Virtual garden tour 2023 - better late than never edition? :)

very interesting Pieter - thank you for the names

here’s my impulse purchase (maybe 4 yr ago ?) Hosta labelled Ben Vernooy tho I believe same as your Hosta — one photo July and one photo this autumn

@Acerholic posted their First Frost Hosta in England on July 8th 2023

QUESTION - do you think there are more and more Hosta names these days in plant nursery ?

i don’t see my favourites from 5 yr ago (Midwest magic / guacamole / stained glass // … even sweet « mouse ears »

all my Hosta are in large containers … I offer minimal food and water (haha don’t accept my invite for a meal :)

Pieter - I appreciate the terminology words you provide in your post - sport / senescence / etc .. I shall look up to learn more.

 

UBCBG has Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears' - here is a photo from two years ago:
https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc....w-leaves-some-flowers-too.100496/#post-413439
and from this year:
https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/may-2023-favourites.103308/#post-437334

 

GS, yes indeed, it's the nature of the business to come up with something new and hopefully different. While for example you might still see 'Blue Mouse Ears' in nurseries, you are more likely to find other members of the BME family, such as 'Frosted Mouse Ears', 'Mini Skirt' and 'Lucky Mouse'. There's actually quite a number of BME sports, not all of which are necessarily in tissue-culture production or readily available. The pursuit of a few hosta hybridizers is the development of varieties with red or almost black petioles and foliage that has a lot of red to it, sometimes referred to as 'blushers'. Here's an example from my garden, this is 'First Blush'.

When you consider the price of this was around $80 for a 4" pot when first available about 4 years ago you can see the retailer's incentive, though it's appeal may be only limited but it's something different. This variety is one of the first blushers on the market. Go to the Hostalibary and look for 'Bloodline' and 'Light the Match'.

 

Hello November 1st
For a change of seasonal color - I am attaching a “chauffeured drive” (courtesy of Transit bus 68 route!) around every nook and back lane and some old major “malls” and old B-lot parking (anyone?) at UBC campus where Botanical Garden is located

Approx 4pm Tue Oct 31 — Hallowe'en

It’s fascinating orientation past old buildings and a lot of new buildings

-and buildings named for what used to be there (Orchard Commons?)

I think bus 68 route goes past some old arboretum trees (near Ponderosa buildings?) that I know have been discussed somewhere (the walnut tree topic?)

I think vestiges of old experimental food farming Ag faculty raspberries?

I also saw the “every 2nd tree” removal for future planting of ornamental cherries @wcutler reported here recently (this 68 bus route is very convenient to botanical garden as are several other transit routes)

the part I was particularly keen on is seeing autumn foliage and checking what ornamental cherries look like in Oct Nov season (Regent College photos attached)

enjoy my quick photos

 

Today - Sat Nov 04/23 638pm PDT

The eve of the (dreaded?) time change back to PST (regardless of time zone from Greenwich, for many of us tho not all it’s a time change in our own house)

so - hostas - I think this is Midwest Magic

and it is retiring for the season

in night patio light in this photo below

it’s in a large container and does well with minimal care

Such a pretty seasonal transition

QUESTION @Pieter
Is it ok to trim off yellowing leaves to tidy up — or should I leave the leaves for when they are truly dry and gone

I ask because I wonder if the main plant still gains nutrition from these autumn leaves

We certainly appreciate our hostas for their sturdy performance in our cold and summer drought / heat and rain

ok deer like them too ;)
:(

Please let me know what you think everyone
Much appreciated

 

Hi georgia, the leaves on hostas wilt and and when they can be removed with the gentalist of tugs I remove them. I do everything i can to stop slugs for the following year.

 

I'm with Derek. I leave the leaves on until the petiole collapses to naught but mush and then yank them off. So, if the picture you show is a very recent one you have probably another week or more to go before removing them. Usually I leave the scapes and pods on as a potential food source for the local birds. Yes, you'll get some volunteer OP seedlings and if you don't like how those look simply put them on the compost heap.

 

I've been occupied with other issues for awhile (and the forum's website being down earlier this year didn't help) but I thought I'd post some photos from this summer.....
This Musa basjoo is one of several occupying my backyard. It is almost 15 years old and finally flowered, and according to everything I've read this impressive 4m tall plant will now die.

First photo was taken July 3, and the final on August 31



Bet you thought they'd be bigger :)

 

Wow! you have patience pmurphy! 15 years and yes,one would expect dinosaur sized fruits: so, what next: weaving a traditional kimono from the fiber ;~}

 

Wow! I'm surprised that any of the fruits ripened. I've read that they are inedible, but did you taste them?

 

I think the weird weather we had contributed a lot to the fruit ripening but they were too small and seedy to get a good taste, very bland and starchy.

 

If still present a small estate north of UBC has M. basjoo that were there when an employee who answered the front door when a couple of us stopped by some years ago started there in the 1950s - as with bromeliads the timing out of individual flowering stems does not equate to the demise of the entire specimen. The fruits of this species of banana are repeatedly stated in descriptions to not be edible.

 

With the mild weather we've been having there are plenty of things popping up in the yard, I'm sure we've all noticed it. Some of what's still/again in bloom -on a somewhat reduced scale- are violets and primulas...

 

I for sure have some FORSYTHIA blooming (it’s not winter Jasmine )

Neighbour has some rhodos trying to make a pink snow (I know the shrub and usually it is May bloom)

 

Here are a few things in my gardens....some should be out now and others not;


Fern-leaf clematis (evergreen) flowers from mid/late winter to early spring...so its a little early


Winter jasmine flowers from December to March, its right on time


Paper bush 'Red Dragon' normally starts to flower in late winter, so this one is rather early.


And I thought I'd throw this one is because it looks so pretty in the winds right now - Giant miscanthus.