I'm really happy that I did not move Blue Angel :-)

Blue Angel is so impressive blooming!

Two seedlings I got from Dave. Normally I'm not so into streakers, but I have to admit I like those :-)

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and here is a mix of everything...

Snake Eyes and Longipes Sparsa

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the color of Flemish Sky is beautiful!..your Blue Angel is pretty too..another busy week..got sidetracked removing boxwoods and groundcover..

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I love dew drops on Alchemilla

Enough testing for now, I will enjoy my day with Kater outside...

your photos are eye candy for me :-) ..I see some of your turquoise pots!!..love them..your coleus look great..I have 3 types (dark purple (black?), a pinky red and lime green..all unplanted sigh..your minis are very cute..you really do have gorgeous plants..

zkathy, I love my Blue Angel but it really looks special while flowering. I only wish the flowers would stay longer...

Ann, I think it is good that you dig out all those boxwoods. They are too dark for a shady garden and the hosta can show their beauty now. Turquoise pots were a test, but I really like them

I liked the boxwoods years ago..but they're too big now and declining so out they go..I didn't want to clip them either..better things to do..I'm discovering that I don't miss them..

Lol, less is more is a motto that does not fit for me :-) Only people with big gardens can work like this...Inside I'm like this, but outside I love my overboarding green jungle...

I still have two small boxwoods, one round and one shaped like a simple column, enough work to clip those every year. This one is behind Sum and Substance and I think it will end his life in my garden next spring or maybe this fall. I happened to meet a guy who is doing boxwood forming at my Funkienopa's garden yesterday and maybe I ask him if he wants it...

Believe me I still have lots of plants Lol..boxwoods are evergreen, shade tolerant and deer resistant..so when they were inexpensive in the fall I bought them..but I don't need them now..my Japanese maples and other shrubs are much bigger..now I'm working on perennials and edging..I think you made a good trade!..bedtime for me..hope to share some pics later this week :-)

Hallo liebe Karin, du hast eine so tolle Sammlung von Funkien.

Dein Kater ist ja auch ein ganz ein hübscher Kerl! Dem gefällt es offensichtlich auch gut im Garten mit dir zusammen.

/nicholsworth55 hi, this is going to be a nun other nice big place for hostas. Could you tell me how your husband takes care of the stumps? Do you guys have a grinder or do you rent st Home Depot? My husband took some trees out also with a chain saw but the roots are still there, we are debating how good a rental grinder would be or if we need to hire someone.

Claudia..my husband digs out the boxwood stumps..a few years ago we did rent a stump grinder from Home Depot..we had 7? 8? (forget) tree stumps and my husband removed all of them for about $75 - the cost for ONE from the tree trimmers..you have to be careful with a stump close to trees..sometimes the stump has to stay..my neighbor had one the tree trimmers wouldn't grind..we were able to grind all of ours..

Karin, your pictures are always an inspiration. Look at the size of that leaf on Blue Angel! Wowsers! Every time I look at your pictures, I end up adding to my wish list. I really like Xanadu and Paradise Puppet. I think my uncle would really like Hyuga Urajiro. He has an Asian-inspired garden that I like to augment. (He has bigger yard than I do, so I like to buy plants for him sometimes when I can't find room in my own).

I also love the picture of your steps with pots and those white hanging pots on the fence. This kind of picture gets me in trouble because then I want to copy your ideas.

Claudia, ja mein Kater ist immer dabei, wenn ich im Garten bin. Er ist fast ein bisschen wie ein Hund :-)

popmama, Hyuga Urajiro is a wonderful hosta, at the moment is is still more yellow/green but will get darker while growing. I like those long leaved hosta, they are so elegant. Mikawa No Yuki is another nice one for an asian style garden.

As soon as there is a colder day I'm going to paint that fence in grey. I do not like that brown and it does not match with the stones and the stairs. Another piece of work ahead :-( Why not copy the idea? Isn't this whar a forum is for? Give and take :-)

Took a few Valley's pictures in the morning, I love that corner of the garden...

The leaves of Valley's Himitsu are nearly as big as those of Blue Angel

Waterslide seems to be a good grower

See that little insect on my Valley's White Suits? Never noticed one like this before, with the hot temperatures the fauna seems to change...

All of the hostas are beautiful. Where oh where do you get them?? Do you order them online? And which is your favorite one?? Or two/three!! I would love to get a few more unusual ones before I run out of room!!!

Karin, is there a big difference between water slide and Neptune? I can’t make it out in pictures. Thanks

Thank you Nicolsworth! That’s definitely a price difference! Even if the prices have changed in the years.

Wow those leaves of V. Himitsu. And your Blue Angel is really magnificent. That wood wall (soon grey) is great, more of those and you can order more hostas, LOL. Most of mine are now unfurled. One very shade hostabed has still unfurling to do. Might even get rain next week, lets keep fingers cross. Really need water.

Enjoyed them all!

Saija

I keep my fingers crossed that you will get rain! We had a cooler week and sometimes it rained a little, but it was not enough water at all. This is a strange time, wind is still coming from the east...More hosta? There are a few special ones I will get from Renaat and Jeroen, but then it will only be a few each year or I have to give some 'not so interesting' away. It's not the small garden alone, I think I have reached my limit how much time I can spend in the garden without being stressed by it...

epw0946,

living in Germany makes it very easy to get some interesting hosta. I can easily order from the big nurseries in the Netherlands or from hybridizers (Valley's), I have a friend in Belgium who always has nice new plants, and there are onlineshops in Germany and Austria with a nice range of hosta,too.I know that Gary Lindheimer from Naylor is working together with the boys in Europe and he often offers interesting plants in a facebook group called Hosta Buyers Guide. There are a lot of online shops in the US where you can order great plants, The Land of the Giants, In the Country and Gifts, Hollywood Bob...

Favourites? First of all Blue Angel, that is not going to change...I do like them all, part of the fascination is the wide range of colours, sizes and leaf forms that makes it easy to have so much possibilities to arrange interesting groups. I'm always rearranging the pots and the garden never looks boring :-)

Claudia,

Neptune und Waterslide? Schau mal hier die Bilder zum Vergleich...

Auf den ersten Blick ziemlich ähnlich:-)

I got Waterslide last year and Neptune is already 3 years in my garden. Neptune has a way of growing 'ordentlich' while Waterslide is looking kind of unruly. I will only be able to tell the real difference when both are mature.

I dunno about painting, this wood color looks great in this pic... Yeah I think I need a wall like this...

Seriously, your magazine quality pics are my source of inspiration

I got rain last night and more is coming this week, jipii.

Tickle me Pink

Hostas in pots are hard work. I'm also wondering if I have now enough hosta beds, one bed is on way this year, but then I think it's enough. I bought only ten hostas 2018. I still have 3 kids home, 4th has moved to different town to study, but he comes home in summers. So I have Mam duties and can't always be in garden. It must be hard to think that you must give hostas away.

Karin, I am astonished by how many hostas you can put into such a little space and have them look so good!

linda, thanks for your nice words about my pictures :-) They got better since I have a tripod. That really makes a difference.

Jipii! Saija, good to hear that the promised rain really came. I could not immagine to raise 4 kids, I only had one and always had to work, was not so easy then...I wonder how you find time for gardening at all :-)

zkathy, I wonder myself how I do it :-) I'm always carrying pots from here to there until I think I like the combination, then one hosta does not like the place, maybe due to too much sun and everything starts again. But it is fun, otherwise I would not collect.

Steve, the more people comment the better. Everybody is invited to share his thoughts and knowledge in my posts. I also think that Waterslide will never have such long and broad leaves like Neptune, but grows like crazy :-) I have Neptune in a very sunny spot and that has an effect on the colour but to my astonishment the leaves do not suffer from the sun...this picture is from July last year, a very green Neptune :-)

I bought Skywriter because I like this kind of leaves so much, it is more pale blue and does not like the sun...and seems to grow slow...

Dark Star looks good this year :-)

I bought a lot of ruffly blue ones too (starting with Queen of the Seas - not so blue, but still great) and added Skywriter this year (and Aquamarine and Holar Purple Flash and Infatuation and ... (hmm, add Dark Star to the list) ) but Waterslide really seems to stand out at an early age to me.

Our lists will always be long :-)

Here's a very special one, Iron Sky, the thickest leaves I've seen so far, but the snails love them...must have been hard work...

and Titanium...

All of the hostas look so wonderful! I purchased Waterslide and Dark Star this year. So far impressed by both. Skywriter is now on the list that never seems to have an end.

Wow, Iron Sky is so tough the snails didn't even chew through it.