Here is what I literally pulled out of the ground with my hand:

debra..what in the world???..did it heave and freeze?..I have no advice..did you plant the "remains" just in case it can survive?..

Ken, I actually threw them on the concrete walkway, it was closer than the concrete driveway. But——I did forget to swear. Darn!!!

nw, it did not heave, I don’t think.......it was still in the ground with crown visible. I had to come to look at my map to make it was what I thought it was. The mouse ears. You can see from the pictures how large the crown was. It broke apart when I pulled it out. No shovel or digger, just my hands. I remember it being hard to plant......when I moved it to more shade, I struggled with getting the hole deep enough to accommodate the roots, but not cover the crown. Maybe I should have covered the crown.

I guess I was looking for someone to say, “it’s salvageable” or “don’t waste your time”. Maybe I will pot it and see what happens...........just for fun! :-)

debra

debra..yes pot it!..it's entertainment for hosta nerds like us..maybe start a post..will this hosta live?..Lol..

But——I did forget to swear. Darn!!!

==>> well you just did .. dont you feel better ...

i cant say one way or another ... just pot it and find out ...

did you bare root it when you planted it??? .. when was it planted?? .. all that crosses my mind was a late planting.. and the plant was juiced on fert.. and didnt harden off and go into winter dormancy properly.. and then rotted ..

ken

Well, I can say that I bare rooted it before re-planting it. The roots were sooooo close to the top of the crown which made it difficult to plant. I could have just covered everything I guess....... maybe that’s what I’ do now. What have I got to loose?

debra

Update===>>>I planted the two pieces of crown in a pot. The next morning when I went out to check out the pots.........one piece of the crown had not only been dug up......it was no where in site!!! Who would dig it completely up? I mean there was only a 1/2 inch showing!! A squirrel????I can just see it now, grey squirrel running around the neighborhood with a very small piece of crown in its mouth and six inches of roots trailing along behind! Any other thoughts? 😆😆😆

debra

Squirrels love freshly distributed soil...even in pots.

tj

I know they do, but to make off with it in their mouths was what got me laughing!

debra

All the "mice" I have had, after a while push their crowns up to the surface and above the ground level. I usually have to divide them then. but otherwise I just leave them. They did it by themselves. The mass of crown breaks apart very easily.

-Babka

We had deer that used to pull out plants, eat some and then throw the rest around the yard. We got a special daylily that I planted all by itself in a sheltered area. The deer found it, pulled it out and pitched it about 10 feet. Luckily, they didn't eat much of the plant but it certainly showed us how destructive they can be.

The funny thing is I live in the city and have no deer or rabbits (neighborhood cats). I see the squirrels digging all the time in freshly planted soil——but I have never seen them run off with a fully rooted crown! I mean ,did they run off with it for dinner? Maybe the roots are good for nest building???? IMOW, what’s the point?????

debra 😆

I hope the other piece survives Debra. They are such trouble makers! . One uprooted a freshly planted Liberty. I imagine it had stashed some butternuts there which I probably tossed when prepping the hole. It was a couple of days before I found poor Liberty laying on its side. I am convinced they do some of these things for fun like mischievous toddlers.

Yes, they are mischievous critters! I found nothing in my yard, but who knows?? Maybe it’s up in the tree woven into a bed, or carried down the block and placed in someone else’s yard.

:-D

debra