By golly, I was reading my Canadian Gardening magazine Summer issue this evening and they have an article on HVX. IÂll type it out for you... Hosta Virus X was discovered in Canada around 2004 (although it had been identified in the U.S. in 1996) and has spread throughout the country. Initially, little attention was given to this incurable virus; some horticulturist and nurseries unknowingly collected and named these "new" unusually mottled (and infected) plants. Contracting HVX causes a slow decline in the plantÂs health and can eventually result in death. The symptoms, which may take years to appear, vary. In some plants, thin, wrinkled leaves appear; others will develop foliage with sun-bleached, sunken areas and atypical light or dark green streaks. HVX is easily transferred through sap. As well, taking cuttings, deadheading or innocuously removing a broken leaf could spread the virus. ThereÂs no cure, so infected plants must be destroyed. Prevention is the best defense: When tending your hostas, sterilize all garden tools, with a 10 percent bleach solution after using on each plant. Investigate your nursery and ask whether they test their plants. A few of the varieties most susceptible to the virus include ÂGold StandardÂ, ÂStriptease and ÂSum and SubstanceÂ. For more information and photos of infected plants, visit the link below... North53, IÂm pretty sure that hosta that you pointed out to me did have HVX, this morning I dug it up very carefully not to touch the others around it and threw it in the garbage. This so called "new disease" sure puts a downer on collecting or growing hostas now, I'm kind of scared to buy anymore ;( Jan, I love your candle holder in front of your hosta, very creative! Here is a link that might be useful: HOSTA VIRUS X

You did say 18 FEET, not 18 INCHES? That plan, then is shot, now I don't know what to do. I've only been feeding there since last fall, and I do like to feed all year, but maintaining 2 bird feeding stations gets expensive, especially when I buy unsalted dry-roasted peanuts for the squirrels and English walnuts (and other nuts if I can afford them for a treat). I hammer the Brazil nuts so they won't ruin their teeth :-). The nuts got to be too expensive, so I just threw one a day out there, lucky the squirrel that got there first. Squirrels will eat corn, but they just take the inner kernel and leave the rest, and I'm here to tell you they like nuts and sunflower seeds better, especially the striped ones over the oil ones. I've hardly any place to grow anything RIGHT. In desperation, I was going to plant some tomatoes along my brick porch and protruding stoops facing west (maybe not a good idea) and I have been feeding birds on that stoop for YEARS. There are sunflower hulls all OVER the ground in that spot. It doesn't seem to faze a forsythia I planted last spring just a few feet back. Morning glory volunteers sprang up there last year and went nuts climbing all over my new porch rail and a bunch of other stuff. I'm going to have to think about this. I could move where I feed them someplace where I never will plant flowers. Hmmm. Just had my yard mapped with a bunch of spray paint and flags. I could feed right over the phone box, why it's buried there is a mystery (but I probably shouldn't sink a post there). Then I could scoop out all that bad dirt and fill with topsoil, another gruelling task I'm just not up to with everything else I have going. I am having rotten luck with a lot of things lately. But thanks for tipping me off. I can quit the sunflower seeds in back, I buy extra striped ones for in front for the squirrels and chipmunks, and maybe find bags of just safflower seeds for the cardinals and get a regular mix with no sunflower seeds in it. Maybe that is the answer to the back bird feeder. That is right outside the back door in the lawn. The Patriot hostas are out behind the garage becaue I didn't have a place for them either, didn't want to look at them. Now I have them mulched. Since it's pretty weed-free behind the garage now, and part shade, I was thinking of black raspberries, partial shade mix or Knockout roses or something. I just can't seem to get it together. I'm usually on the old garden rose forum, and you should see what a mess I've made with my latest planting scheme :-(. But I keep planting more stuff as fast as I can. Sorry it's so long, I read the article, and it's kind of a shock, but better before I bought a bunch more expensive plants for some of those places. Here is the area I am talking about, I must say you have been so patient with me, I feel like a complete ditz, and it's not as if I've never grown things before, just not hostas and heirloom roses and some of the new things I'm trying to grow:

Pat, I did some research for you via Zilis's "The Hosta Handbook" (great resource) - here's some of the differences Big Daddy Mound Size - 25" high x 66" wide Leaves - 15" long x 10 1/2" wide, often cupped 16-17 vein pairs on both Flowers - dense clusters Love Pat Mound Size - 19" high x 40" wide (up to 24x50) Leaves - 9 1/4" long x 9" wide, deeply cupped at maturity - up to 3" 16-17 vein pairs on both Flowers - 1 3/4" long x 1" wide Hope this helps. I too, have squirrels that rearrange quite a few things in my gardens , tags, flower heads, small ornaments - they are such a joy - NOT ... LOL June

Hi Zesty - "Live Life Zestfully" I agree completely!!! I invested on my 5y/o grand daughter's joy, at the sight of a 5ft fully bloomed beauty of a Kyushu tree ... "She looks like a Princess, Mimi, I just have to have her!" Home, we came with our 'Princess Kyu' & never a moment's regret - May 2006! She danced like a graceful ballerina during a tornado grade storm - Jun 2007, survived a heavy ice-storm topped with heavy snow this past Winter (keeled over 45 deg. yanked back into place with straps & stake). Now, she is still her petite 5'2" & fast leafing out!!! Not a 'Splashy Big Daddy' but a zesty Princess that has not failed to fetch "wows" from walkers-by!!! Try Forever & Ever ... IMO, an improvement on ES ... are quite reliable bloomers w/heftier canes for our testy zone! ES & Big Daddy Hs are all over the place here ... I'd rather have Lace Caps & Paniculatas!