All the negative comments on the Hosta 'Great Expectations' had me worried. I purchased potted plants and planted them during the heat wave. I moved them 1 week after planting. Once the temperatures cooled down just a bit they are slowly pushing up new leaves and looking great at the moment.

These Hosta were purchased at Lowe's which had a large shipment brought in. My mind got to processing this... 'Great Expectations' could not be as troublesome to thrive as some folks make them out to be if they are appearing in large box stores.

I am no longer afraid now that I see them definitely improving. I'll see what happens next spring.

They are not difficult, they are slow to develop "mature" foliage. Just wait until you see how beautiful they will become!

hostasmore said:They are not difficult, they are slow to develop "mature" foliage. Just wait until you see how beautiful they will become!

Thank you Gary. Your words are very reassuring. I am so completely excited to see what it all looks like in 3 years.. In all my growing endeavors I give my plants very dedicated care and watch them day by day.

I have never lost 1 single fruit tree, evergreen tree, or perennial that I have ever planted. I usually don't plunge this quickly into a species so I must have developed some arrogance to do it.

As long as I have someone to turn to for advise I feel I can do this successfully.

@hostasmore

They are beautiful even now.

Found the culprit who is eating my Hosta.
I didn't know snakes ate Hosta.

Are you SURE the snake is eating the hosta? I would think it is more likely eating some of the pests that DO eat the hostas.

ViolaAnn said:Are you SURE the snake is eating the hosta? I would think it is more likely eating some of the pests that DO eat the hostas.

Maybe that's it! I never really thought about what snakes eat.

I think I just made a very real mistake. I was looking for a place to buy Hosta "Firn Line". I found it at "The Hosta Farm" on half price sale. I tried to call to verify the size of plants and left a message but got no response so I just ordered 2 and got an automatic email confirmation.

Later I could not find 'Firn Line' on their sight so called again and got message machine again. Instructions on the sight say to email them instead of call them so I shot them an email...




It looks like the email they give is invalid.

That worried me so I quickly looked them up on "Dave's Garden Watch Dog." I should have done that first.... 😕😕😕

One customer on Dave's Garden created this site.

http://thehostafarmbeware.wixs...

On the bright side it was a small order...
(I never impulsively gamble a massive order from 1 vendor.)
Looks like I am going to play the waiting game and see what happens. :Not feeling very hopeful at the moment but...

:

You never know... they might come through...

(Honestly I am surprised that I am not more upset.... It's more a feeling of... "Yep. Not all folks in the garden rhealm are good folks. Some are down right mean, selfish, bullish, dishonest, and hypocritical"...... as I have come to learn but that won't change the outcome or the success that I will eventually achieve or that I already have achieved in my own garden....🌺🌺🌺.)

***Those kind of folks just do it to themselves really... when they die everything they worked for dies with them.

Not saying this is how folks at the Hosta Farm are... they still have an opportunity to do things up rightly. Hopefully they will.

Bummer it is supposed to be a great plant.
I am really wishing this was NH Hosta at the moment.

On a brighter note today I drove past a Hosta garden that is getting a few hours of afternoon sun. I recognized several of the varieties I have purchased. They look at little scorched from the afternoon heat wave but thriving well...




I see Great Expectations, sum and substance, Avacado, and Liberty...




This looks like Liberty. It's good to see the varieties mature and thriving even in afternoon sunlight. My plants should do ok.

To date here is what I feel I did right.

1- I sought advice from professional Hosta growers on garden.org.

2- I researched each plant I bought.


What I did wrong:

1- I grew too confident and didn't check the watchdog list first.

Regarding The Hosta Farm ...

I have been buying from The Hosta Farm for the better part of a decade now, and with the exception of this season, I have no complaints. Orders were always shipped promptly and arrived in great condition.

The owners of The Hosta Farm are definitely going through some rough times. The winter of 2014-15, their business was almost totally wiped out because of heavy snow. It collapsed their greenhouses and the lost most of their stock. Back in February of this year, their daughter was diagnosed with cancer.

They are trying to rebuild. A few months ago, they had a 'fire sale' on hosta starters that were coming in with no place to put them. I placed a large order and received everything on schedule and in great condition.

I can confirm that their E-Mail address [email protected] is not working. However, their phone number, 1-888-418-3683, has working voice mail. They also have a toll-free FAX at 1-888-418-4732. If you have the ability to send a FAX, you might want to try that.

I left a message this morning prior to writing this inquiring about an order and also letting them know that the 'help' E-Mail wasn't working.

Try contacting them using either the voice or FAX numbers.

Now that cooler weather is starting to return, they will start shipping again. The order I placed back in June arrived just as the weather was really starting to heat up. But, the plants arrived in excellent condition, were well packed and well hydrated.

RickM said:Regarding The Hosta Farm ...

I have been buying from The Hosta Farm for the better part of a decade now, and with the exception of this season, I have no complaints. Orders were always shipped promptly and arrived in great condition.

The owners of The Hosta Farm are definitely going through some rough times. The winter of 2014-15, their business was almost totally wiped out because of heavy snow. It collapsed their greenhouses and the lost most of their stock. Back in February of this year, their daughter was diagnosed with cancer.

They are trying to rebuild. A few months ago, they had a 'fire sale' on hosta starters that were coming in with no place to put them. I placed a large order and received everything on schedule and in great condition.

I can confirm that their E-Mail address [email protected] is not working. However, their phone number, 1-888-418-3683, has working voice mail. They also have a toll-free FAX at 1-888-418-4732. If you have the ability to send a FAX, you might want to try that.

I left a message this morning prior to writing this inquiring about an order and also letting them know that the 'help' E-Mail wasn't working.

Try contacting them using either the voice or FAX numbers.

Now that cooler weather is starting to return, they will start shipping again. The order I placed back in June arrived just as the weather was really starting to heat up. But, the plants arrived in excellent condition, were well packed and well hydrated.

You have lifted my spirits again @RickM
After your wonderful post I am no longer afraid. I'll just wait.... if they come a little late I will just grow them indoors until spring. My plants are not an emergency, Taking care of their daughter is an emergency and definitely comes first. 🌺🌺😊😊

One of my 'Great Expectations' Hosta does not look like the others. This is what all of my G.E. Look like....





But this other one is different. It has much more green in the leaves and the leaves are rounded. I think it may be another variety mislabeled,

Could be. But you might want to wait until next season to see what it looks like then.

@ViolaAnn




Dry spots suddenly appeared on one leaf of my Earth Angel. Is this a bad thing?

Any of you Hosta pros recognize this?

Leaning towards botrytis blight

crawgarden said:Leaning towards botrytis blight

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/m...


Managing and controlling botrytis blight on Hosta. Looks like I need to pluck the spotted leaves and then spray this plant.

Do any of you Hosta pros have a different special method of curing this fungus?

Does this look familiar to anyone?
Is this severe scorch?