LOL, yes, and they ask me what I'm doing.

Do you arrange the leaves too? I just came in from moving the leaves of my Parhelion around. They did some major unfurling today and ended up looking unruly.

Gesila

Yes, I do arrange leaves as needed, straighten scapes and help some leaves unfurl. This year I will have to put stakes in for Regal Splendor and Komodo Dragon so their scapes stay upright. The ones on RS were about 5' tall last year and KD was so top heavy that they leaned almost to the ground.

Sounds like someone needs to create the Hostavac and Hostamaniacure set (see what I did there). Ok, sorry, bad pun.

Paul

I have been known to splint a broken petiole.

As for the cupped ones, i love them way to much to give them up. The main debris I have are pine needles, which don't collect too much in the cups.

A leaf debris pic I took during convention in 2010-

I call it 'Hosta Growing Under Maple'

Paul

Love it, Paul!

Those maple seeds will sprout up anywhere! I do the same as all of you, except fix a broken scape. I don't even do that for my daylilies, unless I'm breeding them. The maple seeds this year are unreal, so many of them! I hate them and I'll be spending much of the rest of the summer cleaning them out and pulling baby trees from my beds.

Karen

I must be very lucky. I get tons of Maple seeds from the two large ones in the front where all of the hosta are plus there is a giant Elm in the backyard. The little bitty seeds that you just can't pick up. I also get to enjoy all of the dandelion seeds from all of the neighbors. The toddler next door loves to pick and blow on them so they float around. It is so cute. Not.

No. A bad back and hips, I am barely able to do the planting and mulching! I do, however gently spray the leaves if I have to water. This keeps them fairly clean.

chris

I do love the looks of my Drinking Gourd, but I noticed today that after the heavy rain we had, the leaves were all full of water--and mosquito wigglers. It is a huge plant, and I have to empty all those leaves! Plus they were also full of oak tree debris, which was quickly turning to compost. Yucko slimy!

Sandy

You guys are a real riot arranging leaves, splinting scapes but you're not alone. I shampoed my hostas' leaves to remove the dust and debris. Good Idea? No!! No one has ever questioned me about my sanity. My neighbours notice that my hostas have grown; however, their eyes glaze over if I introduce my hostas by name or elaborate too much on their merits. Oh well, what the hell I do no harm to anyone, SO I really don't care what anyone thinks. Anyhow I would only be guessing.

Yeah, the scapes on orchids always get clipped to a stick in the pots. I discovered they use the hair clips that look like tiny old fashioned ice tongs. They would work nicely with tall hosta scapes too. They come in all sizes.

I'm sure if the description is not clear, I could find a small clip somewhere. I still have two of my orchids.

Our problem is the camphor tree with all its berries. And, the squirrels bury my really huge pecans, and when they sprout it is really hard to drag the shoot and intact pecan out of the soil or the pots. A waste of good nuts.

Right now, the ligustrum (usually an evergreen hedge) plants all are dropping endless white tiny blossoms all over the plants. For these, they can collect at the point where the petiole begins and block the funnel from cleaning itself. If I remember, I take a long handled round china bristle artists brush with me to sort of dust things off.

I wondered if it was okay to rearrange the leaves, some of which I think will be deformed if not better placed. I've learned not to cut off the ragged ripped leaves, especially not at this time of year. So I guess anything goes in the grooming department.

One thing I'm doing now, has nothing to do with name tags, it has to do with hosta "jewelry" if you like that description. The fun will be in just gradually adding them only when THE PERFECT ornament shows up, an inspired epiphany if you will.

So far, I have about three of them chosen. Just cheap things which remind me of the plant name. I already have the one for Paradise Island--it is a parrot on a kabob, so it sticks up above the layer of golden leaves. To me, parrots = paradise.

Then, I found a miniature monkey--Funky Monkey.
Then, I found a miniature copper teapot--Teatime.
Then, I found a miniature ceramic white elephant--guess which hosta?.......
Not every hosta name lends itself to ornament mnemonics, but if I have trouble identifying a plant, I'll look for a symbol to help me.

I'm getting a King of Spades from a plastic card deck, and skewering it for the pot.

I'm looking for a small toy shark for Jaws.
A miniature yellow squash for Squash Casserole.
Maybe a pair of leather pants for Lederhosen?
Or a monk figurine for my Brother Stefan?
Something plaid for the Celtic Uplands.
A shamrock for Irish Luck.
A miniature Red Dragon.
I've ordered a African queen head pot to plant The Razor's Edge--it is sticking out all over like a big old 'Fro.
Purple Boots is a no-brainer, right?
A moon in phase for Moonstruck.
I'll need a tiny sailboat for Captain's Adventure.

My way of looking at this is having fun with my hosta, and maybe getting my garden visitors involved in guessing the names of the plants. Hmmm, I have an old Monopoly set with the little car and shoe and such..... ahhhh, the games people play.

My A. Drinking Gourd never gourds. I think it's a dud.

Karen

My hostas are in the back where there is no blazing sun. In the front of the house I have many conifers. Non-gardeners might think I am too much in it when I pick even tiny weeds (before they disperse seeds) or dead-head daffodils right now. But then also some ladies stop to complement my garden.

Frank,you hit on favorite pet peeve in my hosta garden! I am out there every day,cleaning off leaves,and right now it is pathetic,because Oaks, Poplars,and tree bark from high winds every afternoon is drowning my garden in trash! The garden was really looking nice until now. Also,something that looks like motor oil is falling on the leaves inder the Oak trees is really"uglieing up" the plants. It washes off,but we aren't even getting any rain now to wash them off! And yes,I occacionally prop up a sagging petiole,with a forked twig, Phil

One thing I hate about my Silver Maples other than the seed mess, leaf mess and nightmare roots is that limbs high up die. Sometimes they stay attached and come down in a storm or they will break off and just hang across other branches for years. When I am lucky they don't hit anything when they eventually come down. The other day a piece broke off about 4' long and three inches thick. Completely rotted. Landed right on my two eyed Royal Standard that had multiplied for the first time this year. It missed my new Atlantis and Queen of the Seas so it could have been worse.

We have a cordless leaf blower that we use to blow tree trash from our deck and river bugs from the porch at the cottage. I haven't tried it on hostas yet but I plan to, since they collect the same 'stuff'. If I keep it at a distance it will hopefully blow the debris without damaging the plants.
Jan