Price Reduced Hostas - Two Questions

I was at WalMart yesterday and found hostas reduced. They were stocked in direct sun and some of the leaves in each 3" pot are starting to turn yellowish and brown. I bought a small plant because the leaves from the bigger ones had protected it. It looks like it has 4 sections. Can I divide it before planting?

I was thinking about getting more, because I'm sure the price will be reduced again. How can I determine among the brown/yellowing leaves which would be the best hosta to buy or am I wasting my time and money? Thanks for all your help!

Carol

Carol, hostas are pretty forgiving if you catch them soon enough, and get them into decent soil, plenty of moisture, and some shade.

I don't know if I'd recommend dividing a plant in a 3" pot, especially if it's been stressed. Next spring, you should get plenty of new growth, and hostas are among the easiest plants to divide - just cut off a section and plant it somewhere else.

On any additional purchases, I'd look for those that have the highest proportion of still supple (i.e., not crispy) leaves.

Hi Carol,
I agree with not dividing them this soon in their present condition, however, they are quite strong in growing back to full condition. Right before we bought this property, the former owners had a shed torn down prior to settlement. Hostas, and poison ivy, were growing around the shed but were now in full sunlight since the shed was now gone. Once we got in here, I thought the hostas were dead, since they were scorched by the sun, dried up, and many were uprooted (the poison ivy was in its glory). I removed all the plants/pieces/roots I could find and put them in better/amended soil in the shaded areas and kept them well watered and mulched for the approaching winter. The following spring, they came back in all of their glory and I have just divided them this year. They are pretty strong plants with a little care and I enjoy looking at my "saved" garden additions, growing peacefully with the Home Depot rescues, as well..lol.
Trish

We're new to Dave's Garden. My wife and I are ardent gardeners.

We are blessed with a 7-acre garden/park with a beautiful creek running through it. We've only owned it for 1 1/2 years and been able to spend weekends here until now.

Now, we are in the process of "downsizing" because of all the unbelievable pressures and changes in Silicon Valley. And we're probably one of the few computer nerd couples who are happy about it.

Our daily wildlife population at PineHill Farms in the Sierra Foothills includes:
Deer, wild turkey, "Jimmy" a domestic white goose who follows Judy around everywhere, Mallards, Wood Ducks, Quail, Dove, Humming Birds, and a ton of butterflies, plus the trout in our small pond which we see jumping each evening for waterbus and other juicy morsels, as well as frogs and crickets edging in for their evening sound bites. Then there are our 3 cats, "Sugar, Chiquita and Toughy." In addition, our friend Bert is a part of our life. And so is Missy, his Queenland mutt, but the love of our lives. And I guess we shouldn't leave out the Blue Jays and Robins. Squirrel, fox, wildcat, beaver are infrequent visitors. Even bear and mountain lions are known to visit our terrain.

It's hard to believe so many animals, critters and fowl (water and otherwise) can happily cohabitat.

Now to the real issue, Hostas.

I was led to believe that deer and Hostas were "incompatible". So when Judy bought three of them last fall at the end of the season, I didn't expect much, win or loose.

The Hostas died down over the winter and I forgot about them.

So true to form, Judy then went out and bought a new six-pack to try again.

Well, now we have NINE healthy Hostas living in a deer-infested area. Yeah, surrounded by rhododendron, native ferns, etc.

Are we just naïve newcomers and we'll get our comuppings just around the corner?
Or is there a magical combination when these many forces bring about serendipity.

Judy and I look forward to being contributing members of "Dave's Garden". Thank you in advance for you thoughts and input. We know we'll need it.

John & Judy Bynum
jbynum@starband.net

Hi John and Judy
Your place sounds great!! Welcome to Daves, very friendly place here.
Carol. I was just telling my friend that hostas grow better than most weeds and I cant beleive how expensive they are. All you need is a plant or two and in 3 years you can cover your front lawn with them. I dug some up 2 years ago and never finished the job moving them and they just kept going about their merry way and are now growing like mad- on top of the ground. Actually if you dont like them then I think they can become a pain in the butt. When I moved into my house there were a few here and there (poorly placed) so I moved them and still (after 3 years) I find them growning because I must have missed a peice. But they work for me due to my abundance shade.
Hope this helps.
And again welcome to Daves John and Judy!!
Janice

carol,
as a new gardener last spring, the only thing i had in my new homes garden were hostas. well i thought i would divide them as i was cleaning up the grass that had grown around them. i took individual little leaves, put one or two together and planted them in another location, shade. they sort of just hung around last year and did grow a little, i figured that i would be lucky if they came through the winter. well.......they are coming up big and gorgeous. :-) i figure now, they were making those strong rhizomes that they grow and nurture themselves from under the ground last year. god was doing her work underground and out of sight, as she so often does. so plant them, nurture them and as others have said, they will flourish.

debi z

Thanks for the advice! I thought I'd need alot of hostas since I'm going to use them as a border for my garden path, but since I read your posts I see it is not necessary. Now I have extra money for other plants! Yippee! I need to learn how to curb my desire for instant gratification and this is a good start. Again, thanks for all your help!

John & Judy...Welcome to Dave's! I'm sure you will enjoy it here. By the way, your place sounds wonderful!

Carol

Hostas! Hostas! Hostas! Such glorious variety! Such sweet and charming dwarf varieties! I am particularly fond of the yellow and green varieties, the chartreuse, the blue ...

In fact, I've never met a Hosta I didn't like!

Soon soon soon I will post a pic of my Hosta bed in the photo section!

John & Judy,
Must be serendepity.... =) I have so much strange luck with birds,squirrels, and deer. I have what could be called a literal "smorgasbord" out back.Yet, I've had only minimal nibbling and most of that is from catapillars.( Of course, I appease the squirrels and birds with feeders )I hear the deer get their bellies filled from my next door neighbor's yard ! If only I could speak their language now..... hehe

I was living in a historical 4-family in St Louis. Instead of a back yard I had paved brick all over with some flower beds. Off to each side were rows of hostas. I didnt like the hostas at that time becuause they were huge, about 3 feet tall and clumped together so tightly they looked like hedges. The owner of the building had a gardener come in once a week for upkeep but they never cut anything back or did any dividing. Then the building was sold and the gardener stopped coming. I decided to redo the bed of hostas and widen the flower bed a bit so I dug up the plants and as I was pulling bricks up I noticed new hosta shoots growing under the bricks just as if they were above ground. They were coming up inbetween the bricks too. They were everywhere. Unfortunately, about the time I got them dug up and was about to distribute them to family, friends and the local community garden organization I got really sick and neglected them so They ended up in the compost bin. I know this is probably a horrifying story to you fellow plant lovers out there. Good news is I took a bunch of them over to a friend who planted some and gave some to her father who is a very avid gardener and just loves exchanging plants and finding starts in the woods where he lives so some of those hostas have lived on and I have no doubt have multiplied many times in the past few years. It is true like stated above... once you have hostas you will have them forever and many more. As I was digging up some lily of the valley I noticed they spread much like hostas. In fact, some of their main roots were even attached even though they did not appear to be of the same clump above the ground.