Friday, May 11, 2012

Hostas Underwater and Plants that Tolerate Water

Last week we received lots of rain, 4 inches in just one day.  My backyard became a little flooded after all of the rain.  Luckily for me when my yard becomes flooded it usually only stays that way for a few hours before it dries up again.  Not everyone is as lucky.  My friend, Gina, actually has to pump water out of her yard sometimes.  After losing many plants to the flooding that happens almost every spring in her yard, she decided instead to plant things that would withstand the water.   Willows, native milkweeds, ferns, irises, rudbeckia, cup plant, iron weed, and she even has luck with hostas & daylily.   Hostas love water, so a little flooding like I had will not hurt them.  If the water level is above the hosta crown for a long period of time it may develop crown rot, which if not taken care of can kill a hosta.  If a hosta has been exposed to a lot of water and starts to lose it's leaves, it probably has crown rot.  You will need to dig it up and cut away the mushy part of the crown if you want to try to save it.  I have actually grown hostas in my pond as pond plants with good results in the past.  I just kept the crown above water.





3 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

Looks tropical'ish:) Very cool....except for the mosquitos that will be sure to follow:(

Hosta Nerd said...

I know, I am totally not looking forward to mosquito season!

Anonymous said...

What is the crown of a hosta?