Hallson Gardens

Many thanks Pieter and David. Your comments will be sent to the person that will judge good and bad plants when they are accepted to the sale. The Hostas that most folks cultivate in their gardens are not ventricosa. She is developing a list for the University of MD that will be used as a framework ...

I have been absent from the board for a long while managing a large plant sale for the Master Gardeners. We have some people amongst our group that are concerned about invasive plants and we have a list that denotes invasive and invasive watch. Hosta ventricosa is listed as Invasive Watch. I will ha...

The Master Gardeners were donated some giant blue hostas for the digging. I am not at all aware of name/variety of historic Hostas. As a note for scale that window ledge was about 45" above the ground level and those are small Rhododendrons next to the hosta. They were about 40" tall - grown in a sh...

Thanks Eleven and Chris - there is hope with the roots looking nice and healthy. Hopefully as Chris mentioned it is just finiky and didn't like being in the pond basket. Here is how pretty it looked last year when it was just starting to show its' stuff. The big one in back is either a Komodo Dragon...

Not only do my chipmunks like Stilettos the Garter Snakes like them too. Grasshoppers, toads and slugs are a draw.

Last spring I posted a photo in least favorite Hostas of my Journey's End. It turned into a poor performer. It was suggested I move it so as soon as we got home last week I worked on moving it. The first photo is poor performance in the spring. Photo 2 is with the mulch pulled back and the pond bask...

Mine is in bloom today and it is lovely. It is in fairly deep shade so the blooms are lighting up that corner. I would guess this is 3-4 years old so not a robust grower or me. It is also surrounded by Wood Poppy seedlings. September 5 2014 http://i57.tinypic.com/25iu3o8.jpg June 1 2014 http://i62.t...

Mine looks terrible - it hasn't grown a bit since this spring photo. I removed the robust green leaf and it hasn't returned over the summer. I will move it, I just moved my Journey's End that was really failing yesterday. I will post some photos later. http://i62.tinypic.com/4zzrbd.jpg http://i59.ti...

This one is not a fast grower for me. Sharp looking Allegan Fog in the upper right.

Here are a couple photos of mine. Last year it threw a streak, not so this year. It isn't a fast grower for me but not disappointing.

Around my place I don't need any more help planting hosta seeds, this wet year they are coming up everywhere - all plain green. One thing that chipmunks do that is helpful is eat grasshoppers. It was a bad year for grasshoppers in MI and the chipmunks had many to snack on. Last year I got a photo of...

Cameo is a strong performer for me. It goes well with Vinca Illumination.

My all time favorite Hosta is Liberty. It does well in MI in full sun and does well in Monkton with pretty deep shade. It isn't a fast grower for me but year after year of deer damage doesn't help either. Or battling the Ostrich fern bullies.

Here is one of the Blue Cadet that gets chopped up every spring by my husband and is hose installation.

Here are a few photos of mine. It looks like I have been dividing it the way it breaks in pieces but it has sat there in place for about 7 years. http://i62.tinypic.com/2rcvhqh.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/28ui4b7.jpg The final shot is today - usually I never have late summer photos of hostas - usuall...

I bought several what I thought were Baby Buntings about 10 years ago and when I finally was informed by someone who had the real Baby Bunting that they were too big to be BB I deduced they fit the mold of Blue Cadet. Many years ago I collected the open pollinated seeds and a large number of the see...

Here is my Ice Cream this AM. It split into two parts when I dealt with unruly Ostrich Fern roots a few years ago, I would guess this one is 4 years old and is in pretty deep shade.

Here is mine from a few years ago. I dug it up and donated it to the MG plant sale a few years ago in desperation after a summer of deer and vole damage that topped everything. This year we returned from MI and there was no deer or vole damage. Our neighbors roaming dogs, a wet summer and a hunter p...

I have a lot of problems especially in MD where the chipmunks or squirrels will smell the human scent which equals bird seed on a newly planted plant and then pull it out of the ground thinking there is seed under it. Even though the Niger seed is supposed to be sterile these ugly thistly plants com...

The chipmunks up here in MI leave most of my stuff alone, they did tear off part of a Sedum I had potted to bring home. I feed the chipmunks in Michigan - we are in the middle of nowhere so don't see people for a week at a time sometimes - the chipmunks brighten up my days in the garden. The ones in...