Cuties. (I don't see anything wrong with your language.)

Well, actually I am rather fan of streaked hostas, but last year got few minis. I need to count how many in general I have :) (200+?). I am running out of space, so started to build third shading construction.

Pics taken a month ago:

Shade nr 1

Shade nr 2

And the new one started, nr 3

Here are two other minis:

Stringbean

Compared to Dixie Chickadee, that appears to be huge:

Thank you so much for putting the penny next to the photos for scale. I need to remember to do that with my minis. I didn't even know minis existed until last year. Mighty Mouse and Dragon Tails just went on my list! *Tips hat to all you enablers!

Those are some lovely minis!

Here are some of mine: from the stone clockwise, Cracker Crumbs, Gracillima, Limey Lisa, & Baby Bunting. Love the green/yellow colours in the spring.

Bardzo slicznie (my Polish spelling is bad), Pani! And Welcome to the forum! You have some adorable minis there and a couple I haven't heard of. Your shade structures, and all that land is every hosta growers dream...it is mine! :)

Oooh, that bowl 'o hostas is so adorable hostas_for_barb! I may just have to use that for inspiration.

I have no minis to add but wanted to say that I really like your shade structures. Looks like they provide the right amount of shade and bright light. Did you grow hostas before you moved to Amarillo?

Nice minis everyone!

Impressive

Well. I was growing hostas in Poland, but didn't have much space for them. Six years ago we (my husband and our child) bought this house on 5 acres of prairie. There were no trees and no shade so I decided to build some, along with japanese garden that takes an acre in front of the house, small orchard, grass and conifers garden and small rock garden:). Japanese garden is still unfinished, though took me two years, 80 cu yards of gravel and three broken wheel barrels to put gravel between plant beds. I am using also lots (and I mean LOTS) of mulch. About 10-15 tonnes a year to cover them up. Amarillo is hot, dry and very windy, quite opposite to what hostas demand:) BTW everything in on automatic drip irrigation, after I was spending half of day watering with hose.

I was reading this forum for a while, but now got courage to write some too:)

Josephine-your polish is great!

I can divide Stringbean for someone interested:)

Here is few other small hostas. I don't consider them minis, just small, but to compare with other I posted

Curly Fries

Electrocution on left, Little Devil on right ( just notice weed in the center of Electrocution..well...looks similar;)

Blue Mouse Ears with Cameo on left

From the right : Radiant Edge, NOID and Jade Tiara

Grand Tiara and Blue Mouse Ears Supreme on right

What was mostly bare mulch now looks like that:

The shade no 3 will be 24'x 12' and I am going to move there my L and XL hostas that start to grown onto each other. My daughter will have nice view from her window:)

You've worked so hard, quite an accomplishment in that amount of time! Your gardens are looking so nice. I would enjoy seeing pictures of your Japanese garden when you have time!

Sherry

I guess I will have to find the right forum to post such pics..But I am very proud of my garden and like to show it:)

Post them here along with your hostas!

sherry

Diana, your garden is very beautiful and I am sure nobody here will mind if you show us the rest of it! I would love to see the Japanese garden! I am impressed that your hostas are doing so well in Texas. Does it get cold there in the winter?

Linda

Love your shade pergolas!

What a terrific idea for hosta oasis in Amarillo :-)

Is hard to make good pics of large garden, but I try my best. BTW I need to change camera, this one doesn't seem to work so well anymore.

Shade no 3 after yesterday :

Where grass is now, I will build large porch to sit in the morning and enjoy cup of tea. But first need to cut chunk of wall to put french door, like I did on the back of the house.

I built that dry river bed to take water from the roof away from the house. Like I said, sidewalk made of stones will lead to a wooden porch with wisteria on the top.

Shade no 2 with temporary protection of corner from the sun.

My front garden from the left to the right

Rocks are marking temporary end of the river. When I build porch, it will get longer, along the front of the porch with few plants. Maybe hostas:)

To get mulch in place, I am riding into with my F150 longbed, so I had to make project large enough to turn or back up in the garden:)

Last year I added two islands in the center, small one with Pinus densiflora and large one behind, with collection of P. thunbergii cvs

Thanks to thick mulching (up to a foot deep), gravel with weed mats under and watering system, it is relatively xeriscaping garden:). I am using less water than my neighbors having a grass yards. We have lawn on the backyard for dogs to run, watered thru underground drip irrigation system. We save up to 2/3 of water compared to sprinklers.

Some trees I am shaping in niwaki (bonsai-like) trees. I have many pines changing colors with the season or having colorful/stripped needles. I am still experimenting what survives here.

I wish in future to get more rocks, but they are expensive to buy and is just one place that sells them. They know me there already and don't have to give address every time I buy more stone edgers or gravel:)

Plants with colorful leaves are weigela shrubs. I have them around a dozen cvs. They put color with their leaves and flowering all season long til frost.

This is central island. As you see, I have to redo the corner I run with my truck.

Front of the garden with several weeping spruces in different colors

I had a line of leyland cypresses about 8 ft long as a windbreak, but they all got killed by spring frost. Instead, I put this spring arizona cypresses that seem to thrive here. Theses big leaved things are paulownias, that can grow up to 12 ft a year, then die back in the fall and regrow next year same size.

And this is stone wall, I put to protect well from me driving on;). I started to plant cannas, lilies, and other bulbs in and around there, so all the time my daughter has something to look at and sniff.

I am thinking how to cut stones for the top of the wall, my tile saw died, my miter saw didnt do good job either, so is unfinished.

Behind is our two horses pasture.

And a pic of the grass garden

:)

Absolutely beautiful and such hard work . Dzieki for sharing

Linda-we are officially 6a zone, but we get cold winters and hot summers. The worst is that weather is so unpredictable. One day can be in 50s, next day you wake up with foot of snow. and after two days snow is gone and temperature is back to 40-50s. I am worried every year about my more fragile conifers and japanese maples.

Wow! I am jealous of all that space you have. You have done so much work and your garden is already looking really good. Can't wait to see how it matures. I love all the trees you have added too!

Thanks for sharing!

Linda

Thanks for sharing, Diana! So much work in six years. Terrific accomplishments! I hope we get to see your Japanese garden again when you have finished, sounds like it will be lovely.

sherry

Diana, welcome to Texas. You certainly took on a challenge. Growing hosta in Amarillo is not an easy task. (it's not easy in Dallas either - not enough cold) However, we keep on keeping on.

Also, welcome to the fourm.

bk

I thought you might have grown hostas before!

Five acres is a lot of land. You're building all this? Cutting chunks out of your walls to add french doors, building dry river beds, those shade structures, breaking three wheel barrows?

..... And to think I was feeling good for 1 1/2 hours of weeding today. Now I feel lazy, lol. If you can bottle that energy and sell it, I'll be first in line!

Thanks for sharing. I love seeing what other people do with their gardens. Yours are impressive!

Yes. I took that house and land as a future prospect. I demolished a lot inside the house, replaced carpets with solid wooden floors, buitt kitchen from scratch, build back porch 12 x 17' , built for my husband a grill house and a barn for my horses:). about 2/3 of the land are pastures for them. BTW horses are rescues from Dallas area:)

I am not working, so that is what I do instead watching soap operas:)

Diana, if you are ever looking to adopt more than a rescue horse, would you consider a 50-year old female from Colorado? Ha.

That was house and land in 2010

Popmama-with pleasure, as a friend :). I feel lonely sometimes, since I don;t know many people.

Diana, this forum is so like having many friends from around the world that have the same interests as you. You keep posting, we love the communications as well of the pictures. Hosta form is the most active one of the lot

Wow, Diana, you have done so much in the short time you have been there. Can you post a pic of the front of the house now? Would love to see the difference. Keep up the good work!

Here is current photo from the street:

Wow, absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you! Work on pergola n0 3 in progress. Yesterday I stained 30 1x4x10 boards that go on the top.

View from the ground. Rafters will be painted black.

Wow Diana, you have done so much. Just lovely!

Wow!

I guess they do, do everything big in Texas....except those mini minis which blows my mind.

Jon

I have a supervisor, watching me for the last hour. Head resting on the gate, so won't get tired..:)

Quite the beautiful creature, Diana. Do you and your family ride?

He is wondering when or if he will ever go for a ride again! lol

When in not so hot! Jerry came from Dallas area about year go. Was rescue from slaughter auction. He was after bad laminitis. During 7 hr drive to and from I discovered that he loves to ride and that my truck with horse trailer gets 7 miles per gallon:)) Got his name on the way home, because Dave loves Jerry Garcia and Grateful Death:)

He is part Missouri Fox Trotter-we were looking for gaited horses since I have hip problem and cannot ride trotting horse.

Babe is with us third year. She was abused Tennessee Walker. Now she is going to be mom in 1.5 month-we crossed her with Azteca, so in future my husband, 240 lb will have strong and large horse.

Rest of family lives in the house:).

Gaby, doberman, loves sleeping on husband's pillows

Her sister, Xena and a new addition to family, Alaskan klee-kai Ralph rather choose sofa in living room..

Sometimes is no place for me to sit:(

And two cats are living in my daughter's room..

You sound as crazy as my husband and I. We have 4 standard donkey, one 30 year old retired race horse we gave a home , a mini horse and mini donkey 2 wiener dogs and two cats and 6 goldfish in our pond. Room is at a premium with the two dogs and sometime the cat on our bed too.

Almosthooked-you are the winner :).

My work on new hosta place is progressing. I am just waiting for another 30 stained boards to dry so I can put them on top. Pics is taken from the west side where is lots of sun, so I decided to put small fencing to shade them.

I love all your animals! I have always wanted an Alaskan Klee Kai! They are so cute and would fit in perfectly with my pack. I think I have you all beat with 4 dogs trying to sleep on my bed...no room for me either LOL.

I think it is great that you rescued those horses. They are beautiful and lucky to be living with you!

Newest rescue- Coco (poodle mix). I was fostering her for a rescue group and ended up keeping her.

And Cheyenne (Husky) Kai and Sammy (American Eskimo Dogs). Cheyenne and Sammy were rescued from the shelter.

This is the reason why we have king size bed:) Your dogs are gorgeous!

Klee-kai got to us because owner got that for her birthday and couldn't keep in apartment. Small apartment, I add. She got that as a husky/wolf cross so we expected Ralph to grow taller, but he is size of a grown pitbull. Later I found by comparing his size and characteristics, to be standard klee-kai.

Full of energy and constantly running, destroying things if I leave him at home, even with dobie girls. He is no more that 2 yards from me. Ii work on computer, he is under my desk, I got to living room, he is there, I go to sleep, he is there too. I cannot even go to the bathroom by myself!

I couldn't leave Christmas tree with him like that. Actually we had one, for safety on our back porch. In just a week he removed all decorations...

Diana, I know what you mean...LOL, I can't go in the bathroom by myself either, Sammy (eskimo) follows me everywhere and he always wants to go in the bathroom with me so that I will turn on the water in the tub and he can get a drink.

My husky is very petite, only weighs 34lbs. We adopted her from the shelter and she was skin and bones weighing about 27 lbs with ribs sticking out and although she is 5 years old now, she can't be left alone in the house very long. I usually crate her if I am gone very long because she gets bored and does naughty things. The Eskimos are fine left in the house all day.

I have seen a few Klee Kai's for sale around here and they are very expensive like $1,500. You are lucky to have such a cute one. I can't imagine someone would think they could keep a husky/wolf dog in an apartment...

I would exchange him for a pony:)

Ralph was bought in Lubbock for 800. There is person selling many breeds. Ralf is small, but weight healthy 52 lbs. I wonder how much of that is his fur:(