Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Hosta

Q. I have several large hosta plants that can be divided into 4-6 smaller plants and replanted. I want to know if it is too late into the spring [May] to do this, or should I wait until fall. Thank you for any info you can give me.

A. I am glad that you wrote, as now should the perfect time to divide. I do not know where you live, but I hope that the plants are at least 6-10" tall by now. You do not want to separate them until they have mature leaves. If you can clearly see the various plants and each would have at least four good leaves, take a pitchfork to spade into the soil out a distance from the clump. Go all around in a circle, lifting as you go. Try to get down deep for the root system.

Lay them out on plastic and carefully break and/or cut them apart, leaving each plant with some roots. Plant them in your garden bed at least 18" apart, so that they will have room to fill out. Water slowly and deeply. Do not feed until they have adjusted and show signs of new growth. Then, give them fertilizer twice monthly until they bloom, and then cut back the food in addition to the flower stems.

Separating in the fall does not give them time to establish themselves for the dormancy of winter.

Q. We had hail damage two days ago. The leaves on my hostas (planted about two years ago, and about 15 inches in diameter and 8 inches high) were pretty well shredded. Do you think they will regrow leaves this year? If not, will they recover to grow again next year?

A. I can answer from experience here. I have had hail damage my beds of hostas in Ohio when I lived there. It was a very shady spot and I grew a ton of them. We called them August Lilies and they grew like weeds and could be root-separated easily in the summer.

Do not worry, for that damage is not going to do them in. If it were mid-September maybe they would halt growth, but being mid-June, this early in the season they will pop back quickly.

Make sure you water them well as needed and feed them every two weeks with Rapid Grow or similar product. They have large root systems and can sprout in no time at all.

Then, they will bloom later this summer. I had the small purple-spiked ones, too and a lovely variegated one, which needed a bit more sunlight.

Growing from Seeds:

Mary of PA writes~
Gary, I'm assuming that the seeds from a hosta come from the pods on the flowers after their growing cycle. Is this true? If so, how do I go about starting these seeds (which are black in color and inside these pods)? Thank you.

A. You are correct that the black seeds are in pods formed during the flowering of the hostas. they are very easy to germinate, but since I do not know your growing zone, I cannot recommend that you sow them now or next spring. Many times they are so hardy that they spill onto the soil in the early fall, lay dormant until spring, and sprout as the temperatures rise and the soil becomes moist and warm.

Or, you can save the seeds in an envelope and store in a cool, dry, dark spot, as a closet or drawer. In the early spring, you can sow them lightly over a seed propagation mix widely available [it is mainly milled peat moss, vermiculite and perlite] and place in a warm low-lit spot. As the seedlings arise, increase the light and watering, but do not keep moist at all times or you will suffer damping off fungus which kills the plants.

After your local frost date, transplant them into the garden beds with half day sun and protect from any rabbits, pets or foot traffic. Fertilize only after they have grown to about 6-9".