While wandering round the garden looking for flowers for Six on Saturday posts, I noticed how well the hostas were doing, so thought they could have a different post all to themselves. Despite the drought last summer when they retreated underground earlier than usual and in spite of some of them being flooded for most of the winter, they seem to have done remarkably well!
The bog garden has been formed where there is an underground stream and for the past 7 yrs or so, has been flooding each winter. Last summer during the drought I had thought that everything was still ok and hadn’t realised that the border wasn’t as damp as usual until lots of my candelabra primulas didn’t appear in the spring. I had thought that they were just shutting down early like the hostas and hadn’t realised that they were dying! It then dawned on me that things must have been a lot drier than usual, but the hostas have coped with it all. In future, if we have a drought, for the sake of my primulas, I must water the bog garden!
If anything, the hostas are bigger and better than usual! They have now had plenty of rain this summer and are looking very happy. Most of the hostas that I have come equipped with big thick leaves that S&S don’t like.
Most of their names have been lost in the mist of time, but now that I’m 80 I don’t worry any more! This one though is Sum and Substance, a huge one which is resistant to slugs and snails. Yes, I know there are holes, but not caused by the slimy creatures, caused by hailstones in May when the new leaves had just unfurled! I was reading an article by Alan Titchmarch the other day and he was saying that he had the same problem.
Another huge one, Snowden this time. Usually looking more blue than here, but I think all the rain we have been having lately has washed its protecting coat away.
I think this is Hosta Halcyon or it might be Krossa Regal, at the drier end of the bog garden, still doing well with less moisture than the others.
In spite of less moisture in the soil, it has produced an amazing flower spike, as tall as me, 5ft 6ins!
Moving round to the back garden now, this space appeared when a conifer died and was removed. Hosta sieboldiana used to be by the front door in a border with lots of other plants, too many really and ended up rather squashed. Every year when it was there, it ended up looking like lace curtains by the beginning of July, it had so much slug damage. It was brought through to the back garden and it natually split into 3 all by itself. It is large anyway, in fact huge and now spreads across 5ft and since being moved, hardly any holes!
I know I’ve shown this one a few times, but it is lovely and worth showing again.This is Hosta Sagae which reminds me of a lovely holiday we had in Canada 20 yrs ago, at the side of Lac Sagay, differnt spelling, but it brings back happy memories.
The last one in the back border is under my Acer Osakazuki and all the detritus from above gets caught in the leaves, I can’t be coming out to wash them each day! In spite of this, it shines out of the border.
Across the lawn now to the rockery by the house where there are 2 hostas, this is June and she has done ever so well, increasing so much that I think I will have to split her next spring and plant the extra somewhere else. June was moved three times before she looked really happy, to start with I had it in too much shade, then to little, but now half and half and she is happy.
My last one for this post is also on the rockery, a bit further along from June, looking a bit untidy I’m afraid. This is I think Hadspen Blue, but I have neglected clearing everything out from round it, ground cover is taking over, but it will have to go!
People ask what I do to get rid of the slugs and snails as I don’t have many holes, my answer is clear everything out from around them and let the birds and hedgehog root around and they will eat any slimy things that they find. I have also read recently that by clearing everything away, you are also clearing away masses of slug and snail eggs which would then feed on your hostas, I don’t even put a mulch round them in case they hide in that. It seems that I have been doing the right thing but for slightly the wrong reason, the result though is the same, not many holes in the hosta leaves!
I will soon have a new area with lots of hostas, up at the top, my new area which was the old fruit and veg area. I will be planting it up this autumn so hopefully by next year I will have the new area to show you, with lots more new hostas! Happy Gardening!
A lovely display of hostas Pauline. They really do seem to cope under all sorts of conditions. June is one of my favourites and she has spread very nicely (with a little help from me) in the soil between two rotting tree trunks. Sorry to hear that you have lost some candelabra primulas due to the prolonged dry spell.
Thanks Denise, I am so pleased with them this year. June is such a lovely hosta, no wonder she is so popular. I think I had just better grow more of the varieties of primula that can cope with drought and flood, rather than the others that will suffer.
A lovely hosta, ‘June’ is a great favourite of mine. My hostas used to get ruined every year, but in this garden I have had no damage at all, which has amazed me, I don’t seem to have any slugs and snails. I’m sure that with so many new plants they’ll all move in next year. But that is a novel idea to remove all the mulch; it makes sense to remove their hiding places.
Lucky you Liz, not having any slug damage so far, hope it stays that way! As soon as I read about removing all the autumn leaves and mulch, I thought it made such good sense. I had always just cleared the front of the border to stop the birds tossing the leaves onto the lawn and left the rest to rot down in situ, but not next to the hostas! Obviously I need to clear them all away to my leaf mould pile in the woodland in future!
What a beautiful selection of healthy hostas. Wow, that flower spike sure is something. Looking forward to seeing the new area.xxx
Thanks Dina! The flower spike was massive, flowers didn’t last long though. More work is being done on the new area this week, soon I’ll be able to think about replanting!x
What wonderfully pristine hostas – the holy grail of gardeners it seems! Earlier in the year I tried to focus keeping mine well-watered, following the advice that a well-looked-after hosta will be less attractive to molluscs but then Covid got in the way and the routine was lost. I had been planning a garlic wash too, but that didn’t happen for the same reason
I would think that watering the hostas would make the leaves extra juicy and more attractive to the slimy creatures!