Betsy,
First and foremost, WELCOME! You may not have a hosta club near you, but as you've already seen, the people here are quite knowledgeable and
friendly ! We're here to help any and all. Someone had suggested earlier that you could start a hosta club. It's not as big a task as you might think. There may well be many people close buy needing information, but with no one to talk to. If close enough, you all could meet every now and then to discuss what is/isn't working in your area. You can also start swapping plants! It's much cheaper than buying.
SpringGreenThumb said:The cool thing is that I checked the pots and each pot had 3 or 4 divisions in them so I carefully chose those pots with 4 divisions.
Now you're catching on.
I really try to avoid doing mail order during the hot season. As you've already experienced, if the order sits in a hot truck for several days, it can wreak havoc on the plants. I have ordered from NH Hosta, HostaDirect, Green Mountain Hosta, The Hosta Farm and a couple of others. I'm pretty much done with the commercial mail order though because of cost. Unless, of course, it's something that I absolutely must have !
Something that you might consider is to keep your new acquisitions in pots in a sheltered location until fall. Then plant them out where you want once the intense summer heat starts to fade. While the books say hosta grown in pots can be planted any time of year, I tend to avoid direct planting during the really hot weather. By keeping them in pots, I can keep them watered much easier. One way is to get a large pan 6-8 inches deep, place your pots in the pan and the fill it half-way with water. It's 'cheaper' in that you don't have to run the hose/sprinkler for a hour to get the water down an inch into the soil. You can also add a small amount of water soluble fertilizer to the pan to feed the plants.
In addition to the hundred or so hosta that are out 'on display', I also have a large 'back-up' area in a shaded part of the yard where I keep spare plants, plants that need a break, plants that I'm going to divide, etc.
If you would send me a tree mail with your address, I can send you some Hosta Lancifolia in the fall.
Hosta 'Lancifolia' I have mine in full sun in several locations in the yard. The Lancifolia spread at a moderate rate and can be thinned out every few years. A nice thing about them, is that the leaves spread and fill, giving a very full appearance. But, when you look at the shoots coming up in the spring, your first though is that you need more to get a full effect. You don't. The row in the bottom picture is about 7 years old and has been thinned twice. The top picture is 5 years old and has been thinned once. Also, the Lancifolia bloom a bit later than others. Mine are just starting to send up scapes.
Hosta Lancifolia in front of Tulips
Hosta Lancifolia in front, Hosta 'Orange Marmalade' in back
Hosta Lancifolia in front of Tulips
Hosta Lancifolia in front, Hosta 'Orange Marmalade' in back
