Thought I would start a thread on this since it seems like we all do it. Here in zone 5a, from the approximately 135 different kinds of hostas I have in my yard I'm still waiting for:

Dragon's Eye (new in 2009)
Thunderbolt (new in 2009)
Foxfire Shadowdancer (new in 2009)
Bunchoko (new in 2009)
Mountain Mist (I think this one died last summer, I stepped on it about three times)
Earth Angel (was late coming up in 2009)

I think my winner for biggest multiplier over winter will be Arctic Blast, went from one puny new eye in 2009 to it looks like at least 6 eyes this year! There are some I just have not looked for yet, so I don't have them in the list above.

Who else is doing the kneel and feel? What is it that you are still waiting for?

I've only done it on the ones I have in pots that I hadn't planted yet last fall.... Soon, I'll be out in the rest of the gardens doing the kneel and feel...

I found 'Foxfire Shadowdancer' today! That one is OS so I would have been really sad if I had lost it. Phew...I didn't look for any others.

Mine are coming up so fast it's hardly worth doing the kneel and feel. But I will go around in about a week with a check list and then I guess I'll be doing some "k & f".

We had a hard frost last night, it got down to 29 degrees for several hours. Hubby and I spent two hours yesterday afternoon trying to cover everyone with empty pots and sheets. A few hostas did appear to get nipped anyway - those that had only a plastic pot overturned and were in low areas.

I manged to step on 'Purple Haze' and 'Sea Fire' but it looks like they will be okay. PH took it worst, I stomped both eyes, whereas SF I just stepped on one of the three eyes. Thankfully there are still about a dozen that are not up yet and another dozen that were just barely breaking through the soil - I just piled mulch on those. The Japanese Maple I have in front of the house was nipped hard.

I'm not going to even look... nope, nothing I can do about it anyway....

Diann, I need your attitude. I'm just heartsick. At one point Andy had to (gently) yell at me to get moving because all I could do was stand in the middle of my pips and stare at them. Maybe I was trying to convince them to go back in the ground, I don't know. I wasn't in a great state of mind. The last owner of our house left about a hundred (or two) spare pots under the deck, Andy crawled under there to pull them out.

The pips that had a sheet and the pot covering them seemed to fare okay, I did find frost on some of those with only a plastic pot and the plastic sheeting didn't do squat to protect the Japanese Maple. I focused my efforts on my favorites and those seem to be okay. Only time will tell though

Well, we just got home from LA last night - when we left here it was 80 - today it's SNOWING. But here's something that may help - Oscar Cross (Hilltop Farms) says "fortunately, hostas have a 'reset button'". Just give them time and even if they've gotten frostbit, they'll send up a new flush of leaves and you can remove the damage. Ta daaaa

Ok, I went out this afternoon (Yes, Elizabeth, I skipped out on work this afternoon) and all mine were just fine. Not a scorch at all. I was more worried about my lilies. My Triumphator is up about six inches or so... I was just waiting to find it mush, but it's fine too. All the peony are happy. Everything is good.

However, I do think I lost a bunch of hosta I had stored in the machine shed for the winter. They aren't doing much of anything... Oh well.. They can be replaced.

Kathy, isn't it a bummer to leave when everything is beautiful and warm and then to have to come home and have it be rotten and cold.. ARGH!!! I hate that! However, the good thing is that we're not in for six more months of snow and cold.. I hope.
(Does not apply April blizzards in Iowa.)

Diann

I have been going out every day and doing the kneel and feel in my hosta beds... There aren't very many that have emerged yet. I can see little tiny greenies though, as I push back the mulch to search. I do this every year, and fuss around about it, but they always come up in their own good time. I have to remind myself that it is still early days, and not to worry... I get so impatient They just seem to know when it's time to start up each year.

We have quite a few coming up already especially in the #1 bed which is well protected. There are also several pips coming up in the pergola bed. Quite a few of last year's seedlings are showing a lot of growth. One we had planted in a hypertufa container has 4 or 5 eyes and a Double D Cup seedling from last year is coming up with 3 pips so far. We also discovered that several seeds have sprouted in the area around Ginsu Knife and Ice Age Trail that will be fun to watch.

Gary

I found everyone in my original list except 'Mountain Mist' - I'm also still missing 'Athene' and 'Clifford's Comet'. I dug down and think I found 'Athene' - is it in a spot a few feet from where I planted a hosta that "disappeared" over the 2008-2009 winter. However, if it doesn't come back, I'm not going to plant anything near that spot again.

I actually think all the hostas made it through that hard frost last week, which makes me very happy!

There are some that don't come up til the end of May - I wouldn't mess with the ones you can't see yet. Be patient.

Ah yes, Grasshopper, listen to the wise one, O'Colette! She is usually 99 44/100 correct. Really, I don't mind if all mine don't show up till a bit later. I'm really worried that we'll get a cold snap and then I'll have some really rough looking hosta for the rest of the year. *sigh*

Is 'Mountain Mist' in the Montana family? ('Mountain Snow' is as is 'On Stage') They are very late to emerge.

I found where I planted one seedling I had in a pot last year. It's not showing yet, but there's still time. I'm more worried about 'Lakeside Mom' and 'Stealth' because there's nothing showing AND the markers are missing.

Anyway, I'm heading out of town tomorrow until Sunday. Will not likely be getting to Cubits at all and the hostas will do their own things w/o me.

Ann

Ann, 'Mountain Mist' is a sport of 'Allegan Fog' very similar to 'London Fog.'

My 'Lakeside Mom' is about 2" up and multiplied from 1 to 3 eyes. This was its first winter for me. 'Stealth' also multiplied, though it is in its third year in my garden. I think I may need to dig 'Stealth' up this year and take out the solid divisions, last year it had two.

Do you think someone may have taken them, since the markers are also missing?

Colette, I cannot help messing with things!!!!

I am always amazed at how many markers get heaved out of the ground over the winter. It may be they came completely up and you raked them up? Or shoveled them aside? I also ended up with some completely underground due to moles making their paths close to some plants. don't give up yet.

The snow and deer usually wreak havoc with my markers.... That and if I decide to burn off a bed and forget to remove them first. Usually, that only happens once every 10 years or so. It takes me that long to forget why I think burning off beds is such a grand idea... LOL

Elizabeth, I have to wonder about the possibility of those plants having been plant-napped. Especially 'Lakeside Mom' as I'm pretty sure it had a marker. Stealth, I'm not sure about whether it ever got marked. It was originally sent to me as LM but the nursery owner said she thought she had made a mistake. She later identified it as Stealth when she visited my garden to approve it for the Ontario Hosta Society bus tour in June.

Anyway, I won't worry about it until I return from Vancouver.

Ann

Here's a trick we learned (the hard way, of course) - that is to take the label that comes with the hosta and plant it in the hole ..... then if the deer or critters or rake get the above-ground marker, you still have a prayer of ID-ing the plant. Of course, if it was plant-napped...