You and your wife are on my mind when I listen to those weather reports. Being on a forum like this really expands one's horizons and makes even national weather pertinent. I remember hunting in the snow on Thanksgiving day back in Missouri......but one expects that in late November. And in many years past we always had a snow at least once before my birthday, and that is in early November. But the weather isn't like it used to be. Not necessarily milder lately, just different. We have had three cool summers in succession. Last year tomatoes didn't even show up at Farmer's market until almost the season's end. This year, I smartened up and planted a variety what sets fruit in the forty degree range, picked them green and let them ripen inside for a month. Cold, cold evenings all summer. Not enough rain to deep soak anything and my spring is still suffering. Cold soggy springs and falls. Living here as long as I have, I've prepared for years for stretches of no power. We get along too, with our pitcher pump, the gas grates, oil lamps and the stocked pantry. It's just part of life, and we don't be too uncomfortable, but quilting or reading by coal oil lamps stinks. LOL. I have been toying with having a set of gas lights installed in at least the kitchen and thought my husband would guffaw at the idea, but surprisingly he didn't. We have generators, but they only get fired up for the g'house crops when absolutely necessary. I think once we dragged one down to the house to let the freezer get cold after three days of no power so we wouldn't lose food. I hate to hear that constant roar and it's just not worth it to me to live like that. Hope you get some moderation to the weather. Not this bad, this early. Keep an eye on El Nino this year. If it builds we are in for a mild winter, but if it's a weak one the nasties will drop to your area for the duration of winter and spill over eastward.

I was just reading about a similar kind of problem over on the hosta forum, since hostas tend to be planted around trees. Seems the maple tree roots spread out everywhere and become ensnared in the hosta roots and end up strangling them, as it were. It occurred to me that it was a good thing that I had never tried to grow roses in my front yard which has a number of maple trees. A similar problem could happen with maples and roses. I mention this only for some of you in the midwest to check if you grow maples in your yards. Might produce problems like aptosca described above. Congratulation aptosca on finding cause and working so hard to "rescue" your roses. Your pics are lovely! Kate

Thanks for the welcome back Janice and Micke. With more than a foot of snow in most places of the yard and two huge piles where the guy who plowed while we were gone shoved it,it will be a while till we see grass or spring. Now to were we went, will all over! Naples, the Keys, the Gulf area near Bradenton and St Perersburg to see friends. Next to Orlando and Daytona for the races. While there our second son and his girlfriend spent 10 days with us. We headed southwest to Natchez and toured all the pre Civil War manshions that were open. Found out that they were just their winter homes and that they spent the rest of the year in the East to get away from the deseases of summer. Everything was greening up and the spring flowers and shrubs were blooming + some flowering trees. There were more millionaires in Natches in the 1850,s and 60,s until the War than in New York City! Shreveprot LA. was next and we again so so many blooming things! The highways had daffidals all over and how I wanted to pick a bouquet but didn't. Hot Springs then Heber Springs were stops in Arkansas. We ended up in southern Illinois to visit with 2 uncles and an aunt on my mother,s side of the family, who are all in their 80,s. Hope I can still cook like those ladies can if I live that long! I've left out a lot but didn't want to bore you with details. Connie

I had the same problem with my much beloved 'Earth Angel' this year! I am very sad because the small leaves that did appear have extremely large cream margins and if it were the size it normally is, the leaves, etc. it would have been especially spectacular this year. I dug it up to examine the roots and saw nothing unusual, in that there was no evidence of vole snacking or root invasion but there were less roots on the whole than I expected to find. I'm beginning to sense that the larger margins this one has always displayed may be the real cause, with less chlorophyll uptake being available with the lesser green areas! But, I agree with all the other comments since your problem wasn't confined to one or two of your hosta, mostly that the weather could have been a factor, since Spring began earlier this year for most of us in Ohio!!! I had that problem one year where I lost a good many of my hosta not planted directly in the ground and those that were badly damaged but had some surviving parts, two summers later, they are all back to their original great sizes! True, also, of some of my hosta that were vole-attacked late one summer! Oh, voles are very small mouse-like critters that enter via a finger-sized hole near a plant, to get to the roots and they do a great job of extreme root pruning, oftentimes. At their worst, you will find you have a nice 'bouquet' sitting there waiting to be picked up by you when you notice they are sitting somewhat askew, or 'just-not-right' looking to you! Grrrr! I had some over this winter which has been a first for me--the winter invasion, I mean!! Hopefully, in your case, everything will bounce back by next Spring!! janice