I have a fairly small garden and only about 125 hostas or so. I don't do name tags because I just want to see plants out there and my garden is small enough that I can remember where things are. I do keep a spreadsheet on my computer where I track the growth of the younger ones by counting the eyes in the Spring.

And I keep an informal garden journal on the computer also to help me remember things like when/if I fertilized something.

My hosta in pots, so they get moved around. I know them in full leaf, but like to have some notation of the name in the pot. I have somewhere between 40 and 50.

I have a folder named hosta in my photo folder. Inside the hosta folder, I have a folder for each hosta, dead hosta, other people's hosta, etc. I sort the photos into the appropriate folder. The camera puts a date on the file, so I don't do that. I have a little spreadsheet file in each photo file that tells the name, originator, where and when I purchased it (or it's origin) and the wholesaler, if I know it.

I started taking "school photos" last year, but have all the photos I've taken previously sorted as well.

That's about all I have time enough to keep up with.

bk

With over 500 hostas, having naming plates is a must. I got behind last year and am struggling with the names of tons of them that lost the plastic markers over the winter or the name faded from using a Sharpie to mark them.

I keep a spreadsheet that indicates the date purchased, where I bought it, and how much I paid for it (but not total on amount paid since that would probably send me into shock). I also have a column for eye count for each year. I added a column for which garden bed the hosta is in this year. Hopefully, by the end of next week, I'll have it updated and will be able to deduce what my NO ID's are by the ones left without a garden name in them.

I have a file folder for each garden and put shots of the gardens in those folders. Then I have a file folder for hostas and inside that folder have a folder for each hosta. I usually keep the folder sorted by name, but will sort it by date modified so I can see which hosta I haven't got a picture of for the year. I name each picture by the cultivar and the date taken. For example:

Vim and Vigor 2013 05 30

This way you can view through each hosta by date and see it's changes.

I use Picasa 3 from (free from google) to crop the pictures and add text. Picasa has a great system to catalog your pictures if you want to use it.

I don't mark my duplicates if they are all together. For instance, I have a border of Golden Tiara's, they not marked. However, I have a Liberty in the front and one in the back. They're both marked. It helps when you're looking for them when they come up in the spring.

My recommendation is to START NOW before it becomes unmanageable. I would be in a heap of trouble with my NOID's had I not started my spreadsheet when I only had 50 hostas.

Gesila

I am using several methods to keep track of my hosta. (124 as of today and growing) At first I easily remembered locations and names, actually still do, but when I buy large groups of new ones I have to think hard until I get to know them. I'm glad I started cataloging and will be more glad as my collection grows. I do not like labels in the garden. I want to look at the plants and not be distracted by plant tags.

I regularly take pics, label with name and date. Just use Windows picture library that is on my computer. I can search on a name and pull up all pics of that hosta over the years and see progress. Take several pics per year, but will probably eventually slow down on that to just one or two at specific times. I like to have pics of pips, unfurling, fulling leafed out, scapes and blooms for each one, but don't need all of these every year.

I've been using OneNote a Microsoft office application that is like an electronic scrapbook. I can insert text and pics. So I have basic info about each hosta, date obtained, garden location, origination and registration info, description, etc. Along with pics Fun to look at in the winter.

I also have rough garden plots in Microsoft Excel to keep track more closely of exact garden location. The more hosta you have the easier it will be to lose track of a certain hosta.

And I just started Excel spreadsheets with hosta info.

I know, overkill. I need to simplify, just trying to decide what is most helpful to me. I do not need (nor want to maintain) all of this. Really have been experimenting over the last year to see what works best for me. No firm conclusion yet!

Wow...and I thought my count of 30 was something to boast about! I probably have the most hosta compared to people in my neighbourhood but I have nothing on you guys!

Thank you for all the tips and advice. I will read through it all and find what works for me...and I will definitely get started this year before it becomes unmanageable!

I'm not sure if I'm particularly found of seeing all the stakes in the garden either but I did see some nice photos with rocks that had the name painted on them. Probably more work but its a great idea to keep it "natural"...and now I'll have a use for all the "treasures" my kids find on our walks or at the beach!

Each hosta has a label, even if it's a dupe.
Every year, I take a pic of each section of the garden. Each hosta is given a number... usually the same number if the hosta hasn't moved.
I then have a spreadsheet wherein I keep track of the number, name, year acquired, source, number of eyes (a column for each year), etc.
I keep individual pictures in a separate place that does not correllate.

THIS YEAR, however, I found an android app that I could adapt to use for doing my eye counts. And within that app, I can also take a photograph and link it to the record. I'm still quite new to using the app, but I'm almost done with my inventory, so I'll have to see what my overall thoughts are about it when I'm done.

I'll probably export my findings from the app, so I can then load the eye counts into the spreadsheet. I feel more comfortable with the data being in the spreadsheet.

I gave up trying to keep a "catalog" of the hostas in my garden after about 300 or so. Now I just write down what I buy, from whom, and the year in my garden journal. I name tag everything except seedlings and Noids, to I know where they are in the spring before they come up, so I don't accidently plant something on top of them. Sometimes I lose track of where I put them when I plant several, my garden is almost an acre of woods and it's easy to do.

Noids and seedlings get a bamboo skewer sticking up next to them so I know there is something there. My tags all have names and the year they were planted, plus initials of the place I got it (eg LOTG 2012).

If one dies, I just cross it off my lists and put it on my ever-expanding want list, if I decide to replace it.

Maybe not the most efficient way of doing things, but I'm not organized enough to mess with spread sheets, files and folders, etc. so that's all I got.

Sandy