bet it is fabric that needs dry cleaning. For lining your skirt, you use the same pattern and cut a lining material such as a polyester blend that your fabric store can show you a selection of. There are many blends of fabric available, but you want to get a complimenting color to your fabric. The lining is usually attached at the waist band, and stitched with the zipper also. Hem it just as you would the outer skirt, but put it about an 1" to 1 1/2" above the bottom hem, this way you will have give to the skirt and with the lining you don't have to wear a slip. Good luck.

Definitely sounds like a soil and light issue. I had a very similar problem - my old place had a great spot for growing and plants did fantastic. Then when I moved I didn't realize how drastically different the conditions were and my succulents started dying slowly over a two year period (some faster). Recommend making your own soil mix with very low water retention for indoor growing in lower light. It's not that hard and there are many good options (perlite, gritty mix, etc.). If you stick with your current mix, it will be very difficult to manage watering properly. A brighter spot may be also helpful, but depends what you have available.