Horticulture: Vista la hosta

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Horticulture: Vista la hosta

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Hello friends, figured I'd find the plant thread somewhere. Here's what I did today:

Repotted a bunch of stuff, specifically my euphorbia trigona that needed a trimming and the other ones that really needed soil refreshes

Before:

After:

I have a seriously ridiculous amount of house plants, as well as some fairly decent gardens in my yard. I'll try to remember to keep sharing pics with y'all, I have a bunch more houseplants that I need to trim back / repot / take care of

# ¿ Aug 24, 2022 03:14

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 17:43

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

actionjackson posted:

my zz plant (which is a succulent I think) has been on my patio the last few months. at what point should I bring it back inside? is it based on hitting a certain temp, or just time of year? currently the low is bottoming out around 50 degrees

My houseplants spend the summer on my front porch, including a few ZZs. I usually bring in the bulk of them when temps start to hit 50 overnight. I've had them come in as early as last week of september, had some of them out there until NOVEMBER this past year

# ¿ Sep 12, 2022 15:34

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

BigFactory posted:

Will they be in front of the stumps? Eventually they fill in and make a good screen if you space them apart right.

To this point, you could also put some bushy perennials at the base of the arborvitae to help cover up the stumps if that works

# ¿ Sep 16, 2022 14:07

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Hostas ftw

here's my Empress Wu, they are a little more expensive than normal hostas but they take up SPACE

# ¿ Sep 17, 2022 15:07

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

Wow love the texture on the leaves !

I had just watered her, but this year she looks absolutely phenomenal. Empress Wu, I think we're on year 3 now!

# ¿ Sep 17, 2022 17:16

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Also, Costco is a surprisingly good resource for finding some rare variants of house plants. I got a chameleon and raven ZZ there over the summer, so fuckin happy to add them to my plant fam. Also got some sweet snake plants w/ a bunch of white variegation through them, they own bones

# ¿ Sep 21, 2022 18:56

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Ok Comboomer posted:

Usually not better than Home Depot/Lowes in my experience, especially if you�re talking about end of season sales and liquidations. I�ve seen/claimed some outrageously underpriced trees that way.

Costco return policy tho! 1 year no questions asked, including houseplants

edit - I say this because last time I returned a lilac to Home Depot, they insisted it was my fault and wasn't covered by the return policy

# ¿ Sep 22, 2022 15:43

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Guildenstern Mother posted:

Meet my new big titty goth gf

She's a raven zz

beaut. Couldn't be happier with my Raven ZZ!!! I just got a Chameleon too

# ¿ Oct 2, 2022 03:58

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

who's moved their plants indoors yet? I'm keeping mine in the garage overnight when its been dropping down to 45-50 but taking them out during the day. I'll probably keep doing that as long as temperatures stay above 60f during the day. I have growlights and all that but i just feel like my plants do better outside if possible.

the 'pros' i've talked to will move them indoors once its less than 60f at night but that's so early into fall, just not practical for me. I'm curius to hear from others

My plants must survive some tough conditions, so we tough it out until the high dips below 60F and the low dips below 40F. Most of them are on the porch and somewhat sheltered, and I take the more 'tropical' plants inside when it dips below 45F at night. This week is actually going to be the big push to get everybody inside and ready to go, I'll try to remember to post my 20 year old pothos that needs it's 4th or 5th trimming before she comes inside

# ¿ Oct 2, 2022 04:01

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

VelociBacon posted:

Hello again thread. I'm looking for a recommendation for an indoor houseplant and I'm pretty open to anything. Here's the space:

Basically I want a plant for the right side there. The plant on the left is one that I posted about a few pages ago in here that I'm hoping with all the light in the new place will start to pick up a little (and it needs a repot).

Here's the important details:

Has to be safe for my cat in terms of not being something that will make her sick if and when she bites it

I'm in Vancouver BC but it's basically zone 8a in the hardiness map. Guessing that doesn't matter much for indoor plants but thought I'd try to provide as much info as possible.

This room and indeed the condo is heated by a gas fireplace and I suspect is on the dryer side of normal. It's a very consistent temperature at least, around 24C all day and all night (75F)

I expect to have it on a plant stand but a large plant that can chill with it's pot right on the floor is fine also

Related to the above, looking for a plant that's around the same size as the one on the left

The light you see coming from the left side of that photo is from floor to ceiling windows facing NW. Lots of afternoon sun and generally lots of light all day long, the blinds are never shut

There are a ton of nurseries and such around here so I should be able to get pretty much anything that is feasible for this environment

I can't wallmount anything, that's drywall on concrete and the paintings are hung with 3M sticky strip things.

I don't mind getting a young plant that's currently small but will grow to fill that area within 3-5 years.

Thanks! Open to very unusual looking plants or really whatever people think might look nice there. If the scale isn't obvious in the photo, the plant on the left is currently standing around 6' tall, on a stand that makes up like 2-3' of that.

Can I recommend a snake plant potentially? Snake plants are toxic but only as irritants and wouldn't lead to any major health issues, plus snake plants foliage tends to be less appealing to animals in my experience. We have one cat who's a bonafide plant muncher and snake plants are one of the few plants he will straight up ignore. My other recommendation would be a Parlor Palm. It looks like it gets enough light there to be happy and should be able to regrow leaves quicker than the cat eats them.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2022 14:58

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

So after we brought the plants inside, I had one of my African milk trees decide to root rot and completely liquified in like 3 days time. I was able to save 5 pieces of growth before they got hit, thankfully. Here's a picture from yesterday when I repotted both of my big boys. The one on the right I inherited from a friend who's trying to thin out their plant collection

# ¿ Oct 25, 2022 15:01

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

VelociBacon posted:

Cool I'll check those out! You're right the Dracena is toxic, but this plant has been around her whole life and she's never expressed interest in it so I feel pretty safe.

Hmm I've had snake plants before and she ignored them also. I do like them, maybe that's the way to go. Snake plants are featured extremely heavily in the lobbies of my condo tower but that's alright.

I would personally take a trip to your local Costco to see if they have any neat colored snakes. I got some white-tinged variegated snake plants from them in the spring (when Russia invaded Ukraine, the two are named Lviv & Kyiv) that were fairly tall and have been extremely healthy since coming home.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2022 21:47

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

I'm obsessed with ZZ plants but I think Zenzi is my favorite. This little dude has been sprouting those new stems for like 6 months!!

edit - just realized he's probably overdue for a bath too. I'll put that on this week's list!

# ¿ Jan 3, 2023 21:30

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Hitchhiker in the second photo is undoubtedly a standard, run of the mill Zamioculcas zamiifolia aka ZZ plant. I would separate it into a container that has a tapered structure, as they grow this huge brain looking rhizome that will grow to match the size of the container. I've lost two planters to root bound ZZ's, that's the only reason I caution

Also, it looks like that ZZ has a second stalk growing up on the bottom left, so your hitchhiker is well established!

# ¿ Mar 6, 2023 19:25

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

dew worm posted:

I dont think the first one is either of those but do you think I could trim it?

So it's a completely different species? How the heck did that happen. Any recs on containers?

I am completely at a loss as to how, my guess is someone reused dirt and there was a rhizome in there? Who knows, free plant!!! Any planter that's about the same size as the current container, maybe a bit larger, will work. Drainage hole recommended, but if you find something you want to use that doesn't have a drainage hole, just be VERY stingy with the water. They generally like to dry out between waterings and, as you'll see when you repot it, the rhizome will collect and store A TON of water for drought times.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2023 19:46

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

dew worm posted:

So that sprout on the bottom left is also a ZZ? Is that all one plant or is it three diferent ones? I'm going to probably have to cut open the beer can.

Yeah, my guess is the ZZ is two stalks attached to one rhizome. Once the rhizome has enough energy, it sends out new stalks, then gathers more energy, then sends out more stalks. Mind you, this is a very very slow process, I have one miniature ZZ that is on month 9 of sprouting a new stalk lol But that looks to be just a standard ZZ, which can grow pretty quick in the right conditions (bright indirect light, humidity)

# ¿ Mar 6, 2023 20:03

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Guildenstern Mother posted:

Some absolute rear end in a top hat stole my goddamn hyacinths. Checked the doorbell cam, some chick came by at 11pm pulled up a daffodil bulb and all, then came back a min later and took two hyacinths. Had a huge plastic bag with her so I assume she hit a few houses on the block. What a complete psychopath.

In other news, some of my bare root plants are sprouting. I'd been getting worried since I've caught squirrels digging all over the area, but most of the roots seem to still be there when I've checked so I've decided to not worry about it too much. I have 2/4 hostas showing up, and at least 2/15 lily of the valleys (I didn't realize they were 5 to a bag). Does anyone have any vague idea when I should start seeing shoots come up from ferns, astilabe, clematis, or toad lily? I'm probably going to obsessively poke at them regardless, but it would be great to have a timeline for when I should assume they're dead or eaten. These were all planted about 3-4 weeks ago, and its been a wet warm spring so far with 2 near freezing days.

I was talking with one of my buddies who used to work landscaping about this and he said that there's a solid chunk of shady landscapers who will just go steal plants, then sell them to rich people they are doing the landscaping for because the rich people LOVE getting a good deal and not asking questions

# ¿ Apr 6, 2023 14:06

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Do y'all like hostas? I want somewhere to post about my hosta collection. I'm hoping to add a few new types this year.

# ¿ May 3, 2023 15:01

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

So we've got a bunch of different hostas that came with the house, normal green ones, ones with white trim on them, etc. I don't know if I'm keeping them, but a few self selected themselves out of existence so that's nice. Below are my two varieties that came back this year, there's a third I planted last year but I forgot where and I'm too lazy to peel through all of my end of season photos, so I'll post that one when I find it. But my goal is to get 2-5 new varieties in the yard and only weird/big ones. I'm planning two Blue Mammoth's on either side of the stairs up to my door, another curly Q one and at least one of the weird wavy ones. Don't ask me why but I really like hostas

Fire Island, doesn't get too big and hasn't grown out much yet but looking better than last year

My prize, my baby, my Empress Wu. This is her fourth year and she's approaching full grown size. I think I'll get at least one 24" leaf this year.
2 weeks ago

Today

I will keep you all abreast of my hostaventures

# ¿ May 3, 2023 17:19

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Hirayuki posted:

I'm not big on hostas, mostly because what I've seen planted is a lot of the same boring variety. We have some shady spots that might wind up with hosta, though, and your varieties are unique; where do you get them? (I think we both live in the same general area, and I don't mind a bit of a drive.)

Yeah, 99% sure we do. Telly's in Troy is my #1 spot for hostas, it's where I've bought both Empress Wu's I've had and they have grown into very happy, healthy plants. Fire Island was from Meijer, who occasionally has a few unique hostas. Northern Lights in Madison Heights is worth a look, as well as Schwartz's and Blocks downriver. Bordine's had a good selection too but I haven't been since the pandemic so I am not sure if that's still the case, but I have to imagine it is.

I'll share some of the varieties I come across as I start shopping for them, too. I think hostas are really cool due to the amount of different varieties, but the most basic (and frankly ugly) styles get overused A LOT

# ¿ May 3, 2023 20:18

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

silicone thrills posted:

Foraging groups have taught me that hostas are edible and apparently taste kind of like asperagus so im far less critical of them now. I used to just think they looked boring. Now i want to try hosta shoots but there aren't any i can nab easily.

I'm trying to figure out where I can keep a nice big clump of boring rear end green hostas to harvest for sprouts from every so often

# ¿ May 3, 2023 23:23

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

captkirk posted:

Once you have a hosta aren't your only options to either decide that you like them or move to a home that doesn't have them?

I mean, like most other perennials, they will slowly take over wherever they are if left unchecked. We need to split 3-4 different batches of hostas this year because they've outgrown where they are supposed to be.

Lakitu7 posted:

Hostas are just omnipresent in Southern Minnesota suburban landscaping to a point where it's pretty hard to get excited about them. Every house and business comes standard with a supply of hostas, daylilies, barberries, and a few hydrangeas. They may also have some arborvitae that are always bare below 5 ft because they are sacrificial deer food. Hostas are amazing in that they can survive our winters with basically no care, but they are very overused here.

I didn't like hostas until I discovered there's an entire world of weird varietals out there and they can be used A LOT differently than the "Upper Midwest Landscaping" tradition that you mentioned. But holy gently caress are you right, 2/3rds of the landscaping around here is just "hosta + daylillies + hydrangeas + ornamental grass"

# ¿ May 5, 2023 14:43

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Empress Wu-pdate: Holy poo poo she gonna be big

p.s. Hosta hunting starts today, I got approval for at least one hosta garden so I'm v excited to fill it with weird poo poo

# ¿ May 9, 2023 19:35

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Neeksy posted:

Well yeah you picked one of the largest cultivars that exists!

Oh I know but the past couple of years, Michigan's 2nd and 3rd winters stunted the growth. This year looks like we're getting 100% full growth with no issues!!! I'm excited.

And yeah I'm also about to buy 2 Blue Mammoth's because my s/o thinks they are "smaller than Empress"

I will let her think that until they are in the ground

# ¿ May 9, 2023 19:50

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Neeksy posted:

I quite like the fragrant hostas like Mojito or Guacamole, the scent is sweetly floral like a moonflower (ipomoea alba).

I'll take a look for those while I'm hosta hunting! Any other recommendations to keep an eye out for? Right now I mostly have weird looking ones, would love a few fragrant ones too.

# ¿ May 9, 2023 19:58

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Neeksy posted:

I got mine from here: https://www.nhhostas.com/

budget.txt except it's $4000 in hostas

# ¿ May 9, 2023 20:52

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Empress Wu-pdate

# ¿ May 17, 2023 16:35

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Hirayuki posted:

Yow! I hit up Telly's today and filled my big cart AND my wagon trunk AND backseat and STILL hadn't bought all of the annuals on my list (a trip to Telly's Shelby took care of that), so I didn't get a chance to browse/snag any hostas. We're definitely going back to look at shade perennials, though--can't wait.

Then I had to lug all my plants inside with temps dropping tonight.

Yeeeeah, I think I'm gonna go to Telly's next Friday to do my shopping. I don't have a ton to do beyond the hostas as I'm mostly focused on expanding one of the garden beds this year, but I love seeing the cool stuff Telly's has. Not to mention everything I've ever bought from there has done amazingly well (Empress Wu is from Telly's Troy!)

# ¿ May 18, 2023 14:28

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

the milk machine posted:

does that make this an empress wu?

we moved in about two years ago but are just starting to get a handle on the existing landscaping

I think kid sinister is right! That looks like a Sum and Substance, which is more of a bright green variety, whereas empress is a more blue green. Those massive hostas are my fav, gonna find one of them Sum and Substances

# ¿ May 19, 2023 14:47

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Goons, what type of hose do you use and why? Bonus question, what�s your hose storage solution? Trying to figure out something for our front and back yard this year

# ¿ May 21, 2023 21:07

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

y'all I went fuckin buckwild on the hostas yesterday. Visited Telly's and Home Depot, got most of the hostas at Telly's but Home Depot had a cheap Coast to Coast and Margarita I couldn't pass up!

Left to right: Sum and Substance, Wu-La-La, Halcyon, Blue Mouse Ears, SIlly String, Stained Glass

Coast to Coast and Margarita!

# ¿ May 23, 2023 14:00

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Lady bagmo was out of town so I absolutely snuck one past the goalie here. I have spots for most of them, the two I'm worried about Sum and Substance and Wu-La-La. Debating expanding a bed to fit one of them now lol

# ¿ May 23, 2023 14:11

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

I will post an Empress Wu update later, I will need to pose with it so that you can get a good idea of how big she actually is

# ¿ May 23, 2023 14:13

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Canadian Bakin posted:

How does one identify hosta varieties? Thanks to this thread I figured out that a: I have hostas! b: I have at least three different types but am not sure
I've decided that I think they're cool and would like more when I have the funds to both purchase more and properly mulch the beds in the yard.

The two previous posters covered it, but another problem is that some greenhouses with patent their particular hosta, another greenhouse will try to breed a similar hosta through different varieties and you'll end up with two of the same looking hosta with two different names. The hosta market is loving wild. I would recommend following the other poster's suggestions for identifying mostly to see what types of needs the hosta has. Some needs a lot deeper shade than others, there are some that will thrive in like full sun light but most are cool with full shade to part sun.

Speaking of hostas, here's your Empress Wu update. It's been too warm (90+ day time w/ full sun, yuck) to plant my new hostas so I am gonna spend time walking around the yard and placing stakes where they are going today. Hoping Saturday/Sunday will cool off enough that we can get some in the ground finally. Also gonna be moving 3-4 existing hostas to new beds, including the ones that are kind of under Empress Wu right now lol

# ¿ Jun 1, 2023 15:12

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

marchantia posted:

drat she big! Does that large variety need more sun than the smaller ones? I have a spot that needs more hostas but it gets very little sun. The ones I have there (question mark on variety, people are always giving way hostas here when they split theirs because they are so prolific) are doing just fine fwiw. I might be willing to pay actual money to get a hosta plant if it takes up that much space

She�s in mild shade, gets a small amount of direct light at the end of the day but is almost totally shaded by the apple tree she lives under. Most of the big varietals do best areas with part shade, direct light can cause the leaves to burn unless you water them daily or twice a day, depending on temps

Also today�s the big day!!! It�s Hosta Day!

# ¿ Jun 4, 2023 17:43

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

So yesterday was HOSTA DAY. Here's what I did

Removed a hosta where the red arrow is, behind Empress Wu. Put in Halcyon up front

Gathered a few of these from across the yard and moved them to one central bed. I think they are potentially Loyalists, idk, came with the house

Here's Coast to Coast in their new home. I removed Fire Island and a huge chunk of day lilies from here

Here's Guacamole. I never put anything in this area before so we'll see how that goes

Red arrow is the chunk of day lilies from earlier. Front right is Stained Glass, not their permanent home.

Rehomed some other hostas in the back right, in the front you can barely see Silly String and on the right is Sum and Substance

Left to right: Praying Hands, Blue Mouse Ears, Fire Island

And here's Wu-La-La in here new home with her parental unit, Rose, of Sharon.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2023 19:55

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

You can also see the area where I'm expanding the beds in the back. I'm super excited to get to work on that.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2023 19:56

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Our poppies look sick as hell so we're moving them once the back garden bed is expanded. The sunlight spots in our yard are in constant motion due to being in an older, denser, tree loving town, its been lots of fun

# ¿ Jun 6, 2023 17:46

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

I figure you mean planting seeds in a new area next year, but poppies do not move well at all IME. It's like instant death to do anything besides direct sow for me.

I'm putting my mom up to the task because she's done it before. I'll let you know what her method is, but I remember her moving 2-3 beds of poppys around. Regardless, yeah we're probably gonna end up seeding or buying one of those fancy varietals once they go on clearance

# ¿ Jun 6, 2023 18:05

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 17:43

bagmonkey: May 13, 2003; Grimey Drawer

Brawnfire posted:

This hosta is struggling, needs to be somewhere better, but I really like the white stripe down the middle.

Hostas are insanely hardy and you can transplant them any time of the year, provided you're able to water it regularly until it's re-established. Two of the ones I moved earlier this year are even flowering!

But yeah, don't be afraid to move it or clean out the area around it and re-plant it! Hostas only look better when they are given proper care

edit - also that's a real nice hosta. I think there's a similar type available at NH Hostas but it's not the same, so yours might be one of those weird ones that was sold for a few years then disappeared

# ¿ Jun 12, 2023 14:52

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