Job well done Karin! I think your Blue Angel will be so happy and will thank you for it!

You will both be very happy that you did! Blue Angel is such a big beauty!

Love the accessory in the pot!

BA might have found it better to be in a jar than on the driveway :-)

Amazing how a piece of roots can keep life going, guess it's the same with us, as long as we have roots, we keep going...

My grandson ( 6 years old) came by on Sunday and helped me a little in the garden and we repotted a begonia rex and potted my newly acquired elephant ears.

Some places are still frozen but the bed with Blue Angel gets a lot of sun already and it was no problem to get the tree out. But the weather is back to cold and ugly again, it was just one beautiful day, a promise of what's to come...

I'm really happy with this solution and if BA gets bigger and bigger I would also rather remove the big tree than the hosta. The magnolia is growing nicely now and will be able to give shade for BA so the big sugar cone might face his fate one year...

Grew a sempervivum in that accessory...

I hope my GE will have survived the winter, it was such a tiny plant and I'm not sure if it is GE at all :-)

Did you already pass on your passion for hostas to your daughters? A family of hostaholics? My son is not interested in gardening at all, but I'm working on my daughter-in-law and we are making progress :-) patience is the virtue of the gardener...

Good to have you back, Jo!

Karin

Thanks, Karin. :-). Yes, my daughters picked up the hosta passion...but I didn't have to persuade them. The youngest (for whom I am growing the BA roots) "hated" hostas (her own words) then one day back around 2007 or so, she did a 360! surprising her oldest sister and me, LOL. They each have around 50-60 hosta cultivars of their own....with some babies from Mom, of course.

Your son may not be interested in gardening - YET - but once his wife is 'fully integrated into gardening' (under your guidance and encouragement ;-) you just never know...

Grandchildren find it wondrous (as many of us do) how tiny some plants in the garden can be and how they grow from year to year. Being in the garden with grandma is fun and they learn so much simply from curiosity. I once played I Spy With My Little Eye in the backyard (they were getting a bit rambunctious) and the girls actually learned the names of some of my perennials! I was impressed. We are passing along some gardening passion, Karin. How great is that!?

I love how you used your current tree accessory with the sempervivens - stunning to my eye. I'll be looking for something similar to copy your creativity or ask my son-in-law to make it out of wood. I have several different succulents in my garden. The kids love them and pet them every spring...just because grandma does.

Karin, a trip to Germany is a sure thing for me since I now have new family ties there, I just don't have the time firmed up yet. I hope to call you up and get to meet you and your beautiful garden while I am there. I love road trips...anywhere!

We had even more snow last night and it's around -6. Ugh. Glad my potted hostas are still on their sides... but they were fully uncovered during the warm spell with the sun beaming down on them. I'll just think of this....

BA is definitely too big for the surrounding hostas, that's a shame because it is the canvas for the colors of the others. Maybe a Halcyon might fit into the center?

I would be so happy to have you in my garden! Even if the last piece of gras had been dug up and I need a new place for my chair...there will always be room for guests :-) I often forget that people in the States or Canada are used to driving miles after miles because of the totally different dimensions of those countries. When my son had been in Kentucky he told stories about driving to the next bigger town to do some shopping, 90 minutes, this is very much here in Germany and nothing over there...I'd love to have so much room around me, I'm sitting in the middle of the town. But it has it's advantages. I don't need a car to shop, we have 3 different super markets within 10 minutes walking distance, doctors, pharmacy and bakery just around the corner. And my office is less than 2 kilometers from my home. Saving all the costs for a car means more money for the garden :-)

After this really nice Sunday it is back to near zero, cold wind and rain...this winter lasts so long. Last year March was much nicer, I had that big hosta parcel from my belgian friend and could put them outside shortly after potting.

I'm thinking about driftwood or tree root accessoires a lot these days. I will go to the nature preserve and try to find a few pieces that might have been left there by the last flood. They look so nice with sempervivum and work well as decoration for pots. Found this piece last year and want some bigger ones...

The metal accessoire was sold as a candle holder, but I immediately had sempervivum in mind when I bought it :-) It can also be fixed to a stick and put in the garden. Maybe you can find something like this in a garden center.

Found that nice link about succulents a few weeks ago and they really have gorgeous ideas...

https://worldofsucculents.com/cultivation/succulent-arranging/

:-) Karin

You're getting my succulent juices flowing Karin! I've got a bit of a collection of them as well. I need to work on my display skills though. Thanks for the inspiration.

I found something about a wreath with succulents on that site and I have a willow wreath left from Xmas. As soon as the weather is better I will go and look for succulents and moss and see what I can construct :-) Together with Ken's thought about growing moss on terrakotta pots it might give some nice natural decoration...

Speaking of driftwood etc accessories, I have a piece that we won as a Christmas centrepiece while playing cards couple years ago. I want to use it for some minis and succulents. Talk about being on the same brainwave, Karen!

I removed a lot of greenery, next the candle holders and staples have to go, fine tune it a bit more, but saving this project for spring outside work. Here it is... there needs to be more wood I think but I have time to hunt for some driftwood. I'm very close to a lake...should be able to find something "more".

This is exactly what I would do with such a piece :-) The both arms can embrace two small hostas and with a little moss and a few stones it is just perfect!

Well pip, pip hurrah Jo! What a cheery sight your rooted BA is. I would say you are the 1st in the frozen north. Yes, even if it is indoors. Cheerier still to have you posting!

Karin I really like the way you have displayed your Sempervivum. I am a big fan of them. Mostly I use them at the front of a border but my favorite spot is where they are spilling out the mouth of a large clam shaped rock. Can't believe I don't have a pic of it.

I'm planning a rock/driftwood bed for small and mini hostas and I surely will plant some sempervivum between them and at the borders. Hope to see a picture of that clam shaped rock one day :-) I also like hypertufa pots and want to find out how to make them...

Hey, Laurie! Thank you for the cheers and ... we are due for a catch-up...

My potted minis seem to change habitat almost every year. Sometimes it is a large planter, or a planting tub sitting on the deck. Now it is time for the ground and this piece of driftwood that got somewhat tamed. Karen, I don't have half the imagination or creativity you have, but I'll give it a go. It is something different to do and I'm ready for that. Can't wait to get at it.

Yes Jo, talk to you soon. I am sure you will come up with a wonderful plan for the driftwood and your minis!

Well blow me away. In my mind you are in your 30's, Karen. Now I see you are a grandmother!!! Nice to see you posting again, Jo,

In my mind I'm in my thirties too Donna! That ship sailed a long time ago!

Lol, in my mind I'm sometimes 18, Donna! I try to stay young inside, for me that's one of the secrets for a happy life. Never feel to old to learn ,have an open mind for the changing times and new generations. I'm 57 and glad that I made it to this point, I don't want to be young again...

Jo, I'm looking forward to compare our new mini gardens :-) I bought 'The Book of Little Hostas' and it gives good advise and helpful pictures for such undertakings...Funny how the times also seem to change the taste for hostas. I've noticed quite a few in the book I've never heard of before...a wonderful book to spend long winter evenings...

The cold still keeps me inside and I'm longing to be on tour with the bicycle again to collect stones and wood for the new bed. At least some more hostas show tiny pips and that lifts the heart :-)

Donna, my Delaware sista, we seasoned gals are all perpetually young... as long as we can Garden! The other day the electrician almost fell off the ladder... talking about age and forgetfulness (on my part) when I admitted 70 is around the corner for me. Nice compliment about looking maybe 55 - 60 but I still offered to buff up his glasses... he is 65 and likely has failing eyesight. ;-)

I’m slowly getting into my hosta stride but the daily snowfall is getting to be a drag. Thank goodness I love to read. Karin, the book is a gem and I have had my eye on some minis featured there. The displays of groupings are a real treat and gave me immediate ideas of how to use them here. The book is always handy on the table in the living room.

Pushing 75, I feel my ship is heading for the port. My mind doesn't match my body. LOL Thus a reluctance to plant more hosta (will I see them reach maturity???) I now depend on DS to dig holes and move hostas around because of my bad knees. But heck - I'm still out there.

I have been admiring the mini hosta grown in containers, But condo rules limit the number of pots I can have.

Speaking of books, I recently purchased The New Encyclopedia of Hostas written by Diana Grenfell and photos by Michael Shadrack. I spend hours perusing the beautiful photos over and over again.

Gorgeous isn't Donna. You prompted me to bring it out and go through it again. I have read it cover to cover more than once. I have her older The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas as well. The Book of Little Hostas is awesome too.

I wish Mark Zilis would do an addendum to The Hostapedia. His Field Guide to Hostas is wonderful but does not give full info on sports & seedlings.

I use the HL a lot but there is nothing like a book! Does that date me...?

Reading is still my favourite hobby even if I tend to buy more audible books due to my fading eyesight. Working on the PC all day long takes its toll :-( But it is not so bad with headphones on I can do a lot of work and someone is narrating a nice story. Sometimes I think reading is an old fashioned thing. I have inherited this passion from my mom, she is also reading whenever she has time or knitting warm socks for all of us :-) But the youngster are only interested in playing computer games. I have a deal with my grandson, for one hour at the PC we do a tour with the bicycle :-)

I also have the other books from Mike Shadrack on my book list, the style is more pleasing than the somehow dry lecture of the Field Guide to Hostas.

Wow Donna, wouldn't have thought that your a nearly 75...On your picture you have such a wonderful young smile :-)

The Grenfel/Shadrack New Encyclopedia is the book that was/is partly responsible (+forum photos) for my continuing Hosta craze. Info and photos offer so much! I also google Hosta garden tours that are narrated - a real treat.

The Field Guide is a good reference but doesn’t offer as comprehensive a description on individual hostas as the New Encyclopedia.

I love books too..I'm in the middle of the pack agewise..turned 63 in January..thanks for sharing everyone..I love hearing that those older than I am have such energy and are busy gardening!..it's inspiring..

Well I ain’t telling. My Mom’s going to be ninety this year and she was 21 when I was born. She and my Dad had a big vegetable garden when they moved to the “country” after early retirement, but that didn’t last long, so I don’t know how much longer I’ll want or be able to garden, it doesn’t run in the family.

I often think how much more modern women are able to do. I always remember how the women like my grandma lived in a little town like ours. Homebound, caring for the kids and nearly no money for themselves. It was not long after the war that I grew up and the times were harder than today. Found that old picture of me and granny...

Kathy..I can't see you without plants..I bet you keep going..

Karin..sweet pic!..my maternal grandmother lived to be 93..lived in the country..raised 6 children..raised chickens and pigs..had huge gardens..canned food..a great cook..noodles from scratch..hung laundry outside..her life would've killed me..my paternal grandmother lived to be 89..the same story..6 children also..my grandparents had a tobacco farm in North Carolina..she worked equally hard..made the world's best biscuits..both of my grandmothers loved plants..I'm quite lazy compared to my grandparents..

My granny was 81, she had Alzheimer's for over ten years but my maternal grandma still lives she is 97...

A couple thoughts - physical activity, and learning new things, help keep you ‘young.’

And - all your talk of succulents has had me thinking.... maybe I’ll try some this summer. I was at one of my favorite local nurseries a year or so ago for their open house (and actually I’m going there this afternoon for that same annual occasion), and I took this photo of an old wheelbarrow filled with succulents. This place always has such beautiful displays and creative gardens set up in the greenhouse... such fun. And my mom, who is 88, went there a couple days ago and said they were all set up and ready for the open house this weekend. I can’t wait! But I’ll have to use some discipline... one year I bought some annuals and had to keep running them in-and-out of the house until May - which was a ‘pain!’

I’ll also post the photo of what was on the other side of that old door:

Maybe you can see the model train going around... and that garden hose was running - as a water feature - but I didn’t really get a good picture of that.... we’ll, actually you can see the water running a bit if you enlarge

I saved an old wheelbarrow that we used for years - until the tires went flat and couldn’t be replaced. It might make a nice planter somewhere outside.

Succulents are super popular here--every nursery has tons of them. I've seen so many different types of wreaths and lots of other ideas for displaying them. A hosta garden that I visit has taken a wooden pallet and created shelves in it for the succulents and then she has it hanging on the side of shed. Wheelbarrows filled with succulents, ladders with succulents on the steps, etc. I love to read--it's my last activity of the day. Just me and my book for some quiet time before I go to sleep--it's my way to unwind and relax.

windymess, what a funny display with the train! But the wheelbarrow is really a nice idea. We had thrown away an old wooden one not so long ago :-( I also like the old doors...Will be interesting what we all make of it this summer. I have lots of babies from my different Agave plants and cacti, if I had room enough I could do a little desert scene...

miles, one of the best things is going to bed with a good book and staying in bed with a good book on Sunday mornings :-) At the moment I'm reading 'Hosta Seizure' by Jim Henry...

Kathy NO WAY. You will be gardening for a long time yet. After meeting you I never would have thought that was your age! You have a young demeanor and it seems the more active we are the younger we seem. I have always believed gardening helps keeps us young. I turned 62 in Nov. Isn't it funny it is the gals telling their age?!

Karin, love the pic of you and your granny. I googled the book you are reading and if you just saw the cover you would think it was a gardening book. When you are finished it would be interesting to hear how much of it was about Hostas.

Came to this book because Jim is sometimes posting his hostas on facebook :-) So far I like what I read, he has a way of describing hostas that makes me see them and he also puts useful and interesting facts into the story. Got it on my kindle, it was not expensive, so I tought I could try.

Windymess, that looks like a G-scale outdoor train in the picture. We collected them for years, my husband has also been planning an outdoor layout for years--so far no action on his part but lots of plans, ha ha. In the US we have some of them but in Europe lots of people have outdoor train layouts. There used to be a German manufacturer, LGB that made lots of them but they went out of business. Karin loved the pic of you with your granny. Have to get a copy of that book, it's not at my library so I will go online

I just added Hosta Seizure to my Kindle... based on your recommendations. Cozy mysteries are the only kind of mysteries I read. I can't take anything too grizzly.

Have fun reading! It is my bedtime book, so I'm not too far into it...I always read or hear more than one book at a time. It is John Katzenbach 'The Tribunal' when I'm doing some rounds on my crosstrainer and I'm just about to start Kazuo Ishiguro 'The remains of the day' with my morning coffee.

We had 4 "dwarf" alberta spruces around our gazebo that were there (and 6' tall) when we moved in 11 yrs ago. Last year they were about 10ft tall and were rapidly losing needles and getting brown from the bottom up. I think they had spruce mites. Anyway, in Feb we dug them all up and I can't wait to see how the hostas I had planted in between them do this year now that they will get so much more light and space. I have a Paul's Glory that I think will return to its former glory, so I am looking forward to that, as well as adding some new additions and divisions to fill in. Found space, oh joy!!

Isn't it funny how happy we are about the smallest piece of space found for hostas? I hope my Blue Angel will enjoy my work:-) Looking for new space I started a mini hosta bed in a big old pot yesterday, planted some already and am waiting for the new minis that I can also plant there.