Hosta

There are many bulbs to plant in the garden here in Tucson.  Unfortuneatly, with our clay soil, many of those bulbs don't do well without some help from us, the gardener.  Most of these plants need to be in pots or planters.  I have one more post on the million other bulbs I've tried in the garden and it will include many of the favorites people have in their own gardens.  This series is a report on permanent bulbs that will last for a good portion of the year outside. The second to last posting on bulbs is about the mighty hosta.  The pic below was taken at my brother-in-law's house in Wisconsin during fall.

Many of us who are transplants from the Eastern side of the US love this particular plant, but like the lilac, it doesn't do well here in Tucson.  I have a green thumb and can get it to leaf out, but it doesn't grow to its' full potential.  This plant disappoints here in the desert even if you have placed it into a pot with the required soil.  I've place this plant around different areas in the garden to test lighting and soil conditions and it failed all of them.  However, Wal-Mart sure had a lot of hostas to sell last year.  But while looking at their collections of bulbs this year, I noticed they don't offer anymore of these plants. Could it have been a mistake on their part placing them in wrong region?  Maybe you have had a different experience with these plants in your zone 9 garden, but I have a green thumb and couldn't get this plant to grow for me.  The plants I've posted in this bulb series are the ones that will thrive in your garden, but I know many Tucsonans will try out the hosta because they miss their collections back home.....so I added this one specific plant into the bulb series as a plant NOT to put in your garden.  In my opinion, the hosta is too much effort to keep alive and I don't recommend putting this in your garden at all as it will most likely disappoint.  If you miss growing hostas, I recommend heading over to the blog titled Cheesehead Gardening in Wisconsin which has a lot of info on hostas and here, you'll be able to get your hosta fix via the computer:)  Plus the author is really funny while informative. I'd pass these bulbs if you see them at the store.  The last posting on bulbs will be a little more uplifting on the fun bulbs we put into pots for that little punch here and there.  Until next time.........