Fall Gold Hostas

Greetings All:

 Over the last 10 or 12 days we have had perhaps a couple of nights that
have hit 31 degrees. Mostly it's in the the 40s. The hostas seem to be
"going down" in slow motion. About 2/3 are gold/orange clumps of tissue
paper now. Quite attractive if you don't look too cloasely. None have gone
down to ground yet.

The other 1/3 of my hostas are amazingly green with very few signs of the
inevitable gold/brown edges. What I can't seem to sort out is just why some
are now on life support while others are looking so good. Logic would have
it that thicker leaves might still be green while tissue paper hostas would
now be on the ground. Not true, there are too many exceptions to the idea
of thickness and thinness of a leaf, to seem to be a reliable guage of what
goes first.

There is also the question of the plantagenea species (our tropical hosta
which is not exactly fond of colder climates); these leaves are still
green, if not quite as healthy looking as some of the others.I haven't
looked at all the species and collected information, but if plantagenea is
an indicator of species staying power this time of year, then the question
becomes moot.

Amongst the hostas that are still up and green are Mary Chastain's hostas,
which were bred in Tennesse...no exactly a yankee state. So the southern
factor,  if not eliminated, is at least in question.

So, I am asking you botanists out there, what factors are at work here in
keeping some hostas looking good, while other are on the way to their late
fall oblivion?Perhaps some hosta names have greater staying power? Or
inexpensive hostas last longer? Just what perversity may be at work?

Hebdomad  n: a week; seven days
Glen Williams
20 Dewey St.
Springfield , Vermont
05156
Tel: 802-885-2839 

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