'St. Paul' with 'Fair Maiden'...

Wow, is this variegated liriope getting big or what! 'Fortunei Aureomarginata' getting dwarfed in the background. : )

'Mister Watson' seems to enjoy sun and heat.

'Great Arrival' with a Japanese Painted Fern.

'Lakeside Roy El'...

'Spring Fling'...

Don, Fair Maiden is now on the list for my Green Mountain order...she never caught my eye until now. Yours is the "fairest" of them all! I'll do some reading on Mr Watson, too, as I've been drawn to textured golds and blues lately.

This post was edited by jadie88 on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 20:05

'June' still flowering...

I love it too, Jadie...You should see PaulInMinn's 'Fair Maiden', it's much better than mine yet!

Here's another shot...

EDIT: Yes, DO get it, Jadie. You will not regret it. 'Fair Maiden' was one of the nicest surprises for me this season. : )

P.S. Paul, do you still have a pic of your 'Fair Maiden' laying around anywhere, sir?

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 20:41

I have a few 'Guacamole'....This is the largest. I've had it the longest, as all my others were acquired this season. Got this one last year...

'Christmas Tree'...

'Whirlwind'...

'Inniswood'...

Newer arrival to the garden; 'Spilt Milk'...

'Sieboldiana'...

'Green Gold'...

'Fried Bananas'...

'Cathedral Windows' (sorry, out of focus)...The contrast of the green and gold is MUCH more pronounced on my CW than on my 'Avocado' two seasons in a row now. Does anyone else notice that with your CW/Avocado plants, or is it just mine...?

'Dick Ward'...

...And finally, 'Guardian Angel'.

Thanks for looking!

Don B.

You have some beautiful hosta! How many do you have now? Seems you post pic after pic of ones we haven't seen!

Well thank you, Hostahosta. I have a few that I didn't think were photo-worthy right away when I got them (And maybe some I posted STILL aren't, but what the heck), so there are at least a couple in this thread that I haven't shown pics of before.

Not sure of the exact count, but it's right around 170-175 different varieties. Maybe I'll throw a party next spring, if/when I hit 200...

Cheers,
Don B.

Mojito, Cerveza, Emerald Charger, Quesadilla...to name just a few...I am sure you could hit 200 yet this year. ;)

btw, your Hostas always look great!

Ha Ha thanks, SmithStudios, and very good enabling, too! I've got 'Mojito' and 'Cerveza', but of course I DO need 'Emerald Charger' and 'Quesadilla'...and 'Mariachi' too...and 'Paradise Sunshine', 'Moonlight Sonata'...so many hosta, and you only live once, eh?

'El Capitan', 'Clear Fork River Valley', 'Old Faithful', 'Geisha'...'Manhattan'...Oh boy...

Don B.

I do what I can!

I can't stop buying them either. I started this season with about 12 varieties and am now up to 50+ named and another dozen NOIDs and have a major case of Hosta Fever and an insatiable thirst for the fragrant family.

I picked up Krossa Regal, Winter Snow, Olive Branch and Shirley Vaughn from Northern Tropics when I took the kids and my Grandfather there today. He bought Camelot, Striptease and a Dwarf Red Banana tree there. All of hers are 1/2 price and come from T & Z. I also picked up another Whirlwind for $3.00 from the same place I got 3 Seducer last week for $9.50. There is an Amish greenhouse no more than 6 miles from me and he gets his from Walters and said he would make me a good deal on Hostas next year if I come get them bare root before he puts them in pots. He had me pick some out because he never knows which ones to get.

Talk about enabling!

Don - your soil looks SO rocky! Dick Ward in all rocks? Is that just a mulch or is it throughout the soil? All your specimens are lovely and healthy looking - they must like it. Guess it helps with drainage too. Good job!

It's very nice to know that you have at least a couple of local retailers who get their hostas from wholesalers who make great efforts to grow/sell clean plants. LOL I'd be buying 'em all up as well.

Just looked up 'Shirley Vaughn' as I hadn't seen it before. Nice-looking white margined hosta. I'd buy it.

Cheers,
Don B.

Thanks for posting. Looking good in Colorado!

Hostanista, not nearly as rocky as it used to be. I spent hours and hours and hours last season getting rid of as much of those d*mn things as I could! It's mostly scattered remnants in the beds by comparison now; A lot of good, amended media has replaced the rocks...LOL I set out to amend this area last year, and also to get rid of as many river pebbles as I could. There wasn't anything growing there except a few low bushes and the pine trees. The former owner had a couple inches of rocks above the clay, but what almost killed me was, between 6 and 8 inches below the clay, HE PUT THICK BLACK 'LANDSCAPE' PLASTIC THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE AREA OF THE PINE TREE BED!! Whaaat? Why??? I mean, the whole area of several hundred square feet. When I discovered that stuff, and realized how bad it was, I literally threw my shovel against the fence, removed myself from the backyard, and spent the day contemplating whether it was worth the effort to correctly amend these beds. Of course, it WAS worth it, but anyway, that's why you still see so many d*mned rocks (some places more than others) in a lot of the bed areas. I just had to finally accept that I'd never be able to get rid of all of them, and this is what's left. I still from time to time fill up 5-gallon buckets of pebbles that I pick out from the beds, just because I hate them, but it's like trying to empty the ocean.

The pine needles mask many of the pebbles pretty well. So, I determined that I'd removed enough and amended it OK by how well the hostas and ferns are growing there now. : )

Ohhh, how I hate rocks used as mulch! Hope you didn't fall asleep reading my response, Hostanista! LOL

Cheers,
Don B.

Was noticing the rocks too, Don. Those remaining in your beds are tiny, I wonder how large the ones were you removed? My DH spent almost 50 years removing "glacial junk" from his yard in MA so he could have a veggie garden....and he wound up with rock walls everywhere. Not a rock anywhere down here, but we have tons of roots where no plant is anywhere close.

Love the hosta you brought to Show & Tell today. What an amazing garden you will put to bed in a couple of months. I'm pleased to see they are not burned or chewed upon.
Mine are beginning to look exhausted from the long hot summer, and all the rain. It stormed today, so I did not go outside at all. No pictures. Thankfully, I already repotted the ones with drainage problems before two days of about 4-5 inches of rain hit us.

My shredded cypress mulch reminds me of the midway at the county fair, not as bad as sawdust, but shredded and quiet to walk upon. Rocks would be the pits!

Let's see if I have a picture of my liriope which is the giant wide bladed variety, not variegated.

Don you have a great green thumb.seems to me you just planted these mostly this year ?. They have grown so quickly so you must be doing everything right! Love the variegated leniope and never knew the name. It grows really fast if this picture is the same?. I managed to get a few pieces divided off when my daughter showed an interest in hosta and flowerbeds for their yard. She did great , got them all planted and mulched so as long as she remembers they need water they will live. Hoping the hosta can handle her as I gave her all my double and would hate to see them die
Thanks for the update . very lovely plants
Faye

since u asked 4 a comparison, Don, here's cw here:

and one of our avocados, same lighting conditions same dirt:

thanks for all the pictures of your garden

Thanks, everyone for the nice things said. I'm looking forward to next year already, in a big way.

Mocc, I'm afraid the rocks I removed from the beds are of comparable size to the remnants left in my hosta beds. Some were slightly bigger. I won't be building any walls with those little worthless things. Your gardens look great! Have you ever heard of your variety of liriope referred to as 'Big Blue'? Just wondering if it's the same kind I've seen here.

Faye, that sure looks like the same liriope I have; LOL yes, it grows superfast when it gets established! I was very surprised...I got the majority of my hosta this year, about 2/3 of them. I'm happy with their growth, too, but I have to give most of the credit to the people who sold them to me. Next couple of seasons I can begin to take most of the credit/blame for how they do, I guess... : )

HH, thanks for posting your CW and 'Avocado' for comparison. Looks like maybe the stronger variegation goes with CW as a general trait maybe, as opposed to just my plants. It's funny, I planted them side-by-side so I'd condition myself to recognize the 'subtle' differences in color and variegation. Looks like the differences aren't THAT subtle (to my eyes, anyway). Now, I'll take a current pic of 'Holy Mole' tonight and compare that one, too.

Thanks, everyone.
Don B.

did someone mention rocks? they grow wild around here...

LOL Here too, HH. They fall off The Rockies like dandruff! I've collected a bunch today. By the time I get home, my work truck will be getting about 4 MPG ha ha

Don B.

HH, you are so lucky having free rocks, they are sold here at $28 per 100 lbs. Your rock wall would to be worth several $1,000. here.
Don, sorry to hear about all that work you had to get rid of fabric and pebbels, but now your garden will be a beauty!
Bernd

Yessir, Bernd; It certainly was worth it, and it's in the past. Necessary unpleasantries that pay off.

Don B.