This isn't the original bed #11 but we lost a tree & had to move everyone & some plants didn't survive it. So to make me feel better, Ron helped me do a real lasagna garden last year. It gets a lot of sun but I managed to safely squeeze in a few hostas.

Ron moved his birdhouse condo into this bed for me too. And put up the old iron railing I begged from a friend. My friend, Connie, bought me the big cup on the pole for a birthday gift. I keep water in it for birds. This bed is in a constantly changing status.

There's lilies, peonies, salvia, sedums, a new rose, & a bittersweet vine. I'm anxious to see the Grandpa Ott morning glories bloom that are climbing on the railing. A new plant friend shared seeds with me. I only met her once but she was kind enough to send me seeds this spring. A fall clematis is going wild on the arbor that borders the south edge. I can hardly wait for it to blossom.

Early this spring this area was bursting with tulips & daffodils. It's been fun except for the weeds from horse manure.

I don't know if this is an asiatic or oriental lily but they were brilliantly colored & just plain gorgeous. I'm thinking I need to learn the difference but when will I find the time?

Hosta 'Lakeside Cha Cha' has been in my gardens for several years. She enjoys quite a bit of sunshine that keeps her a limey green color with a nice crisp narrow white margin. Vase shaped plant that blooms nicely. She had to be moved from her original growing spot due to the traumatic death of a tree that protected her from hot afternoon sun a couple years back. She really has never fully recovered but maybe next year she will redeem herself and become the belle of the ball again. She is very graceful & lady-like always!

"Hosta 'Lakeside Cha Cha' becomes a large, upright clump of medium-sized, heavily substanced leaves, lime-green bordered in white. Orchid-colored flowers add to the effect. It is a 1994 introduction. The leaves are ovate with a cordate base. The parentage is 'Fascination' x montana."
Submitted by Mary Chastain / Hosta Library

Look! at these wondrous veined & variegated leaves. I think I grow plants more for their foliage color, characteristics, size, & shapes than for just the blossoms.

New variety of Sunflower just purchased (April 05) at Sunny Slopes Nursery, Leighton, IA. They always get the newest fun plants there. Should be a great addition to the perennial sun garden.

She hasn't gotten very tall (approx. 16") but has been blooming for weeks now in the heat & drought of July.

Autumn mums gloriously illustrate the grand finale of the gardening season.

Hosta 'Golden Meadows' is one of those surprising good stories in my garden.

During the National Hosta Convention 2004 my best hosta friend, Connie was given one eye of hosta "Golden Meadows" as a bonus plant by the boyz from Naylor Creek Nursery. She begged an extra eye for me. I like her allot!

Neither one of us knew anything about the plant but Connie heard through the grapevine that the it would turn all green. Well, that wasn't very impressive, so not thinking much about it I stuck my eye in Bed #11 in pretty much full sun. Good shade space is a premium in the gardens these days. I wasn't about to waste shade on a so-so plant. Little did I know, that's just what this hosta needs, sunshine!

There were things I liked about the plant though, large, very thick (slug resistant) substance leaves with frilly waving edges, and the variegated color shades & pattern were attractive. I sure wasn't looking forward to it reverting to all green. I was contemplating giving it away.

But I tell you what! Last summer I fell in love with this awesome plant. The color variegation held all season. And it grew great in sun, in very heavy clay soil. It's now my favorite! And slugs don't live in warm sunshiny spaces.

Learn how 'Golden Meadows' is "A gift of nature".

Still my favorite. Golden Meadows weathered frost, heat, & drought in 2006 without a trace of stress or distress. I'm telling you, I love this plant! It's looking great for only a second year plant. I'm excitedly awaiting Year 3 / its 'Leap Year'.

According to hosta-lore: Year #1 hostas - sleep (just sit there / settle-in). Year #2 - they creep (grow a little). Year #3 - they leap (growing allot & begin to exhibit traits of maturity). This is pretty much true of most hosta cultivars. However, there are always exceptions to the rules. Some hostas grow much more readily and hardily than other more delicate cultivars. I believe that a hosta specimen is said to reach maturity Year #5.

Responsible Hosta Hybridizers recommend not introducing a new cultivar into the commercial trade until it has been studied (watched) at least 5 years. However, in fast paced competition this is not always the rule. I am not always the first to jump on the bandwagon of every new tc (tissue culture) plant due to this injustice. Just my 2 cents worth. Tissue culture - tc plants vs originator stock - os plants is a whole other story.

I'm still really liking this plant. It still holds its color really well for me until way late and very hot & dry weather; but it still shows noticeable variegation. I still laugh when I think of how I got this plant. Another "Hosta is the Friendship Plant" story.

Liatris Kobold

Hosta 'Clifford's Stingray'

'Loyalist' sport said to have more substance and a more narrow white center than hosta 'Loyalist'.

I believe we should all boycott the Big Box stores when it comes to buying plants. Those poor plants do not get the respect they deserve. However, I always LOOK at the plants when I'm at the Wal-Mart, Lowe's, or Menard's. And I'm ashamed to say, I buy plants there too especially when a new shipment just arrives.

In June this summer, our new Super Wal-Mart store got in a fresh shipment of hosta 'Clifford's Stingray'. They were so perfect they didn't even look real. I had to touch the leaves to make sure they weren't fake. It wasn't easy to tell as the leaves are so thick substance, they almost do not feel real. I am not sure but Clifford's Stingray might be the most perfect looking plant I have seen lately. Albeit, it certainly resembles hosta 'Fire & Ice'. F&I is a perfect little plant too. The key here, maybe, is F&I should be smaller than CS as CS is a sport of 'Loyalist' which is supposedly a larger plant than F&I. However, in reality they may be very close in size and look like 'Kissing Cousins'. I have seen many plants labeled Fire & Ice in gardens that were as large as Loyalist plants. There is much confusion in the competitive plant world and the big box stores add a lot of fuel to that fire.

OK! back to the story. The CS plants were so beautiful and perfect I could not resist buying 4 of them as they were priced at $4.86 each. That's right, folks! It was too much for me to resist. I got one for myself, even though I had no idea where I could squeeze one more hosta into the gardens. I bought one for each of my daughters. And the summer meeting of the ROHS (Russ O'Hara Hosta Society) was coming up in July. I needed plants to donate for the fund raiser auction that is held in conjunction with the club's summer mtg / tour. I thought one of those perfect CS plants would be just the ticket for the auction. Little did I know that 2 of my hosta friends had the same inclination. So there were 3 Clifford's Stingray hostas donated to the ROHS auction but my 2 friends bought theirs marked down to 1/2 price. That's right folks - 1/2 PRICE! - less than 3 bucks. And I was sort of mad that they had ruined my thunder by donating the same plant.

Now the rest of the story is the plants were so perfect that the first 2 auctioned off for $100.00 each & the third plant - $70.00. I am not making this up. True Story! Very nice donations to the club.