Paula, I love the hoodie for popcorn idea, I do love popcorn.

Here are a few I am disappointed in. I tend not to take pictures when the hosta looks ugly, so I don't have too many pictures.

Fallen Angel, comes up pretty but then fades into a hosta you can disregard easily.

Lakeside Black Satin, above Island Breeze. This one is a deva, it likes lots of fertilizer, it has hung on for many years but doesn't thrive.

Hidden Cove, I love the name but the plant struggles. I have put some of it in a pot and it died maybe I should dig up the rest and see how it does in a pot.

Grey Ghost, also one which looks good in the spring but then just hangs on, looking sad.

Lakeside Dragonfly, I love it early in the season but by August it looks like this.

This category cracked me up! I never take photos of the bad stuff…….I’m lucky to get photos of the good stuff😆

Sherry

My "worst" of has been coming on for a few years. Empress Wu, originally planted in 2016 was doing quite well for a few years. Two years ago it started to decline and last year at the end of the season it was almost gone, just withered away.

It gets very little sun but others near it seem to be doing OK. I plan to replace it and possibly try it in a large pot like my KD.

Early 2021 - by August it was almost gone.

2019 - Was going quite well other than the cut worm damage.

not a "worst" for everyone..some here have beautiful specimens..Praying Hands is my worst..🙁

I planted 3 4" pots in each of these large pots..

I saw squirrels digging..added stones..didn't stop them..any pics I had were deleted..I did a search and took screenshots..after first coming out of my shed..pale..etiolated..

here's one 10 days later..better but still ugly..I planted inground in a promising location..hoping they'll rebound in 2022..

old_dirt..my Empress Wu is also declining..I'm planning a move this year..no current pics of it..

Paula..if you cut eye holes could you wear the hoodie as a mask? 😂..

Hoodie and the bowl/dish?

tj

Well I don’t suppose any of us crow about the “worst” ones…….
debra

Well, I would have to say Waverunner didn’t do well, but it’s a first year hosta. Brother Stephen got badly burned adjusting to the sun in my yard, also first year. Pocketful of Sunshine came up nicely but then looked awful by August. I dug it out. Robert Frost and Teatime look great until but go yellow/burned leaves way before the others.

Here’s Teatime:
debra

Robert Frost pic is 8/18/21 and Teatime is 8/5/21 for reference.

debra

Interesting, I just noticed only one eye of Teatime looks bad……🤔
Perhaps I will split the one that goes bad and plant elsewhere to see what happens……

debra

in extreme drought in my garden it was Dancing Queen. after the collapse there wasn't much to take a picture of.

My ugliest, worst hostas this year are not photographed: Lakeside Cupcake, Center of Attention, Lil Abner, Winter Frost, Tootie Mae, Cathedral Windows, Choko Nishiki, Seducer, Lakeside Coal Miner, and Hans. White center melt-out, slug-lunch, diminishing, edge melt.

sandyslopes..that's funny..Remember Me - I'm leaving..😂

One other worst of, our tree fell down in September this garden will be different this year. I think some of the hostas will like more sun and less root competition and other hostas will have issues.

Beth..I'm curious..I've had trees fall but they were dead..yours is leafed out..what happened?..rot at the base?..what kind of tree?..the bark seems smooth..an ironwood (hornbeam)?..beech?..the canopy seems too full for either but the bark looks right..🤔

Paula so funny those first three and then a sweet one.

I hope all the worst have a growth spurt/adjust next year. Lisa I wonder if RM won't peek out next year.

Itsy Bitsy Spider needs to be moved. It was doing so well but Smash Hit completely covers it when it fills out.

Little Starlet is right beside where the snow melt off from the forest comes through in spring.

The King will be a future favorite but it had a rough first year.

I probably shouldn't even mention it but American Choo Choo has been a great grower for me for a few years but soil erosion from gutter overflow took a toll last year as it began to diminish. I'm sure if I take better care of it, it will bounce right back.

I feel like I'm at an interview explaining my greatest weakness with that pic.

Blitz was planted in 2017 and keeps hanging on. I really should dig it up this year to see what's going on.

Blue Ivory got moved and got ugly. Hopefully it bounces back next year.

Fascinator got rescued to a pot and its hanging in there so far. Final Victory got rescued to a pot and bit the dust. Emerald Ruff Cut did well a couple years before diminishing and dying. Flash Forward and Foxfire Bamm Bamm died last year. I've had Flemish Gold since 2016 and even moved it once, but it's never done well for me. Time for another pot rescue.

I planted Garden Party in 2018. I'm not sure what happened to it. This is supposed to be it.

Maybe it died and a seedling took over.

I got Holar Crimson Grape in 2018 and it never made it out of the pot (yet). Could be due to my inexperience with little TC plants. But it's still alive and this could be the year it makes it into the ground.

That's an ~4" pot. Good news is its still alive in a pot over several winters.

I've had Hollywood Lights since 2016 and while leaf size was OK, The plant never got bigger. I moved it to a drier sunnier spot a couple years ago and it may like that better as plant size is up, leaf size is down.

Jessica Alba got rescued to a pot in 2020 and is hanging in there.

Lakeside Prophecy Fulfilled doesn't like it here with its dandelion friend. Two full years in this spot.

Lily Pad is doing a little better but still isn't back to its original size after 2 years in the garden. Deer damage and frost damage may have something to do with that.

Whew, and that's just the first half of the alphabet. Who said Hosta were easy to grow. Perhaps I need to tighten up my definition of worst.

steve..l love your observations and details pinpointing possible issues..

I heard this on a gardening show years ago..

sometimes plants die for no apparent reason..entirely possible that you did nothing wrong!..

I found that comforting..

nicholsworth, the tree which fell was a maple. The tree was leaning to get more light. The roots attached to the ground was small. I wonder if the leaning separated the roots a little at a time. When it fell it was a surprise to us. One morning it was on the ground after a storm the night before.

Beth..what a shock!..your reasoning makes sense..I learned here that hostas suffer under maples..maples have shallow surface roots right?..

this leaning maple always had a nice canopy..so we let it stay and kept an eye on it for years..this summer we had it removed..the cavity scared us..

nicholsworth, I am wondering how the hostas will grow there, less root competition and more sun. Our house and two other trees will shade the garden at times. So we will see, I am guessing some of the plants will be happy and some will need a relocation.

Glad you had your tree taken down, always good to take it down on your terms not where Mother Nature wants it to fall.

Is it weird that I'm happy thinking the Hosta took out that Maple?

Some more worst. This is Paisley Border. It's a sport of Lakeside Paisley Print and it grows about as well (which is not good at all). After two years it's still not back to original size. This new bed on a slight slope under large Oak canopies hasn't been kind to Hosta.

Regal Supreme still hasn't grown after being moved once.

Restless Sea got rescued to a pot but its hanging in there.

Sapphire Pillows not really increasing in size.

Hmm, come to think of it all of these plus Lakeside Prophecy Fulfilled are in that same newish sloping bed. I do give it extra water when its dry, but maybe it needs more. Some plants are doing OK in this bed, but there's enough struggling to look into it further.

So outside of that bed, these have not done well for me. Patriot's Fire shrank and then died on me last year as did Rhino Hide. Seducer looked OK but hasn't really increased in 5 years so it got moved last year as it finally started getting smaller.

I got a nice sized Smokey Bear to start with but after two years not close in size to that big start yet.

Summer Music has been slowly shrinking the past couple years while the similar looking Color Festival has done great in the same bed.

Tickle Me Pink still shrinking in size after 2 years.

steve..some of your "worst" look nice to me!..I admit I can't judge the size reduction from last year..I really like Sapphire Pillows, Seducer, Smokey Bear and Tickle Me Pink..

I do have some of my own that are shrinking..Empress Wu and Praying Hands are obviously smaller..now I'm thinking I have others that I didn't catch..

after all I do have tree roots and shade..

After the heat and extreme temperatures I quit taking pictures . Even after I cut off the worst leaves it sure was a hard summer with some having their water supplies dry up. Our well was very low but not totally out. Hoping for a better result this season.

Thanks for sharing, Faye. Mine were so ugly that I did not photograph them or even look at them. I also had diminishing returns with my Paul’s Glory, Solar Flare, Fragrant Queen, and Unforgettable. They are all near the same 2 oak trees, so tree root competition and drought are the likely problems. I even replaced Paul’s Glory for the 4th time this autumn when it failed to put in much of an appearance in 2021.

tsugajunkie, you and I think alike! I am a neat freak, so I thought of a bowl in the hoodie too!

I, too, have some that I am struggling with. As others mentioned, we don't always have pictures of the worst looking ones.

Bridal Falls is so teeny tiny. And that's 5 year's worth! It's the one just to the right of center.

Half and Half is slowly making a recovery, but still very small.

If it makes it though to this season, I do have some hope as it has gained a few leaves since last year. You can compare size with the forget me not seedlings in the picture.

I have heard others having issues with Half and Half too. My Bridal Falls suffered in a shady place but did well when I gave it more sun. It was in dappled shade in the morning with only an hour or so of sun before the house blocked it. Now it's in high dappled morning sun with a few hours of mid-afternoon sun and really seems to like it.

That's interesting Steve. I think the place I planted Bridal Falls will get the same amount of sun you mentioned you had yours in before you moved it. So I'll have to see if I can find a place with more sun.

I didn't know others had issues with Half and Half. Makes me feel a bit better that I'm not the only one!