These are my hostas in my garden and they are growing like weeds. You can tell they have been neglected. They should all start spiking late August. Thanks for looking!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/paphraguy/hos0.jpg
You can see my Paph kolopakingii at the bottom left hand corner.:D
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/paphraguy/hos2.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/paphraguy/hos3.jpg
This one is a GIANT hosta, my favorite!

Really pretty! WOW that kolo looks enormous! Do you let it get direct sun at all?

Really pretty! WOW that kolo looks enormous! Do you let it get direct sun at all?

Yes, it is huge with a LS of about 40 inches. It gets morning and late afternoon (somewhat shaded) direct sunlight, no direct afternoon hot sunlight.

so pretty plans

My mom loves hostas and she just planted a bunch of them...Pete your hostas are beautiful I have to show them to my mom...thnx

Love the foliage!
Great looking garden.
Thanks

Peter,

I love the second one (green)! Do you know what it is called!

thanks

Peter,

I love the second one (green)! Do you know what it is called!

thanks

Hi Peter,

Yes, I do and I just checked the label to make sure. It is Hosta fortunei 'Gold Standard' and I think I bought it from Walmart a few years ago.

Wow,

I will have to check out my Walmarts!

thanks

I love hostas, and have a couple dozen or so of them. Many are spiking now, and a few are in bloom already.

nice plants Peter, I also have a weak spot for Hosta I look for the largest I can find. I have a big Daddy that this year is finally showing some size. My wife has been kidding me for years on how small it is because I had told her it would be huge. I have some big Blue Angels but my Sum & Substance rules.

I have a bunch of hostas....I even have one that is flowering now

I used to not like these very much, but now I love them, particularly the really large leaved varieties. There are a few native species in these parts as well. A couple weeks ago I saw something very interesting: hostas growing as epiphytes and lithophytes on a mountain here. I never would have imagined that before going there, but that is what I saw!

I used to not like these very much, but now I love them, particularly the really large leaved varieties. There are a few native species in these parts as well. A couple weeks ago I saw something very interesting: hostas growing as epiphytes and lithophytes on a mountain here. I never would have imagined that before going there, but that is what I saw!

Thanks, that is quite interesting to know that they grow as epiphytes in nature, something I never knew! A few years ago, I didn't like Hostas because they are so common around here but that soon changed when I tried a few and now I love them, especially the giant ones, those are my favorite. In Maine, they are the last plants to spring up and the last to spike and bloom. The Bleeding Hearts and the Lilies of the Valley are always the first to pop up in the spring.

As a shade gardener, I don't know what I'd do without my hostas! It's getting harder to find ones that don't look like one I already have, but that's OK. Many are getting huge and can be divided to fill in any holes. As I'm fond of saying, you don't find many weeds under hostas, either :D Some day I'll post a pic of my current favorite, 'El Nino'

Hi Mark,

Yes, please do post pics of your Hostas, I would love to see them. Mine are now so big that I'm thinking of dividing them.

Hostas are great plants -- they seem to grow just about anywhere. I have some really wet spots beside my pond, and they are growing there nicely. I have some in spots that hardly ever get water besides the occasional rain, and the soil is very sandy & porous -- they grow there very well. Down by the river, there are some spots the seem to flood just about every year, sometimes staying under water for 2 weeks or so, and they come back every time so far. I have some where they get quite a lot of sun, but most are in shady or semi-shady spots. Several of my hostas that I let go to seed have babies all around them, so that means I can plant more hostas in places where I have room. Probably next to orchids, they are my favorite plant.

I have to agree with you Dot,They are an easy plant to get hooked on like orchids. You must keep your eyes open for new varieties.I have been blessed though because the deer have spared my Hosta I don't know why because the eat all my landscape trees (shrubs) we have way too many deer.Years ago when we first moved here we thought they were so nice to have around till we saw how much damage they can do.
Ray

For me, Hostas have always been the easiest plants to grow and they grow like weeds and sometimes I wish slippers grew as fast as the Hostas.:rolleyes:

I have to agree with you Dot,They are an easy plant to get hooked on like orchids. You must keep your eyes open for new varieties.I have been blessed though because the deer have spared my Hosta I don't know why because the eat all my landscape trees (shrubs) we have way too many deer.Years ago when we first moved here we thought they were so nice to have around till we saw how much damage they can do.
Ray

Some of my hostas gett nibbled by deer -- we have lots of them around -- but mostly they prefer some of my other plants. The hostas that get eaten are usually the lighter green ones, with smaller leaves, but not the really smaller plants.

We still enjoy seeing the deer, though I have been known to do some chasing. Right now, we have a mom, her yearling, and her two fawns hanging around. They like the apples from the tree next to our house. So sometimes I can photograph them from the window, up close. I've learned that it's a myth they only come out at dawn and dusk. They are seen in our yard during the day, the night, and anywhere in between, and during deer season!

I have over 100 different varieties of Hosta and many are blooming or spiking now. I have one, Lady Isabel Barnett that the largest leaf, is 1.5 x 2 feet and my smallest leaf Hosta has leaves a little bigger than my finger nail. I have been busy potting my Hosta collection up, they are moving with me. They are my favorite shape plant.

Hi Ron,

Do post photos of your Hostas when/if you can, I would love to see them especially the big ones. This morning I noticed one of Hostas has started to spike but couldn't take a picture because of the rain.

Peter here is a few shots of Hostas. A grouping of ones already potted, Lady Isabel and a couple of little ones as well as a big one that I am trying to get out in one piece. I put the chair in for perspective of size
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a206/Ron-NY/Personal/Hostas.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a206/Ron-NY/Personal/bg.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a206/Ron-NY/Personal/remove.jpg

Your Hostas are beautiful. I love the large ones and mine are also getting really big but not as big as yours yet. Here is a photo of mine in spike which I'm a bit surprised because they usually start spiking in late July or August. Thanks for posting, Ron!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/paphraguy/h7.jpg

Peter, that looks like Hosta Frosted Jade. Frosted Jade always blooms this time of the year. There are ones that bloom from now through September.

Thanks, Ron! I would have to try a mini Hosta one of these days, I think they are cute and pretty.

so pretty plans

Great Ron You'd be sorry if you didn't take them with you.Lady isabel looks fantastic.

Interesting, Ron. When we moved from the tiny lot in the city to where we are now, I brought with me all my hostas, lilies and astilbe. I just couldn't leave them behind.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/th_72980bf4.jpg (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/72980bf4.jpg)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/th_fdea2559.jpg (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/fdea2559.jpg)
This is called Big Daddy was slow getting there but looks like this year and after it will get much larger.click on Photo's

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/th_e3d5797c.jpg (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/e3d5797c.jpg)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/th_434b6e3a.jpg (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/fredbuster/434b6e3a.jpg)
These are two Sum & Substance's The larger was two plants when planted They have to be the largest I've been able to find.

Ray, your Hostas are beautiful and Big Daddy has really nice big leaves. Thanks for posting!

Gorgeous hostas! I always see tons of hostas when I visit the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago during the Summer. I take pictures of all the hostas and people think I'm a wierdo because I'm not photographing the animals!:rolleyes:

Gorgeous hostas! I always see tons of hostas when I visit the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago during the Summer. I take pictures of all the hostas and people think I'm a wierdo because I'm not photographing the animals!:rolleyes:

If they only knew about your orchids! :D

If they only knew about your orchids! :D

Isn't that the truth!!!! :p