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Garden flourishes with vigorous plant life
The birds were singing, the bees buzzing and a gentle breeze blowing in the peaceful haven Joyce and Tom Newby have created south of Nevada.
What started as a part-time job with Glen Brockmeyer who operated Hillcrest Nursery, has turned into a full-time passion for Joyce. She has 200 Hosta plants -- 52 varieties -- in her yard. Guardian Angel, Dance with Me, Blue Angel, Drinking Gourd, Holy Mole, and Sum and Substance are just a few of the names of the hosta varieties Joyce pointed out.
Joyce showed a new hosta bed she and her husband are making.
"The most important part is the soil. We use tea compost or mushroom compost and mix with some good black soil. If you start with a good soil, it is like a good foundation, add feed and lots of water and they will produce." When planting a hosta, they dig a hole at least 2-3 feet across so the roots will have room to spread. "It's a major deal."
They use bone meal and peat moss in the hole.
In the spring, Joyce makes a doughnut-like circle in the ground around each hosta and puts the plant food Oscomate around the plant. She uses one tablespoonful for a small plant and two tablespoons for a larger plant. She also uses Miracle Grow and a plant food which she has only been able to find at Arnold Nursery in Leroy, Kansas, by the name of Daniels. This is her favorite and when she makes the trip, she stocks up on it.
In the summer, she pokes holes in gallon milk jugs and sits one by each hosta. "Each plant needs at least two gallons of water daily in hot summer."
When mulching, Joyce cautions that the mulch shouldn't be placed around the stems -- doing so will kill the hosta.
She doesn't usually let them flower because she feels it takes away from the nutrients needed for healthy leaves.
"Some people do, but I prefer not to," she said.
Joyce like different kinds of hosta so she and her husband often take day trips to discover new varieties. She has books and reads all about the different kinds, where they should be planted -- in part sun, dappled shade, or each hosta's personal preference to develop it to its fullest potential. Even though it is not her husband's hobby, he helps her dig the holes and often comments, "They really are pretty, aren't they?"
Throughout the 10 years in which Joyce has raised Hosta, she has learned a lot of tricks about tending them. If a plant is not doing well, she will dig it up, shake the dirt off the roots and soak it in an 8-ounce cup mixture of half water and half Clorox for a few minutes, then dip it in an 8-ounce cup of clear water.
"If a hosta is doing poorly, it probably has a fungus. This usually clears it up," she said.
"You can move a hosta at any time. I move plants like some people move furniture." Still, she only transplants small ones; never the large ones. She said the best time to move them was probably in the spring when the small eyes pop from the ground.
Joyce's goal was to have 200 hosta. About three years ago, 15 to 20 of the plants were frozen and the Newbys had to start all over again. Now she has reached her goal, but is "thinking about going to 250."
She has a lot of room to continue as there are approximately 4,000 hosta varieties currently available. New varieties are occasionally still found growing wild in Japan, Korea and China where the plant dates back as far as the 8th century. The name hosta is in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host. Hostas first appeared in Western Europe around the late 1700s to the early 1800s and then soon after in the United States.
"One of the fascinating things about hosta is that they go back under the ground in the winter and you can't tell there is one there."
She never clips any of the leaves. "They lay dormant until spring and when the ground starts warming up, they pop out." She gets so excited when the eyes pop up in the spring that she calls anyone who will listen.
"That's when I know the Lord is in my garden. I can't explain the peace I feel as I watch my plants thrive. They give me a lot of pleasure and are my passion. I think you should follow your passion and then you will be happy. I'm happy with dirt on me from my garden."
Hostas are not the only plants that Joyce grows in her gardens. A wide array of blooming flowers brightened each nook of the flower beds.
She has worked hard to get her hydrangea to bloom, lilies were blooming brightly at the backs of the beds while daisies and many annuals were waiting their time for the plan she has for continuous blooms.
Her garden truly provides exercise for the body and food for the flower loving soul.