Hi leafwatcher, and welcome to the forum. Warning: it's as addictive as the hostas! I live about 100 miles due east of you with similar conditions, and Great Expectations is my favorite of the 800 or so varieties I grow. This is a hosta that, unlike most, has some very specific requirements to grow well. And if grown well, it will be truly spectacular--my largest measures 32 inches tall, 5 1/2 feet across, and looks good all season. First and most importantly, GE must be planted shallowly. Too many people plant this one too deep, since it's going to be a large plant at maturity. When planted this way, GE will, over the course of a few years, dwindle in size and then simply disappear. You want the crown of the plant right at the top of the soil, with only a very thin layer of dirt covering it. Secondly, GE need plenty of sun in order to thrive. If planted in heavy shade, it will grow at a glacially slow pace, taking years to throw a new division. It needs at least half sun to do really well, and it will take absolutely full sun. Most of mine are planted in half to three quarter sun. The third requirement is lots of water, which this year just isn't a problem! But in a dry summer, make sure you water GE quite deeply and regularly. If give these three things, GE will be the most beautiful hosta in your garden. The same growing conditions apply to Thunderbolt, Dream Weaver, and Dream Queen, as these are all selections from GE. Your hosta list looks very nice indeed, not a bum plant in the lot. You do, however, need to add a Montana Aureomarginata to your garden as soon as possible, unless the one you have listed as Aureo Marginata is a montana rather than a fortunei or a ventricosa. If you can't find MA at a good price locally, email me privately--I have about 20 of these that I'm growing out. And then of course, you will want to get a few minis and small hostas--everything you currently have is medium to large. And then you will want to start digging up your lawn to plant more hostas, and raiding the kid's college fund to buy more hostas, and, well, you get the idea--these plants are majorly addictive. Enjoy!

I swear at my cats a lot, especially when my male starts fighting with my elderly, arthritic female who can't really fight back. Can't tell you what I yell -- won't make it past the filters here ;) (no worries -- the cat just looks at me in return, with this look of "Oh yeah? Piss off." My yelling has little effect on his behavior, though he usually does stop fighting with the female for a little while.) I realized the other day that I was yelling with the window open, and instantly clammed up...hope the neighbors didn't hear me, because they'll certainly not think highly of me...

how ya goin' staffyheaven, guess you like staffy dogs by the sounds of it hey? anyhow yep anyone with any sort of yard should be growing what they can for their own use, too easy hey? len Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

My mom wrote some memoirs, this reminds me of it. Such a wonderful thing for your family to have. I want to create some kind of book with mom's stuff. But who knows if I will ever find the time . . . thank goodness she found some time. I like to think that I encouraged her. I didn't nag her to do it but at least I told her it was great that she was doing it. She took a writing class which was why she was doing it. I am one of those people who thinks family stories, and story telling in general, is rather important. So did my librarian mom. Glad to hear others feel the same way!