A similar reaction occurs when fresh (uncomposted) manure come into contact with plant roots. When composted over time, the salts in the manure are leached out by rain water.

Dog urine has the same effect on turfgrass.

If you have experienced a serious insect or disease problem, identify the organism and determine how it spends the winter. If it hides as an adult, lays eggs or develops spores on the abandoned leaves or stems, you may benefit from removing these from the garden after they have been killed by a frost in the fall.

In extreme cases, this may also include sterilizing the soil to kill organisms in the soil. This is a process that is most often done with harsh chemicals that can only be applied by licensed companies. They are too dangerous for use by the typical homeowner.

In hostas, it is the stem that has a complete set of flowers on a single division. The scape tends to arise directly from the crown of the plant in the ground.

Scarification is a process where the seed is artificially softened or the seed coat is opened slightly so that all the seeds will germinate at once. Seeds may be scarified by soaking them in hot water or a mild acid solution. They may also be notched with a fingernail file or sandpaper to break the seed coat and allow water to enter.

In the case of hybrid tea roses, this would come from the plant that has the beautiful flowers but roots that are not winter hardy.

The lower part of the graft is called the rootstock or stock. In hybrid tea roses, this would be from some "wild type" of rose that is extremely winter hardy but does not produce beautiful flowers.

The seeds of hostas are dark brown or black when they are ripe. They may be planted immediately after harvest or may be stored in a freezer for later sowing. 

Apple trees, for instance, must have at least two different cultivars in the vicinity to produce apples. A red delicious tree cannot pollinate itself or another red delicious tree.

The sepals are collectively called the calyx and act as a protective covering for the inner flower parts when they are in the bud. Sepals are usually green, but in some species they are the same color as the petals. In this case, the combination of the sepals and petals is called tepals. Hostas have tepals in their flowers.

In some groups of plants sepals are absent or may consist of bracts.   

See Long-Day Plant, Short-Day Plant and Day Neutral Plant

Images of Shrubs.

See Symptom

Slugs generally feed at night and chew holes in the leaf blade and may also feed on the petiole of hostas. 

More on Slugs...

Small hostas form a clump that is 6 to 10 inches in height.

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More on Soil Tests.

See Hardwood Cuttings.

When a clump of salt or fresh manure comes into contact with roots or other plant tissue, it will quickly draw the moisture out of the plant and into the salt. This will cause the plant cells to collapse, the tissue to die and turn brown. This rapid dehydration is commonly called a "burn."

These variegated plants can be reproduced by division or tissue culture and will maintain their variegated tissue. They generally may NOT be reproduced in the same form from seed.

For example, if you are referring to all the species of Hosta, you would use Hosta spp. The name of the genus is capitalized and italicized or underlined while the sp. or spp. is not.

It is also used to line wire baskets used for annuals and ferns.

To qualify as a species, there must be evidence that the plant currently lives or once lived in the wild. Some hosta "species" have been discovered to have never existing outside of cultivation by humans. Therefore, what was once a species called Hosta fortunei has been changed to cultivar status as Hosta 'Fortunei'

Although it is a little confusing, a species name consists of the genus name and a specific epithet which may be a descriptive word or a latinized version of someone's name. For example in the species, Acer palmatum (Japanese maple), Acer is the genus and palmatum (palm like leaves) is the specific epithet.

In Hosta, it is often used to refer to a Giant size plant greater than 28 inches in height.

Mites are related to spiders but, technically, are not spiders. They do, in large populations, spin webbing around plant parts. Populations of spider mites will often suddenly explode on a plant and may disappear with the next pounding rainfall. They are often found feeding on the bottom of leaves.

More on Spider Mites.

In hostas, this type of variegation is usually considered unstable since it will often revert to the solid colored form. There are a few cultivars that are very stable, however, such as H. 'Spilt Milk'. Streaked plants must be used as the mother parent in cross-breeding of hostas to produce variegated seedlings.

In hosta, a single bud on a clump may produce a single division with a different color or variegations pattern. This sport can be separated from the clump and, if it remains stable i.e. does not revert to the original form in future seasons, and has unique characteristics, it may be introduced as a new cultivar.

Hybridizers manually move the pollen from the male parent to the pistil of the female parent when cross-breeding Hosta, Hemerocallis (daylilies) and other plants.

The number of stamens per flower varies by plant species and hostas usually have six stamens per flower.

2) certain plants such as fruit trees, roses, geraniums and others may be grown on top of an elongated stem. Sometimes this is accomplished by grafting a plant on top of a long stemmed rootstock. Other standards may be created by treating the plant with gibberellins to cause the plant to develop an unnaturally tall main stem.

3) in Iris species, this is the name for the upright petals of the flower.

Hybrid plants resulting from the cross-pollination of two different species may result in a sterile progeny. Sterile hostas will flower but will not set seed pods on the flowerscape like fertile plants.

Strawberries send out stolons (runners) from the mother plant to produce new plants.

This term is often used incorrectly for plants that spread by a rhizome which is an underground stem. Quackgrass spreads by rhizomes. Some hostas send out rhizomes which are below the ground stem modifications.

Stratification usually involves storing the seeds in moist peat moss at temperatures of about 40°F (refrigerator) for 1 to six months. The length of time may vary from species to species and you should consult a resource to find the requirements of your particular plant.

Of course, you can also just plant the seeds outdoors in the fall and let nature take its course. However, you lose control over the seeds and they just might disappear to become food for a squirrel.

See Signs  More about Plant Disease Symptoms