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harryshoe

Moving Not Buying

No, not real estate. Hosta. The fall tradition continues.

Most of you happily post about the hosta you are ordering for next spring. I don't think I'll be buying anything for the foreseeable future. I know I shouldn't complain, but there is something in my soil that makes hosta grow. Grow big. So, while you guys are ordering new plants, I'm moving overgrown, crowded plants.

Just finished adding a new front row to the bed below. Getting accustomed to a new home are: (left to right) Fragrant Blue, Paradise Expectations, Paradigm, Olive Bailey Langdon. Captain Kirk and Frances Williams. OBL and Captain Kirk were over 4' wide and bullying their neighbors. Frances got moved to the back because she has become increasingly tattered.

Comments (10)

  • bkay2000
    9 years ago

    Sounds as if we have similar Francis Williams'. Mine comes up tattered.

    How lucky your are to have a great environment for hosta. I'm jealous.

    bk

  • sandyslopes z5 n. UT
    9 years ago

    That looks like a nice new home for those hostas. Good idea to add a new row to the front of that bed. It looks like it's always been there.

    I can relate to what you're saying. Not that mine grow as fast or are as HUGE as yours... I always like seeing your pics, btw.... but I also have some big ones that need moving. My problem is that I don't know where I'm going to fit them in.

    It's hard to imagine when they're new and small that they'll be battling each other for space however many years down the road. I'm already thinking about what other perennials might get the boot to free up space for the hostas.

    It was more fun to add a bunch of new hostas every year. Now I have to be very picky about any new ones I might find. Kind of frustrating how successful they are, lol.

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    Sandy slopes, I share your last sentiments! Lol

    Harry, that looks so nice! Love the free form of the bed...lovely property. I do love dividing (to share with family) and moving hostas around too but mainly moving them. It really is a joy to see hostas mature to their full potential, then move other smaller ones away to highlight the size and shape of the mature one. I have a lot to look forward to next spring as quite a few are coming into their own!

    Got any more pics, Harry?

    Jo

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    This is the former home of Captain Kirk. It left a nice space for some garden art.

    The massive Bressingham Blue is in the rear. There's a pinched Gold Standard to the right of the statue which should be able to spread out next year. Another large OBL on the left is beginning to run over June and is a candidate for the next move.

    I also removed an overpowered Paradise Expectations and a large Cinnamon Fern which was crushed beneath the leaves of Bressingham Blue and OBL.

    It looked fine in the spring!

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    Thank you, Harry! :-). "It looked fine in the spring!" Lol. Boy, can I relate! As a matter of fact, I am 1000% thrilled with my spring garden, each spring. It is sooo like perfection just like yours is in that spring shot. Then, the hostas have the nerve to grow!!!! LOL. Too many crowded hostas of course in my garden but I have to choose which hosta is in DIRE need of more room then adjust space. Lots of work but completely satisfying, isn't it?

    I need a Gold Standard and will get one next spring if not this week...if it's still at the nursery. Yours appears quite large.

    Harry, approx. what are the ages of the hostas in the bed?

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Bressingham Blue, Captain Kirk and Gold Standard have been growing in this bed for at least five years. The rest a little less. The Captain has a lot of eyes. BB has fewer eyes but they do produce monstrous stove pipes in spring.
    I buy most of my hosta locally in pots. They are a lot bigger than the bare roots I have received. So, age is relative.

    Here's the same bed in late spring.

  • Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
    9 years ago

    Harry your hostas are beautiful!

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    That shot of hot pink is stunning among those soft hosta hues!

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks. It is really hard not to love any hosta garden in late spring.

    Another late spring view showing off a robust Halcyon.

  • User
    9 years ago

    Awesome, Harry! I love the garden shot with the multi trunked tree, and what appears to be azaleas stretching into the distance among the other greens in the background.

    When you say "pinched" Gold Standard, you are not referring to pinching as in to take, to lift, to purloin, or, I hesitate to include, to steal? a Gold Standard? It is one I like very much too. And your soil, it looks so fertile, your grass so nicely green and lush.

    When I first read "Moving Not Buying" I was afraid you were moving your residence, and going to rent but not buy, and I quickly clicked to see what was going on.

    Like you, I am not buying (much) in the coming year. Instead, I allow "survival of the fittest" to inform me of whither I must go from here. It is apparent which are thriving in my garden, and which are struggling. I seek not to punish the poor plants nor myself by subjecting them to torture. There is a balance of effort and enjoyment, work and pleasure, somewhere, and I hope to find that by next spring.

    Meanwhile, the demo part of the house remodel begins Monday. My DH is already saying, "I wish you had given me some WARNING." .....after waiting 2 years for this work!