Last autumn I made an effort to pay attention to my Hostas. I wanted to see which ones still looked good after some chilly weather and which ones faded early. That's something I did not pay much attention to in the past, but this year it hit home.
My garden has a lot of Hostas, as do many midwestern gardens. I've always considered them an attractive, low maintenance plant. But I am beginning to think I've been blind to how much work they really entail.
When they first emerge, I always put grit around them as a slug preventative. It's quite effective but it also means a trip to a stone yard, filling multiple buckets with grit, getting that back home and storing it somewhere dry and accessible. (Mid-May photo above)
Then I start schlepping as heavy a bucket around the garden as I can carry, spreading the grit around each and every emerging Hosta. So I've done all that work and the plants are only up enough for me to see exactly where and how much grit I need to put down. (Mid-July photos above and below)
Neither Mark nor I are big fans of most Hosta flowers, so I tend to cut off the flower stems rather than let them bloom. There is no quick and easy way to trim the flower stems. It feels like an endless job given the number of plants I have and the varied bloom times. You might suggest I give up this crazy behavior, but I know I am not going to change.
Here's the Tea House slope on October 26th (directly above and the two below). The brown foliage is dying Hosta leaves. But get a look at H. 'Touch of Class' (center below). That variety still thinks it's summer. Clearly one to remember and worth dividing and spreading.
But this is where it gets confusing. H. 'Spritzer,' next to the Tea House is mostly brown while the clump at the foot of the slope is still quite green. That means that I am cutting back dying Hosta foliage for much of the autumn as each variety finally dies for the season — another time-consuming Hosta chore.
Here are the Hostas pictured in the top image, showing how they look on Oct. 18th (below).
Some are perfect, some are fading and one has given up the ghost. This group of Hosta are right out at the street and take a beating from snow, sand and salt. Winter doesn't bother them. But the sun and sandy dryness do. I think they should go, but I haven't figured out what other plants could take the winter and provide the dramatic foliage that Hostas do.
There are a number of Hostas I will probably pass on to gardening friends in the coming season. Among the ones that will definitely stay are 'Guacamole', 'Sagae', 'Inniswood', 'Whirlwind' and 'Touch of Class.' Though I have a lot of Hosta varieties, to say nothing of the total number of plants, I still think Hostas are on their way to becoming one plant that will be less prominent in my garden in the future.