I try not to buy hostas this winter. I must first see how many has died in winter (many died last winter and I'm thinking if there is sense to buy more). And I will order in spring or at least this is what I have decided, we will see how I can control myself.

Now I'm keeping my self busy by knitting (and hosta alphabet)

Saija

I loved knitting once but my eyes are not good enough now. Good to hear from you Saija, missed you in summer...Sorry to hear that a lot of your hostas died:-(

Have a happy and healthy new year!

Karin

I was sad in summer because my dead hostas and I lost little interest in hosta forum and hostas. But now I'm back for alphabet, now I'm little mad for my self, because I didn't take enough pictures off hostas.

I'm hoping this winter and spring is tender for my hostas and I can continue this addiction :)

Happy new your to you also! And everyone else.

Saija

I lost only 4 during last winter. But it has been a very strange year. Lots of problems with very late frost, too much rain and hail and nobody was really happy with the hostas. This winter is much too warm and wet and I'm afraid this will have consequences in spring. The garden is like a swamp at the moment and I have a bad feeling for the potted hostas. I tried to give them as much protection as I could but the air is so wet that the pots never get dry :-( 14°C+ at the moment...

I wish better winter weather for you. We seem to have finally normal winter, snow and cold. So I'm hoping better hosta year to come.

Saija

Holy Cow!!! Can't wait to see those Valleys!

The new Valley list will come out in February...then I will be in great danger again :-)

Wow! What a list, Karin. (You too, Dave) I have to find some that I already have better homes before I can even consider getting any new ones.

I would suggest an intervention. But why?

Your list is daunting. I don't know where you find the room for all those or the time to plant them all. But I know you will do it! I look forward to seeing your progress.

Well, I don't have a lot of room left but I do have 2 I may order:

Bridal Falls. I purchased one a few years ago when it was new. The little plant was devoured along with my seedlings that winter.

Royal Charmer. I have Royal Standard, several, and Adorable which needs a new home, Royal Charmer would make 3.

I'm planning to get several venusta to make a little row/border. That's all I NEED.

However, I would like to get: Antioch, Francee, Whirlwind (the one I bought last year died), Old Glory... and maybe some kind of streaked plant. I'm not out of room yet, but definitely almost out of shade/part shade - until the trees grow.

There are lots more on my wish list... and I might have to default to growing more in pots for a few years.

windymess

I also don't NEED hosta and I don't have much room left. But it is such JOY and I have never liked gardening more than now.

I have tested some hosta in full sun and made good experiences with June, June Fever, Avocado, Almost, Irish Luck, Royal Standard and smaller ones. I will surely buy some more fragrant hosta, they seem to be very good in sun.

Wow Karin, that is quite a list! Our weather couldn't be more different right now. I am in Southern Canada and it has has been extremely cold all week. It is just 1 F right now or - 17 C. I'm hoping I don't lose too many do to root damage. I didn't get all my pots into the shed in the fall but at this time I don't have to worry about root rot!

Barb, I've heart about the cold in Northern America and Canada. Last year we had a period of 4 weeks with around -20°C and the pots were frozen. But that was no problem. I only looked for water standing on them when it got warmer and tipped them over to the side and everything was ok. I never take them inside a shed, just under a hedge or an overhanging rooftop. Funny how we worry about our treasures, isn't it? But if I loose some I have a long list to look forward too :-)

Out in Canada's banana-belt I'm seeing things like you see above, just a little early, even for us. My Helleborus are in bloom and/or bud, my Snowdrops should be open by the end of the week, various Iris are up and I've contemplated mowing the lawn but it's been too wet.

Why would I contemplate mowing my front lawn, you ask? Well, the lawn has Crocus and Iris reticulata in it as spring flowers and keeping the lawn trimmed before those pop-up means they'll start on a shorter cut and we'll get well into their growth spurts when the spring trimming of the lawn starts.

Having said all that, it's only the first week of January and we can look forward to at least a couple more colder spells, perhaps even some of that white stuff which thank goodness never sticks around very much in our neck of the woods.

Pieter

I'm jealous of you thinkers who know the names of your hostas and have them labeled. Ours go by the names of "um, this one is like that one over there..there's a bunch of this other kind here, and a couple over there"

Missi Rogge, people here like trying to ID hostas. If you have pictures of yours we will give it a try. Pictures with flowers are helpful and also any info like ...these have been in our yard for 20 years, etc., would help. Start a new topic asking for help with your NOIDs (no id's).

Nice to know! We have about 200 NOIDS tho..our first venture into hostas was when we got married in 2001 and my dad ordered us "Hostas by the Handful" from Gilbert H Wild and you got 100 unmarked random hostas for $100. Never hurts to ask tho-I'd like to get some things marked this year if we can. It looks so nice when they're marked.

Wow, that's a super impressive list! The online auction has me looking at various websites and planning on new purchases. Our weather has been so erratic this winter it's 62 today but it was 0 degrees 2 weeks ago--that's fahrenheit of course. It will get cold for a few days and then sky rocket. I will have to see what will be affected and if the hostas have heaved in the garden.

I see that you have both Midnight Oil and Dinky Donna on your list--both have been a problem for me. Dinky Donna kept getting disturbed by animals so I don't know if it will survive this winter--I moved it to another place in the yard. I pitched out 2 Midnight Oil since they looked diseased and I didn't want to take a chance on a virus. I got another one last year but that wasn't doing well either so I will have to see how it does this year. Can't wait to see how your Valleys are doing--I will have to see what's new this year since I like his plants. It's too bad that not many are available here in the US.

miles, thanks for your comments on DD and Midnight Oil. I will get a divison from MO from a friend and normally he would have said if he had problems with his plant.

The list with the newest Valley's from Jeroen comes out in February. I will have to bind my hands...I have seen a few before and it will be hard to say no. But his prices limit my orders. He takes between 30-120 €...But I visited the website of Land of the Giants yesterday and there you can also find gorgeous hostas. Too big for my garden but nice to look at on dark winter days :-)

Karin, that's a lot for each plant. I've looked online at Waterfall and it's gorgeous.

yes, that is a lot, but the plants he is offering are OS (at least the high priced ones) and we all know what is charged for collector's hostas :-( I've seen prices between 200-500 USD on Land of the giants website. It is a bit crazy to pay so much for a little bit of green but you have a good chance to sell divisions when the plants mature.

Missi..I love your confession that you don't know the names of all of your hostas..I don't either!..many here have huge collections and know so much but they never make anyone feel unwelcome or inadequate..you can learn so much here..I'm inspired to take better pics and be a better gardener..

We have a few that are labeled now (if they come back this spring-we've not had enough snow to insulate the ground so I'm sure we'll lose some things) b/c of a man who is as lovely and ocd and hostaholic as a person can be!! He split several and gave us some. I know where our Mouse Ears is. We *think* we know where Emperess Wu is. Blue Ivory and Komodo Dragon as well. Pretty sure...I've got millions of pictures.

We have plans for a Star Trek bed. My husband calls it The Nerd Bed. Sigh.

I'll make a thread later tonight and see what you guys can help us w/as far as placement and new beds etc.

I <3 the idea of a Star Trek bed. Awesome! Captain Kirk can be there.

Missi, I'm looking forward to see pictures of your garden. Thousands of pics sounds good to me and please post the list of hostas you use for your Star Trek bed...I have Vulcan :-)