Sorry if this sounds like a teacher giving a lecture... cause I was a teacher and it is kind of a lecture... but you asked... and I know sometimes when I'm questioning a problem in my garden, it helps if somebody takes me back and talks me through the basics. I know you are already a successful gardener, so take this as a friend helping you walk through the question... As has been previously noted, it is hard to respond to your question because the plants you listed are mostly not "Small Leafed" Lakeside Dragonfly registered with a 7x4 leaf and a 30" diameter plant. Most of us would call that a medium. This one was actually registered as a fast grower, but I started them from tc and have found them slow - but not difficult in any way compared with others. Lakeside Elfin Fire This is actually a mini... leaf 3x1... and with all the white, it can be touchy. Minis do require special care in tough climates... small root systems mean they can heave out of the soil during the winter... they can be covered by larger plants or suffer in competition for food and water. I grow mine in raised beds where I can better control growing conditions. i've kept one LEF alive... had to pull off a bunch of green last year, and the remaining looks pretty good-but-tiny this year... I probably wouldn't plant another... Stiletto glad I grew a bunch of these from tc before I heard they were problems for people... I have 3 or 4 around the place... easy to grow mounds about 2 feet across... nothing special required to grow them, but I have found them difficult to divide... tend to disintegrate into lots of plant fragrments and lose the nice mound shape. That might be the issue with people getting them going... a transplant is often just a bunch of rhizomes and eyes with little "root" structure. Hanky Panky for me it is staying much smaller than most of the other Striptease plants,,, mine have not done well in deep shade, and have not done particularly well in a lot of sun... I think it needs lots of light but not midday sun. With all its color changes, one might guess it is not a particularly strong photosynthesis plant. Also watch for sporting... I've got one that is almost overwhelmed by a sport that looks like Moonlight. Fire & Ice Notoriously difficult... too much white, not enough chlorophyll... Warwick Comet I don't have it Lakeside Paisley Print got a small one last year... no issues so far... good first year growth. I did put it in a bright-light holding bed where I can monitor soil and moisture. Allegan Fog - grows like a weed for me... or should I say, like an Undulata ;-) I keep chopping mine back to keep it in a 30" diameter space... mine is on the north side of a garage, so relatively low light... still grows surprisingly well considering how much white it has... (note: London Fog, the sport with little chlorophyll, is growing for me... but not nearly as fast and staying much smaller...) Wolverine - considered a pretty easy plant for most... and not small leafed... actually, with a registered mound size of 38" and leaves 10x6... I don't know if that is a medium or a large. Mine always stays around 24" So... the real question... why does an experienced grower like yourself have success with larger plants and less with these medium to small plants? Part of the answer you are getting here is - except for a couple on your list, it is not the plants. A Wolverine or Lakeside Dragonfly should not take any substantially different care than your successful medium - xlarge hostas. So there are only a few things to look at. Light... are they getting bright shade and not too much direct sun? Many hostas in too much light will have smaller leaves - the plant doesn't need as large a leaf to make food because of the brighter sunlight and it also protects itself against water loss from the hot sun by keeping leaf surface area down. If the conditions are too harsh, the plant will hang on but dwindle... until it passes on to that big garden in the sky. Soil - well drained soil? Young or struggling plants have trouble in heavy soil... hard to expand the root system into heavy soil, plus a tendency for moisture to hang on too long and rot the roots when it is wet and cold. They also have trouble in too light/sandy soil as the moisture doesn't hang around long enough for their small root system to keep them hydrated. Water... with well-drained soil, it is pretty much impossible to overwater hostas. Younger plants and smaller plants, with less-established root systems, are particularly susceptible to set-backs from insufficient water. root competition - young and small plants, with less-established root systems, will have a hard time getting the water and nutrients they need if they are competing with roots from established trees and shrubs. Larger hostas that are already established can (sometimes) hold their own. Your term dwindling may give the hint. They live, but don't thrive. One or two of the above conditions are not being met, resulting in struggle and/or death. Lots of good gardeners have designated special areas... a "holding bed" or nursery bed... melissa even has a NICU bed for those that are really struggling. You might want to consider creating a mounded area or raised bed with excellent soil and light conditions - I've even seen these in full sun, with a sun cloth canopy - where you can put the little ones in and monitor them... keep the moisture right... get them established... and then move them into more challenging garden conditions later.

I would suggest 1/4 to 1/2 the recommended strength MG 15-30-15 every 2-4 weeks. Wish that I could give you exact figures, but most or many of us that container grow with artificial fertilizers do it by 'ear' or perhaps 'eyeballing' describes it better. You will learn by experience how to read leaf color etc for how often to fertilize. It is in my opinion much better to err on the side of under-fertilizing. Put in a larger pot to start with. Try to disturb the root system as little as possible. I would go to a one gallon container or at least half that.

The soil itself breaks down slowly and that breakdown is enough for almost all plants. Dry poweder fertilizer is SALT. Salt kills plants. You go ahead and give them plenty of salt for food and watch them die. Organic fertilizers are usually not salt. But all the dry powder ferts are all SALT. A little salty fert can be OK but the salt builds up in the soil. It takes a lot of rain water to wash out the salt. Organic matter breaks down slowly and provides all the nutrients a plant needs that is why weeds grow without fertilizer. Trees grow huge without fertilizer. People are brainwashed by the companies that sell SALT. The politically correct term for SALT is Chemical Fertilizer. I call it SALT to remember what it really is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer Properly applied, organic fertilizers can improve the health, and productivity of soil and plants as they provide different essential nutrients intended to encourage plant growth[citation needed]. Organic nutrients increase the abundance of soil organisms such as mycorrhiza, which aid plants in absorbing nutrients[citation needed]. Chemical fertilizers have long-term adverse impact on the organisms living in soil[citation needed] and a detrimental long term effect on soil Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer

For Lemon Drop I bought the seeds off of the Burpee rack at Home Depot. I just know two things from reading here as far as ordering seeds goes. 1. Do not use Ebay. (There are some sellers that are reputable. They are grossly outnumbered by the rip off artist/scam artist that know by the time you find out you paid $10 + for jalapeno, or bell pepper seeds they are long gone.) 2. Avoid Pepper Joe. (Too many people have had horrid experiences with dealing with him.) There are a plethora of good vendors out there. Be ready to pay good for them. (When it comes to the vendors. You do get what you pay for.)