How do you know when it's time to give up on a variety?

==>>> when you run out of space.. and think that something better can use the space ...

if you move to 5 acres.. there is really no reason to get rid of any ... no space needs...

ken

My Guacamole and Fried Bananas are starting to look carpy, but I attribute that to being near the end of the season and not being attentive enough to their watering needs (my laziness) and waiting for rain instead.

DD

I have given up on a few varieties over the years. Some varieties have given up on me as well. Lol

I typically know it's time during the 3rd growing season. The first year in my garden, I don't hold anything against any plant. If I have a frown on my face during the 2nd growing season, I put the plant on a carp list. If I still have a frown during the 3rd growing season, it's outta there by Fall.

One hosta that made my carp list this year is 'Hoosier Harmony'. It's a nice looking hosta with a good growth rate. The problem is that it's leaves are very thin. In my garden, that usually means 2 things: slug magnet and looks carppy by August. Slug magnet hostas are a bad choice for the PNW, since we have tons of slugs that lay tons of eggs.

I have three 'carpies' right now; Calypso, Groundmaster and Brim Cup.
Funny to see this post today, as I was just thinking about getting rid of the Brim Cup. It gets attacked by slugs every year and has barely grown. But I like the colour of it and would have to replace it with something similar looking. What would that be?
Groundmaster is one of those thin leafed slugs magnets. I wouldn't miss it at all, but Calypso is so beautiful in the early season, I can forgive it for its late season melt down.

That's Orange Marmalade. It's stunning in the spring. I mentioned that I saw it at the store and how ugly it was. Phil said it was worth it for the way it looked in spring. He was right. This spring, many of my plants were really damaged by our wet, cold, warm, then back again (and again) weather. So I almost lost OM (and several others). However, it was stunning last year. The camera really doesn't capture the color, as the yellow is so bright, it's almost orange. But it's really ugly up in the summer.

5/7/12

6/28/12

8/9/12

It looks worse this year.

Then there's Ann Kulpa. This was taken the first part of May 2012, and it's already turning brown. (The cutworms got it, too) I wonder if it's just me/my weather or it's just not too hardy.

I guess Daybreak is my carpiest plant to date. Rabbits eat it. Slugs eat it. The sun burns it. And it doubles in size every year just to give me hope. Every year I'm gonna move it. Every year it sits there looking like carp!!

And all this time I thought Paul Aden only stole the best of the best. Daybreak must be an exception. It looks good on the HL. But then, Ann Kulpa looks good on the HL, too.

bk

Bkay, considering you live in (scalding HOT)Texas, I'm surprised ANY of 'em still look good!!

Don B.

If I like the way they look early on, I put them front and center outside the family room (9' wide doors). When they begin to look yucky or "carpy", I put them in a spot where I don't have to look at all the time. I really do have a difficulty in dumping a hosta...even tho I have so little room and way too many hostas. When I divide a 3 gal one, and cannot find a friend who wants yet another hosta...It takes me a day to get over it before the garbage man takes the extra parts away. People around here just don't know hostas or don't "garden". More wine.

-Babka

Frenzy, Hoosier Harmony performs well for me. It gets lots of water this year especially. It gets good morning sun and maybe a wee bit in the afternoon. All of the golds in that particular spot are doing very nicely.

Hoosier Harmony is next to Invincible Spirit, which is blooming now, and then there's Smooth Sailing, a mostly gold with a narrot green irregular margin. Its veins are becoming a bit green, but over all it is holding its gold.

So is Hoosier Harmony. Here is a picture of it recently. It is down front right. Taken Aug 24th

Babka,

You can send those extra hosta to me!

plantbug

The post's title made me chuckle. It's so true that we are bound to have some (or at least one) that looks ugly.

For me, my ugly is Brim Cup. (Runner up to Brim Cup is Twilight.) When I bought Brim Cup in 2011, it looked nice. In 2012, it also looked good, and I patted myself on the back (especially when I found out it was considered one of the "difficult" ones). Well, I congratulated myself too soon, as this year, right off the bat, it looked ugly. Ugly it has been all season. Mind you, mine has been in a pot, so no slugs or pest issues like North53. I think mine has two problems: I've never repotted (I know, I know . . . I'm a bad girl). The second problem may be that it got too much sun in spring. So how long will I try with this hosta? I think I will try my best for 2014 and then 2015 will be the year it goes. I like a challenge, but there are so many beautiful and less demanding hostas out there that it just isn't worth my time.

Babka, I also would find it very difficult to throw away a hosta. It is hard for me to imagine that no one would want it, even for free. I certainly do not have that problem. I can sell at garage sales, fund raising events, give them to our library's gardens or just post on kijiji.ca. If I were giving them away, a posting on kijiji.ca would guarantee that they'd be gone in no time at all. Just like plantbug, I would say "send them to me!" and I'll pay the shipping, but I am in Canada.

My opinion is that if you are looking at some ugly plants, have tried almost everything you can and they continue to look ugly, then I would get rid of them. Doesn't it make you sad to look at them? Isn't life just too short to (year after year) see that kind of ugly? Part of gardening is to learn what grows well for you and what it is that makes you happy. I have purchased hosta that are going to grow too big for my garden (if I am lucky). What I am going to do? I don't know. What I do know, is that they are bringing me joy now. As for the future, well I can dream. But there are no guarantees for the future. So I choose to find enjoyment in the present.

Ditto Ken and newhostalady's posts, when they are taking up valuable real estate and they don't make me happy anymore.

You gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em...
:-)
Deb

Yep, Babka, when your Snake Eyes hits the splitting size, please think of me. It will never go into TC, so the availability is limited. Sigh.....maybe one of the Striptease clan will produce another similar wide thong and..... I'd suggest naming it Victoria's Secret!

Thinking about Ann Kulpa being such a problem for BKay...It was that for me as well all of last year. Then this year it started out beautiful. Then after all the rain, I discovered the pot was holding the water. It wasn't draining properly. Not saying that cured all Ann Kulpa's ills. I think it is not cut out for high humidity climates even though it likes to get watered. Let's see what I find in my records, considering I don't have any 2012 pictures unless they were put on Flickr.

In May 2013 it was developing a twist in the leaf.

This is it in June . Not what I'd call a fast grower.

Several of mine got too much sun this year. Cleo had not quite lost her interest in hosta in the spring, so I put them anywhere I thought would discourage her. I'm going to repot Ann Kulpa before fall and see if that might solve some of her problems. I'm also going to keep her in shade next year. I need to find a way to shade her and Frances Williams in the spring until the pecan trees leaf out, which is usually May. I may try some of Mocc's umbrellas.

Next year is my last year for Frances Williams if she still looks as ugly as she has in the past. She's been totally shaded except those early spring months. I"m going to try one more season with Blue Angel, too. I'm going to totally wash the soil out in early February, before it starts to pip and give it a bleach bath. If that doesn't get rid of the anthracnose, then I quit. It just gets too ugly (it's the only one with it.)

bk