For some people there's nothing more impressive than a nice stand of dark, large leaved hostas with their ridges, regardless of any flowers. The only real solution for most people is probably to grow them in pots, up off the ground. Or spend a fortune on pellets beer traps and charcoal. But even then it only takes one of the little buggers to chomp a hole and the whole grouping is ruined. I never had any time for the small leaved varieties myself but that's simply a matter of taste.
Very few wild animals are nice, in that sense. While I don't actively encourage squirrels they're an inevitable accompaniment to feeding birds in the garden. In a local park an old lady feeds them bread by hand and I unwisely sought to follow her example. Squirrels don't have sharp claws like cats but are unihibited in applying the considerable stength they have in their paws/claws to wherever they come into contact with as in hand feeding. I certainly wouldn't fancy coming into close contact with any more of them.
Many/most diseases have origins in animals. It was because Europeans had built up resisitance to such diseases as a result of contact with domestic animals, that they succeeded in inadvertantly wiping out countless North Americans.
michael adams
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