Report From An Opinionated Gardener – July 13
I was photographing my Hosta yesterday and noticed that the clump with the white edge (‘Patriot’ I think) has been severely chewed, either by slugs or earwigs or both. What was interesting is that the varieties that were four to six feet away, ‘Samurai’ and ‘Great Expectations’, hadn’t been attacked at all.
Later I took a look at ‘Summer Fragrance’, a lovely variety that I have growing in a different area of the yard, and see that it too has been eaten. Like the ‘Patriot’, ‘Summer Fragrance’ has white margins.
Noticing that the slugs/earwigs prefer the varieties that have white foliage gives me some valuable information. I know that I don’t have to scatter Sluggo plus or Diatomaceous earth around all of my Hosta, but can concentrate on the types with lighter edges. I also know that if I want to avoid all slug control in the future beyond encouraging the toads, I should not buy any more Hosta with white variegation.
Hosta growers: have you had the same experience? Or are your slugs/earwigs equal opportunity eaters?
The damage on Patriot...
compared with Samurai. Blue Cadet, Blue Mouse Ears and Vera Verde have been left alone as well.
