Rooted in Memories
Welcome to the Little Village Hosta Farm blog, "ROOTED IN MEMORIES" where every post documents our tasks of bringing back our gardens from start to finish. Here, we share our inspirations with you. We give the history of these places of escape and beauty and share with you OUR progress of taking the old, overgrown garden spaces that once were lush, cultivated spots of beauty but sadly been neglected over a twenty year span. Here we will post links to our Youtube channel which will visually have tips, the equipment we use, as well as updates on varieties that we have ordered and much more. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or just beginning your green journey, join us as we embark on these chapters of rebirth empower you to cultivate a flourishing sanctuary that mirrors your unique style. Step into our world and let your garden tell its own enchanting story.
7 Life-Changing Gifts for Gardeners with Arthritis and Hand Limitations
Thirty years in the school system leaves you with a heart full of beautiful memories—and, if you’re like me, two absolutely toasted thumbs.
Every single autumn, back in my days as a school support teacher, the physical reality of the upcoming school year would arrive in giant, heavy cardboard boxes. Thousands of them, packed to the brim with brand-new books. Slicing tape, prying back stiff cardboard, and lifting those heavy volumes left me with a parting gift of chronic tendonitis and arthritis. And of course, I wanted the job done as quickly as possible, so I’d force my hands to pick up as many textbooks as I could at a time.
From Etsy Sample to Static-Filled Childhood Memories: Why You Should Never Leave Your Dial (or Your Garden) Exposed
If you caught my recent live stream unveiling our new Etsy shop samples—specifically the mid-century modern cat shirt featuring those sleek, retro antenna ears—you might have heard me wander down memory lane. Sometimes a little piece of design sparks a big wave of nostalgia. Holding up that shirt brought me right back to childhood—long before bluetooth, tablets, or smart remotes existed.
The Connected Canopy: 14 Smart Tech Gifts for the Modern Digital Gardener
For some gardeners, the ultimate peace of mind doesn’t come from guessing when it’s going to rain or feeling the soil with a thumb. It comes from real-time data, automated precision, and the beautiful synergy of nature and technology.
This is the playground of the high-tech smart gardener. They see the backyard as a living, breathing network. They are the ones who monitor their soil’s nitrogen levels from an app on their phone, automate their drip-irrigation to sync perfectly with local weather satellites, and check in on their sleeping plants via solar-powered outdoor cameras. To them, technology isn’t a distraction from the garden—it’s the ultimate tool to understand, protect, and optimize it.
Outsmarting the Slime: Which Hosta Slug Remedies Actually Work?
As I was preparing for our hosta trip to Madison and deciding which hostas to take with me to sell, I saw a problem.
There they were—tucked among the lower rows on our ground-level staging—bearing the unmistakable, ragged, skeletonized chew marks of summer’s greediest freeloaders. Slugs. And don’t worry, I won’t be bringing anything that was on the ground; only those pristine specimens raised up too high on our tables for the slugs to ever dream of reaching are making the trip to Madison.
Rooted in Memories: 23 Botanical Scrapbooking Essentials to Preserve Your Garden & Escape the Winter Doldrums
If your phone’s camera roll looks anything like mine, you probably have a couple of photos of your family, a few of the dog, and roughly four thousand pictures of hostas, fresh-bloomed peonies, and afternoon light filtering through the shade canopy.
And honestly, we try to multitask, don’t we? I know I’ve spent time—too much time, probably—scooting my kids into a hosta patch, posing them right next to my prized ‘Empress Wu’, trying to get that perfect “family enjoying nature” shot.
Embracing the Imperfect Slide: What a Hosta Meeting Taught Me About Imposter Syndrome
If you had told me a few years ago that I would be standing in front of a room full of fellow plant lovers talking about running a home-based specialty plant nursery, I probably would have smiled, nodded, and quietly wondered if they had the right person. After a lifetime spent in education—working as a reading specialist, literacy leader, and instructional coach—stepping into the world of horticulture felt a lot like walking into a room without my lesson plan.
The “Bad Hair Day” Hostas: A Tribute to Phyllis Diller in the Shade Garden
We all know the traditional hosta aesthetic: noble, smooth, dome-shaped mounds with broad leaves that look like they were pressed, polished, and prepped for a formal photo shoot. They are the tidy, polite foundation of shade design.
And then there are the rest of them—the eccentrics, the rebels, the cultivars that look as though they rolled out of bed, skipped the comb entirely, and decided to embrace total, glorious bedhead. I call them “Bad Hair Day” hostas.
The Story of ‘Praying Hands’ Hosta: A Church Garden Feud and an Architectural Shade Icon
Of all the hosta varieties that fill our shade beds and nursery tables every season, few evoke immediate double-takes quite like Hosta ‘Praying Hands’.
Most hostas announce themselves with expansive, broad, heart-shaped leaves that stretch outward to map out ground cover. ‘Praying Hands’ does the exact opposite. It reaches upward in a tight, architectural, vase-like form that looks less like a traditional shade plant and more like a botanical sculpture.
Soil & Skin: 9 Beauty Gifts for the Gardener Who Wants to Keep Looking Great
Let’s be completely honest: gardening is an absolute masterclass in physical labor. While spending hours in the dirt is therapeutic for the soul, it can be a total disaster for your skin, hair, and nails. Between the blistering midday sun, the drying effects of soil, thorny branches, and wind, a long afternoon in the flower beds can leave you looking a bit… weathered.
Breaking the Rules: The Science and Secrets of Sun-Tolerant Hostas
If you walk into any traditional garden center and ask where to plant a hosta, the answer is always a swift, reflexive point toward the deepest shadows. For decades, we’ve been told that hostas are the undisputed queens of the shade, meant only for the quiet, cool understory of a mature canopy.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from years of working the dirt here at Little Village Hosta Farm—and from a lifetime of navigating a brain that doesn’t always follow the standard rulebook—it’s that nature loves to break its own constraints.