One mistake I initially made when I first began my hosta aficionado was to pull the plant from the pot and stick it directly into the ground (at or at least around the proper depth). The plant seemed fine the first year or so, then as the original potting mix began to break down; the plant would slowly begin to sink, eventually rotting the plant. Although I had tilled, and appended the surrounding soil, the old potting mix started decomposing immediately, causing a mushy sink hole. I had lost quite a few hostas because of this mistake, and now I carefully remove ALL the medium from around the hosta and roots and then plant it into the pre-prepared soil, then if there is any decomposition or soil settling, then the whole area settles together Initially I wanted to minimize the disturbance to the plant and roots, which ended up being a big boo booÂ.

I have seen no vole holes anywhere near either location, steve. And I thought about the sun warming the concrete sidewalk but it gets only very early morning sun. When I have pulled the hostas by my daughters there were no roots to speak of. The grade there is about two inches below the sidewalk so I want her to get them raised up. They have no drainage. I have excellent draining soil by my garage. I hesitate to pull my Tokudama Aureonebulosa: it would set the slow developing plant back even further. Les

this is too easy ... since chris was your source .. you know what a leek is.. and how to make them white... yes .. they keep burying it .... plant it like chris did... all white in the ground ... the rest above ... even on the second.. though not all white.. you can see where his soil line was ... do you really think.. i would suggest.. he is wrong.. lol ... i dont know why you are messing with a pot in the ground... if yo have to dig the hole for the pot.. just skip the pot and put the hosta in ... you are complicating your life.. putting potting media in a pot..and then putting the pot in divergent soil..e tc ... jsut adding variable.. on top of variable... etc ... yes.. those are dormant eyes.. also called pips... and they are your future ... its hard to believe.. up here in MI.. they freeze solid ... crikey.. they would probably live on the driveway.. after that... lol .... ken

Peonies like to be planted about 1-2 inches below the top of the ground surface. It maybe that you're using too much nitrogen based fertilizers, which gives you more foliage than bloom. Replant it with the eyes pointing upwards, amending the soil with bone meal, fish meal, aged and well-rotted manure, compost, blood meal, alfalfa meal etc. A combination of all above or 1 or 2 of them...... mostly a hand full of bone meal. Make sure you have a high middle number. Peonies normally prefer organic fertilizers, however, in the spring you can put a "bulb" fertilizer of about 10 10 10 " or a seaweed or fish based fertilizer about 1/2 foot away and around the crown of the peony. Most of the time, manures dumped onto the top of the your peony causes the crown to rot. Some people some times even dump rabbit manure on top of them but it is not a good practice. Too much fertilizer will cause it not to bloom also. Lastly;.... in a few of the northern areas, peonies are normally planted or moved in or after September unless they are potted prior. Then you can plant them any time. Gypsum or lots of compost will loosen up clay soil. Also, peonies don't like a lot of water or wet feet, make sure you have good drainage and at least 6 hours of sun. Let the foliage remain until September so that it can collect the sun, sugars and food storage to survive next year. Cut it back to the ground each year if its not a tree peony. Goood luck!