The site selected for my hosta collection

sounds good! how well did they cope with the snow? if they managed ok, they must be pretty indestructbale!

Definitely, Fran! That's the primary requisite for gardening here...everything has to be able to live thro winters like our last one. I'd be out there working all hours but for the bugs...I have itchy bumps and lumps from staying out too long. When I cut the grass/weeds I need to use bugspray. I hate the stuff, but without it I'd run mad!

eek, can empathise! is there nothing you can spray on yourself to keep them off? there are some here, but don't think they're meant for such heavy duty work

is that area prone to flooding at all? it looks raised, but if the area around it is lower than usual. I was sort of thinking about Arctic Willow, which has evolved to deal with severe winters. mind you, they evolved by only growing very small and half siewaays to keep out of the wind

This area is well above the flood plain, Fran. I'm going to shock you!...I have had close experience with Arctic Willow...and believe me, I would rather not use it. I lived in the far north, at the tree-line, and the willow was an inveterate colonizer. terrible white fluff was thick in the air in spring, and the stuff would germinate in anything holding water... went from looking like snow on the flower beds to a green furze everywhere. Thanks for the suggestion I know your heart's in the right place. I'm hoping to get some laburnum and hydrangea!

oh, didn't know that! I've only read about it on obviously carefully-selected reviews!!

Perhaps they have "tinkered" with it a little, Fran. It would be a Plant Breeders Dream! If you try ripping it out by the roots (like I did) it just seems to stimulate the bits left in the ground and before you know it...there's a new crop! I would hate to establish it here...have enough challenge from the "bittersweet" and goldenrod.

I think I read about it in terms of rockeries, where the roots would be somewhat confined. I had been thinking about getting a few myself, as "natural bonsai" but have suddenly changed my mind, guess why!

plants that grow from splinters are very useful in the wild engironemnt, but not something to encoiurage in gardens.

Even in the wild, it is a curse, Fran. Just my humble opinion. I have seen it take over fields, swamps, and waste land, and turn it into a muddle!

oh, right. I've only seen pics of it in slightly sub-Arctic conditions - if it's evolved in those conditions, anything less harsh would be heaven for it to spread out wildly.