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don_in_colorado

Returning to Regularly-Scheduled Season...

don_in_colorado
9 years ago

...Already in progress. Uncovered this morning; 51 degrees today, 81 by the weekend. Plants look great (meaning no signs of cold-damage).

That Mother Nature, such a precocious one! : )

Cheers,
Don B.

Comments (23)

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Let's get back to leafing out, babies!

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Last one...

  • Ludicious Acres
    9 years ago

    Yea, what's this I read about you having snow in May ?!?!?!

    Sir, you are a stronger man than I. We had two days below 30 in April and I was a wreck the whole time. I know they are only plants, but there is so much time and emotion involved you can't help but get attached.

    My Word, when those beds mature ! Don, it will be a spectacle to behold.

    Thumbs UP !!!

    Ludi

  • Gesila
    9 years ago

    You have such great discipline Don. I would have crammed three times as many hostas in that space!

    I can't wait to see pictures of your gardens as they mature. You have an awesome selection of hostas.

    Gesila

  • mountainy man z8 Ireland
    9 years ago

    They look great Don, glad there's no damage.

    Onward and upwards!

    Denis

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks guys. No more snow. Grow grow grow! : )

    Don B.

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Gesila, it's tempting LOL I'll say that much for resisting the urge to cram 'em in there. I'll take some lawn instead.

    I don't have near the energy as Myrle (McTavish) does. Big credit to you, Myrle. She'd move a mature 'Elegans' if she gets tired of where it's planted. More power to you, McT. Whew!! My back!!!

    Don B.

  • esther_b
    9 years ago

    Cool! Heh-heh.

  • Linda's Garden z6 Utah
    9 years ago

    It good to see the plants survived the snow! Did you cover all of them? How cold did it get? Hopefully that is the last frost of the year!

    Your garden is going to look fabulous when those plants mature!

    Linda

  • Ludicious Acres
    9 years ago

    Dig-up a mature Elegans, you say ...

    Been there ...

    Done that ...

    Broke my Shovel ...

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Linda...I covered all of em but the sides of the house (about 40 plants), but their leaves got smashed to pieces by hail two nights before the freeze. They need a new flush of leaves anyway LOL. Covered everything in the 'main' beds, which are under my pines (AWESOME hail protection the pines gave the hostas, almost zero hail got through) Plus, I was out of covering materials. : ) Weathermen said it was going to get to 23 on the second night they were covered, but it only got down to 28-29 on each of the two cold nights for a few hours total, if I remember correctly.

    Eh, don't even know what I was so worried about! : I

    Don B.

    How did you do out in Utah?

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ah yes, I remember, Ludi. In that pic the roots look like nothing more than a pile of thatch.

    You're insinuating it was a little heavier than a pile of thatch? ; )

    Don B.

  • jadie88
    9 years ago

    Gesila took the words out of my mouth...I started out leaving space for more mature sizes, but now it's all crazy-town. Liberty 2 feet from Regal Splendor, Brother Stefan arm wrestling with Woolly Mammoth, Guardian and Earth Angels spreading their "wings" over the bleeding heart crammed between them. Madness, I tell you!

    Don, so glad you fared well. I keep pretending that all the cold damage I'm seeing is just corrugation. :)

  • Ludicious Acres
    9 years ago

    Granted Don, I have been prone to start dropping syllables, instantly gain 200 pounds, and turn a lovely shade of green . . .

    But my Hulk strength was not with me on that fateful day.

    That, my friend, was a Labor of Love.

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Look at this one, Ludi. I bought an Elegans last year, but it didn't make it through the winter. This one is a blue NOID I've had for a few years, but this is the first season it's had a hint of rounded leaves. It's leaping into a more adult look, methinks. Hmm. Could be. Whatever it is, I'm really starting to like it. : )

    Don B.

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    LOL Ludi "Hulk MULCH!!!"

  • DelawareDonna
    9 years ago

    Don - Your hostas are looking happy and healthy. By the way, your enthusiasm is contagious. You always put a smile on my face.

    DD

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Donna. How's the garden? Everything (besides 'Orange Marmalade') coming up OK?

    Don B.

  • lavendargrrl
    9 years ago

    Hooray - so glad to see your plants fared well!

  • DelawareDonna
    9 years ago

    Hey Don - "Hosta Island" has a whole new look this year. I'm waiting for an order from Land of the Giants so Will post photos later in the season. My son and l moved my large Guacamole to the rear of the garden last summer using Ken' s tape method and it is doing great.

    DD

  • User
    9 years ago

    Oh what a relief it is. Whew. I was dreading bad news, and now it sounds like a party.

    I'm with Gesila and Jadie. That looks like a lot of space between your hosta. You have room to set some POTS around about between them. You will see what I mean around July, when the in-ground hosta are leafed out, you set your pots in there, they look taller and the others hide the pots from view. It sounds like a plan to me. Think of it as testing where the sweet spot is for every potted hosta when you're ready to put em in the ground.

    Happy days are here again....

  • Ludicious Acres
    9 years ago

    Don, she's Lovely !

    Bears a striking resemblance to the Elegans' seedlings I keep in my Back 40. My three Matrons throw out tons of babies and I leave them be until they are big enough to transplant into the back yard.

    Tragically, there are a bagillion different big leafed blue hostas out there, so no way to ever know for sure.

    Heck, I'm not 100% sure mine are even Elegans. They do fit the characteristics, but Chris and I had a brief discussion about them last year when I was visiting. He thought they might be Bressingham Blue, but then again, Bressingham Blue is a sieboldiana hybrid.

    And from what I've seen of my Elegans seedlings, they all pretty much look like Momma.

    But what's in a name. I know you will cherish her in any event.

    Cheers and thanks for sharing !!!

    Ludi

  • don_in_colorado
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Ludi,

    If she keeps this up, she'll make a mighty fine 'stand-in' for The Matron, I think.

    Yes, so many of the big blues are super-hard to tell apart, even for dead-eyed nurserymen like Chris.

    Since I don't actually know, she'll always be Blue NOID in the garden. Or I guess now she's on her way to earning the title 'Beautiful Blue NOID'.

    Cheers,
    Don B.