Hosta 'Great Expectations'
© June Colley
St. Valentine and the Slug
Traditionally we celebrate St. Valentine's Day by giving cards and presents to our loved ones. But we should also remember to love our hostas on St Valentine's Day. This is the day to start using slug deterrents or other means of disposing of these pestilential molluscs. Acting now will ensure that one's hostas will produce foliage as sumptuous as that of the accompanying image of the pristine leaves of Hosta 'Great Expectations'.
The reason for this is that the slug that does most damage early in the season is the keeled slug, Milax spp., which lives underground and out of sight but becomes active at about this time of year. In late winter/early spring the keeled slug migrates towards the surface of the soil where they can do untold damage to emerging shoots and leaves. The damage done at this time of year may make the hostas unsightly for the rest of the year. Out of sight should not be out of mind for hosta gardeners!
The British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society suggests you follow the latest advice from the RHS on controlling slugs and controlling snails.
Hemerocallis 'Green Eyed Lizard'
© Jennie Sivyer
New terms for daylilies
The American Hemerocallis Society, the International Registrars for Hemerocallis, have made two changes to the terms used to describe daylilies.
The first change, announced in 2010, was to add the term 'sculpted'. Sculpted daylilies are distinguished by the structure of the petals and fall into three types: pleated, cristate and relief. The definitions of these forms, together with photos showing the necessary features, can be found in the AHS's Daylily Dictionary.
The second change, made in late 2011, formalises the description of Unusual Form daylilies. These have in the past been registered as UF or UFo but will now only appear written in full.
Hosta 'Hands Up'
© Jonathan Hogarth
Plant Profile
In this month's Plant Profile, Jonathan Hogarth discusses a new hosta, Hosta 'Hands Up'.
Jonathan writes:
Something new!
Hosta 'Hands Up' is a new addition to a famous plant. It has been on release from a number of nurseries since 2011 and is definitely a must have plant.
As this series develops, earlier entries are being added to the archive
If you have a favourite hosta or hemerocallis and would like to share it with visitors to this site, please contact us
Looking for a photo?
Follow the links for the list of Hemerocallis photos and the list of Hosta photos.
What's on
See the calendar for details.