War of the Hostas

Many of you know the crazy travel schedule I've had this summer, then you can guess about how much time I've spent weeding and pruning in my yard. To be honest, this is not my favorite thing to do anyway, so I must admit that I'd let it get too far by choice. A couple of weeks ago, my mom and grandma came to visit...and much to my embarrassment they wanted to venture out into the back yard for a look. They were both born with green thumbs and have beautiful yards and gardens...and mine was a complete and utter disaster (guess the green thumb gene ended with them). Well, they weren't too hard on me (thank you!), but grandma enthusiastically volunteered to help me in my plight to discern weed from flower and we made plans for her to come help me get things under control.

It took us a good day's work pulling weeds, trimming bushes, and digging out plants in 90 degree heat to get things back in shape...By the way, I am hoping that the hardy genes in Grandma are something I HAVE inherited! Once we cleared the weeds (mostly thistle), we found a few things worth saving and many others that needed to be thinned out or removed. Grandma marveled at the wonderful Hosta that were plentiful in my yard. I just rolled my eyes because I don't share her love for this green, boring, ground cover. Evidently, there are many wonderful variations of these "beautiful" plants...but for me there are two. Green and stripey.


After completing our first task of getting things back to a manageable level, Grandma bid me farewell and went to the lake for a few days. But not before getting her hands on the "mystery plant" that had taken root in the middle of my yard. Under her watchful eye, I'm sure it will be blossoming and thriving in no time. Who knows, it may just make it back to my yard someday when it's ready to be divided and shared.




It was a good thing Grandma didn't hang around for the afternoon's main event...the tragic, yet completely necessary Great Hosta Massacre of St Louis Park. She would have cried at the complete and utter disregard for her prized Hostas! Once the digging was complete, I piled my wheelbarrow full and carted those things right up to the front yard, and mercilessly pounded a "Free Hosta" sign in the ground, posted an ad on Craigslist and waited for the pillage to begin. I didn't have to wait long...it was over in a mere 60 minutes. It was kind of fun sitting in the living room and watching folks come to pick them up. We had people come with garbage bags, clothes baskets, and boxes. When they were gone and I went out to take the sign in, I had people driving by and yelling out the car windows, "Do you still have any Hosta?" Guess there are some other raving fans besides Grandma out there.

No finished pictures yet...there is lots of work still to do. We will be putting in landscape fabric over the next week or so and a few of my favorite Perennials in the Spring. For all you Hosta fanatics...yes, there are still a few Hostas left in my yard. I'm not completely heartless :-)!