Why I Oughta...

I planted three Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas a little over two years ago .  And today, I still have those same three Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas.  You can see all three of them, planted in a row, in the photo at the top of this post.  I bought these based on a post that I read summarizing various cultivars of Hostas that described these as "One of the true giants".   I had visions of five-foot-spread hostas with giant, cupped, blue-green foliage.   Are they giant?  Not yet.  You can see that.   But, are the leaves large?  Yep.  I can see a future where they'd be 'giant'.   The change in two years is large.  Compare September 2021 (here) to the photo above.   Also, it appears - to my eye - that they're growing when I look back a year (Summer 2022) and count a similar number of lobes/leaves, but the ones come out of the center sure appear larger this season.  

Last Fall, I couldn't help but come home from Lowe's with these two white-centered hostas during their 50% off sale.  I mean...they are real standouts on the nursery bench and they basically sell themselves.   I planted them in October of 2022 amongst some other hostas - like Guacamole .   They're full of that crinkled hosta foliage this time of year.  And, the white centers really brighten up this part of the understory bed.   Below is what they look like after one growing season.  Are they ready to divide?  No.  Not yet.  Maybe next Fall they'll have put on enough size to warrant division.  For now, I'm just enjoying them and thinking about why anyone would want a plain-jane hosta when they can have something like this around?

This second post featuring a new (to me) plant (in this case...a hosta) from the Morton Arboretum 2023 Plant Sale:  An Island Breeze Hosta.  The sign from the sale is below - and this one came in at $16.95...which is more than I'd normally pay for a more-common hosta.  This one is unique and one of the kids liked it, so we bought just one.  My rule of buying more than one is easy to break with hostas - because I know that with a little bit of patience, I'll be able to divide them in a couple of growing seasons.   This is the child of the child of Fire Island Hosta.  According to Walters Garden, at least : First came ‘Fire Island’ which was followed by its variegated progeny ‘Paradise Island’. Now there is ‘Island Breeze’ which is the third member of this “tropical” family and a sport of ‘Paradise Island’. The improvements in this cultivar include more impressive variegation due to its wider margins, thicker leaf substance, and a strong growth rate. More impressive variegation,