I'll be of no help in setting any of this up.. i'm completely clueless just blindly wandering about.

I honestly dont have time to figure it all out... maybe next month.

Heh heh, you're not much different from the rest of us. We're all wandering aimlessly along.

Not much else to do until spring Diann

Yeah, no kidding.

Hi all from Nebraska.... Are you buried in snow like we are? I like all the hosta pics, I wish I had more to share. I'll be out with my camera soon

Hi Chickadee! Oh lord, yes, we're buried in snow in Iowa. but there is only 29 days till spring!! Yay!!! Can't wait till you're out with your camera shooting new pictures for us!

Diann

Diann, Well Duh, I guess you have snow...I noticed you're in Iowa. we're neighbors !

The snow here in Ottawa is virtually gone. It will be +11 and sunny today. I still wonder whether March will go out like a lion. Hope my hosta babies don't poke up too early.

Yeah, we're supposed to top 60 here today and on Thursday we could be even higher. Of course, this means April and May will be colder than the dickens... LOL

Snow is pretty much all gone in Iowa City. Andy and I got four truckloads of mulch from the landfill on Friday and Saturday - amazingly NONE of that went into hosta beds. That was just the rest of the yard.

We now have a little pond and fountain set up in front of the house, ready to be landscaped with hostas when they arrive in May. I found a fabulous granite millstone at Prairie Creek Nursery in Cedar Rapids two weekends ago. It looks really, really good in the small pond. Several people walking in front of the house complimented the look - one of the few benefits of living on a very busy street!

I removed a lot of the leaves and debris from last fall. I checked my hosta list of what I have and realized I raked away at least a few stakes. Hopefully I remember what is planted where.

I found the first SLUGS of the year when I pulled up a piece of landscape fabric on Saturday. Two biggies about 2 1/2" each!!! Squished...then I pulled up a ton of landscape fabric around the area where I found the slugs. I got a bit carried away and realized I probably should wait for plants to emerge so I don't stomp any crowns.

Hey - have Andy take a pic of one of those monsters, then one shriveled by using amonia or salt on him and write an article about getting rid of them for this cubit!

I looked all over and didn't find one little spiral :(. SO when should I expect them to start popping up?

I'm in zone 5, southeastern Nebraska. Our ground temps have not warmed up much yet. I barely have crocus or daffodils poking up! We just got rid of all the snow FINALLY!
I hope the Hosta "points" stay under ground a while yet. We haven't had any sun for 8 straight days, and that was only a couple of days... The sun is supposed to make an appearance maybe tomorrow, or Wednesday. Spring weather will be welcome here

Some will pop up in April, some in May, some even into June - depends on the hosta and its location as well.

I love watching all perennials come out of dormancy and back to life (and after this winter, a very welcome sight, for sure!) but the Hosta has got to be one of the coolest plants to see wake up. I love how those little tips emerge, and grow a bit every day, until one day they just unfurl themselves and spread out!

The hard part is clearing the dead stuff away without stepping on the pips.

That is so true! I work for a landscaping co. My boss is so anxious to get the mulching crews out. Just today, I preached at all of those careless men (sorry guys) and told them they MUST be careful not to crush and/or smother the newly emerging plants!!! As a Gardener, I think its still too early, but as a Landscaper, he wants to work now...I prefer to mulch around the plants, not over them!

I cleared away the dead stuff this past weekend. It was just too nice out and I thought I could work safely without fear of crushing emerging pips. I think I may have been wrong - though I was careful in the beds.

Yesterday I picked up a few dead leaves near 'Jack of Diamonds' and saw 4-5 pips about a quarter of an inch high! I was completely shocked. I'm happy to see them, but worried that this is way too early.

They will be fine... They are tough little guys.

I sure hope so. It's been so mild here I wouldn't be surprised to see some of mine poking up soon as well. But I still think we'll have some more snow at some point. Definitely keeping the snow tires on the car and the snow shovels out and ready for a few more weeks.