I am so happy to find this post. I have almost the opposite problem - I live in the hot wet tropics, never cold. I purchased some Crocus (Saffron) corms (was very expensive here so trying to not make mistakes). I put them in my veggie drawer in the refrigerator (all fruits removed from fridge) at 3C/37F. I read that they must have a cold period of at least 15 weeks to have a proper healthy bloom. After being in the fridge less than 3 weeks, each are having a white sprout coming out the top, but no roots. So do: 1. Ignore and wait the 15 weeks (will they starve to death?) or 2. Plant now (they are going in a pot) being very careful not to break the tender shoots and water only once until green shoots emerge from the soil? Thank you so much for the help, Christa

Did you intend to post this request here?

Voles eat the tulips here even if they did come back. My experience with tulips is they don't last. I planted I think it is narcissus Salome when I moved here in 1978. They bloom every year. The biggest problem is to plant them where you won't mow them until after the foliage has died down. You see them in pastures where cattle mow the grass and weeds down and leave the daffodils alone. I really love the small narcissus like I think tete' a tete' and other short ones. They are among my flowers and shrubs. When it rains a lots I have a stream that runs through my yard. Some of those small narcissus where blooming nicely in the woods washed there in a flood. I just dug them up last week and planted them in the yard. Crocus are nice but so small they can get buried by mulch in a bed. Crocus work well around crepe myrtle which leaf out late and offer protection for gardeners forgetting there are bulbs underground. I have been caught stealing bulbs from old home sites. I don't do that anymore but to me nothing leaves behind a legacy garden wise like daffodils. The people who planted those years ago may be gone and the houses are gone, the yellow flowers bloom every spring. By the way I got permission when I could locate the owners and consider thinning them actually not that bad of a crime.

I thinks it look OK. Right now they are going through transplant shock so they don't look perky. The arrangement does look a bit 'tight' though. I would leave them for now. Hosta are slow growers and they won't need to be moved for a while. The big blue one will get 5' wide and 2' tall. The others, at least 3' wide so do plan a spot to move them to down the road. Your DH did a lot of work and I would just live with it at least until next year. What he did does not look bad at all. I do see your point on how you feel with the mix of Hosta looking cluttered. The rest of the property has mass plantings and also a rather symmetrical arrangement to them. You may be happier with a mass planting of one or two Hosta variety under the tree. It is just a personal preference to a style - some people prefer and 'orderly' look and some prefer a more naturalistic look. When the blue Hosta get too big for the spot just move them to another spot and leave just one or two variety under the tree. The only thing I would do now at this time is to bring the edging out a bit. Pull the edging up and move it out and add more dirt. That way the hosta won't hang over the edge and it will give the arrangement some 'breathing room'. You won't have to worry about shredding the leaves with the mower then. Moving the edging out a bit will help balance the tree against the plantings. Plantings under trees should take up two thirds of the space under the drip line or it looks unbalanced. Have you ever seen how some people plant a little bitty ring of Pansies under a huge Maple and it looks "off"? When you said the tree was "right in front of the house" I had imagined it was smack dab in the middle of your lawn, in front of the door. This tree is set way back and the plantings link the tree with the shrubs. It's going to look great once things settle in. I am also wondering that since your DH got the Hosta from his parents house, that he may have a sentimental feeling about them. Are these very old Hosta that he grew up with? I would not say anything to him about them at this time. He said you can move them and he will probably agree with you when they get too big for this spot. He will probably do it on his own. *About that Ivy............Ivy is VERY invasive and difficult to eradicate. It is banned from sale in some states. Make sure you keep after it since it comes back fast. You may have to resort to both manual and chemical means to get rid of it. It can be very persistent.