By Bob Solberg

Editor’s note: Sometimes we wander so far down the roadof life that we lose sight of our beginnings. Our reality has be-come based on the premises and assumptions formulatedthrough years of traveling. Frequently we assume that every-one we meet along this road shares the same basis in fact,where in reality new travelers see the landscape very differ-ently from those of us that have been on this journey fordecades. Along the way, we grieve at the sight of once proudgardens now in ruin while others only see neglect.

We assume they know the history of Hostadom, but theycan only see what we have built, the finished product, notphases of construction. Sometimes it is time to get back to thebasics, to tell the old stories again so we can all try to sharein the same view of the hosta world. In the end, we still maynot agree on how we see everything but at least everyone willhave all the facts. Here is what we think we know, now.

1. Hostas have lily-like flowers but are members of theagave family. For years hostas were considered in the lilyfamily based on the structure of their flowers. With the adventof DNA testing hostas because of their uniqueness have eitherbeen put in their own family, the Hostaceae, or lumped intothe asparagus family, the Asparagaceae, in the agave sub-family Agavoideae. Hostas and agaves have the same chro-mosome numbers. Think of them as similar plants, oneadapted to moist forests and meadows and the other adaptedto dryer conditions.

2. Hostas are perennial annuals. Hostas have an annuallife cycle. They emerge in the spring, make new leaves androots, produce flowers and seeds, and then go dormant for thewinter. They have a seed- based biology, tall flowering scapes,easy for bee pollinators to find, that scatter seeds away fromthe mother plant. They have perennial crown tissue that storesenergy over the winter and forms dormant buds to repeat theprocess year after year. In the care of a good gardener, hostasare immortal.

3. Hostas are shade plants. Some say hostas tolerateshade but I think they prefer some shade. They would likemore sun, however, than most of us give them. They appreci-ate light but their leaves will burn in the direct sunlight of a hotsummer. Morning sun is usually a great placement for hostasor areas of the garden with bright indirect lighting.

4. Hostas are drought tolerant. Yes, amazingly hostaswill survive the most extreme drought but not without somedamage to the crown resulting in smaller plants the followingyear. Hostas will dry rot in hot, dry summers and sometimesemerge as little tissue culture like plants in the spring. In fact,hostas love water. I do not know if you can water them, toomuch. In fact you can grow them in a shallow stream or in a

pot in a pond. In very rainy summers, their foliagemight develop fungal infections but the next springtheir spot free leaves will emerge bigger and better thanever.

5. Hostas are native plants. Hostas are nativeplants in Japan, China, Korea, and Russia. H.ventri-cosa has even become naturalized in some parts of theUnited States. There are between 20 and 40 species ofhostas in the wild depending on whether you are alumper or a splitter but many are rarely used to pro-duce new hosta cultivars. Here are the hosta speciesthat really matter to horticulture and hosta collectors.

H. montana, H. sieboldiana, H. fluctuans, and H.nigrescens are the parents to most large hosta hybrids.H. sieboldiana is the origin of almost all blue hostas. H.plantaginea is the origin of all fragrant-floweredhostas. H. sieboldii is the beginning point for hostavariegation, although many new variegated hostas haveH. sieboldiana (‘Dorothy Benedict’) as a parent.

Purple pigments in the leaf petioles and scapes ofhostas can be found in the Japanese species of H.longipes, H. kikutii, H. hyopleuca, and H. pycnophylla.Red pigments, especially the ones I have isolated in the leavesof hostas, primarily come from the Korean species H. yingeri,H. tsushimensis, and H. clausa as well as the Japanese species,H. sieboldii.

Small and miniature hostas are hybridized generally fromH. venusta, H. nakaiana, H. longissima, H. gracillima and H.sieboldii. While useful in hybridizing, H. ventricosa and H.lancifolia are traditional landscape plants useful in mass plant-ings, borders, and ringing trees.

6. Hostas are huge.Giant hostas are spectacular. There isnothing quite like seeing a garden of seven foot wide hostas,taller than your belly button. They are like skyscrapers, amaz-ing structures that we cannot quite fathom how they came tobe. We really do not know how, where, or when that tinyseedling that became ‘Sum and Substance’ first appeared onearth but it exceeded all our expectations. Now it’s the biggerthe better, and ‘Empress Wu’ has become the new hosta syn-onymous with huge. I am impressed every summer by the gi-ants; every garden no matter how small should have a few.

7. Hostas are tiny. Miniature hostas are cute. Some minisare small because they come from small parents but some aresmall because they do not grow well. I like the vigorous oneseven if they have to be divided every once in a while to keepthem in their designated space. ‘Tears of Joy’ is an uprighttwisted tiny leafed hosta from H. venusta parentage. The leaftwisting is caused by some strange mutation that has also re-duced the flower petals so that the flowers appear tiny and yel-low, with just the pollen on the anthers visible. Hostas of

extreme sizes, large or small, are equally amazing. 8. Hostas are low maintenance, carefree plants. True,

plant a hosta and walk away from it and it will survive on itsown. If you want to maximize your hosta’s potential and yourenjoyment of their company, then a little fertilizer in thespring, irrigation in dry times, and maybe a little weeding andmulching will make a big difference. Half of the fun of gar-dening is helping your hostas prosper.

9. Hostas do need to be fertilized. Many hosta gardenerstell me that they never feed their hostas. Maybe they all havedeep rich soils but hostas like all plants need specific nutri-ents in ample supply to make their own food. For hostas, ni-trogen and magnesium are the most important for producinglarge, high quality leaves. Try a foliar feed of liquid fertilizerin the spring a couple of times and see if your hostas don’tlook happier.

10. Hostas are virtually pest and disease free. Hostascan be, and I do not mean in a virtual internet kind of way. Ifyou are careful how you obtain your new hostas you can prob-ably avoid foliar nematodes and Hosta Virus X, the two pestproblems that get all the research money and bad press. Thatleaves slugs, sticks, and fungus, all temporary flaws on hostaleaves that will not reappear the next spring. I think it is un-reasonable to want your hosta leaves to remain unblemishedall summer; after all they do live in the real world.

11. Hostas are “deer candy.” The number one threat toHostadom is deer. They have had an enormous effect on the

Hosta catalogue of green Hill Farm, inc.p.O. Box 773, Franklinton, nc 27525

$4.00 | 919-309-0649email: HostaBob@gmail.com

cOntinUED On pAgE 4

May is always our busiest month at Green HillFarm. Most of our customers want their plantsshipped that month, especially if it has been a longcold winter like this one. We also have lots of visitorsto the nursery on Fridays and Saturdays in May whenthe hostas are at their prime. Memorial Day, May 26ththis year, brings our annual hosta festival with free hotdogs, drinks and cookies as well as the annual hostahybridizing tour. Yes, May is a very busy month.

This year it will not just busy but crazy!!! On May30th and 31st Nancy and I are hosting the Dixie Re-gional Hosta Society meeting just down US 1 in WakeForest, NC. On Friday we will have garden tours, in-cluding one large personal hosta collection, a trip tothe North Carolina Farmers Market to see their amaz-ing produce and plant offerings and then to the worldrenowned J .C. Raulston Arboretum. Friday night isthe annual auction and maybe a surprise speaker.

Saturday, will include more home gardens in theWake Forest area as well as a trip to Green Hill Farmfor lunch. A short lecture on hostas hybridizing will begiven at 11:00 AM and plants will be available forsale. After lunch we will return to the air conditioningof the hotel for a lecture by nationally known localgarden writer Bobby Ward and then Kim Larsen,hosta collector extraordinaire from St. Paul, MN, will

share her favorite hostas with us. Of course, there willbe vendors at the hotel also. It will be two full days ofhosta fun.

Want more information about the Dixie RegionalHosta Meeting? E-mail me at HostaBob@gmail.comor Call: 919-309-0649.

Finally, take my advice, never move a nursery. Iam sure that you can abandon one and start over freshwith much more ease than to try to disassemble hoophouses and reassemble them. Forty-three miles mightas well be four hundred when you have the lousyweather we have had the past three years. Then ofcourse, life gets in the way.

I wish I could report that we were completely set-tled but maybe in another year, after all we do have abusiness to keep afloat at the same time. I don’t wantto give you the wrong idea, we love the new setup; itjust still looks new. I will feel better when the grass fi-nally covers all the red clay and the last couple ofhoop houses are finished.

So come see the hostas this spring, they are reallythe stars of the show anyway. We will have conifersand ferns for sale also, just for fun. We may be a littleworn out by the end of May, but I’m sure we will allhave a great time, just the same.

Back to basics: Hosta fact sheetThe Green Hill Gossip

OUR 33RD YEARMarch 2014

Dixie comes to town

Hosta ‘Leapin’ Lizard’

Be sure to visit our site at ... www.HostaHosta.com

Page 2 / March 2014 The Green Hill Gossip

By Bob Solberg

I don’t like change. I do not embrace newtechnology but I live in the future of Hostadom.I guess you might call me old school but I amnot, I have a “not so smart phone” now. I amjust stubborn, resisting change that I do not cre-ate myself.

Green Hill Farm, like so many nurseriesbegan in my backyard. When I finally moved itthree whole miles from home after the first 9years, it was like having a secret hideout. I likednot having interruptions and getting my workdone in peace and quiet. For years there was nophone there but eventually the business grewand we needed a phone to conduct business likea real company. I fought the answering ma-chine, and then the fax but eventually they weresitting on my desk in the office and had to bechecked every day.

The Internet has been the greatest bane ofmy existence. Yes, it is a wonderful referencesource and the answer to almost all my ques-tions but I hate e-mail! It is more convenientthan writing letters but not nearly as efficient astalking on the phone. Plus everyone in the worldhas access to my e-mail address because we area business open to all. Now there is Facebookthat I try to post on regularly but it too often be-comes only rarely. I tried Twitter but only otherfolks on Twitter who wanted followers, fol-lowed me. Let’s see, check the answering ma-

chine, check my e-mail, check Facebook, forgetTwitter and check a forum or two. Then go towork, ugh. (We have finally silenced the faxmachine; it is just for outgoing messages.)

On the marketing side, we used to have alist, now we have five or six and a 12 pagenewspaper. And then there is the website that Iresisted as long as I could. It is another full colorcatalogue that is constantly changing. We havefive times as many advertising opportunities ascompared when we just had direct mail, TheHosta Journal and the newspaper but they areall more expensive and less effective. All thischange has filled my work hours with morecomputer work and less time in the nursery. Ihate it.

In fairness I could write about how e-mailand the Internet has made communicating withour international customers much easier, ship-ping to them hasn’t changed that much, how-ever it is still an adventure every time. I couldwrite about the worldwide exposure we getfrom our website but would have to mention allthe competition also. I could even write thatNancy’s cell phone can keep the office open24/7 where ever we happen to be, but I oftenwonder if that is a good thing. Life is muchmore complicated and I am a simple man.

Enough whining. I guess the point I am try-ing to make is that Hostadom is much morecomplicated now too. As much as we have allfought it, time has carried us along into the fu-

ture, a little at a time, almost unknowingly. Wehave all grown up with the times and embraceda time when thousands of hostas are availableon-line with just the swipe of a credit card or aPayPal account. Price, in this Walmart econ-omy, has become more important than size orquality. I do not think it is a conscience deci-sion, the world just changed and we went withthe flow.

Hostas for sale are now almost all grown incontainers, not in rows in the ground, even inhuge nurseries. They are grown in containers inlots of gardens, too. The well proven idea thathostas grow best in the earth has come intoquestion. We have learned that the world is ascary place for hostas left on their own in theground and many good gardeners protect theirhosta friends in a pot. Trees are no longer ourfriends.

To stay ahead, or more likely to keep up,hosta specialists, growers, collectors and societyleaders, are running away from our recent hostapast as fast as we can. Stop for a minute andlook at Hostadom through the eyes that just dis-covered this magical utopia. Imagine you haveonly two hostas, not two cultivars, two hostasthat a family member passed on to you. Theyhave grown well for you in your yard and youthink you might like to have some like youneighbor’s that are not all green. You ask themfor a division and they refuse, (somethingsnever change in Hostadom.) Where do you go

to find more? If you answered Amazon.comyou might be right, you know they will get freetwo day delivery.

They may Google hostas and choose one ofthe advertised sites at the top of the page andfind something in their price range, makingtheir selection on the photos alone. They mayrun down to Lowes and learn that hostas cost$4.95 for the small pots and $9.95 for the largerones and at Walmart they are even less moneyfor full pots of hostas but with much less at-tractive foliage. They may ask their neighborwhere they got their hostas and probably findout that they came from a family member.

They will be overwhelmed with hosta sitesthat have five hundred or more hostas. Theywill be amazed when they come to my site andfind one hosta could cost $50. The might stum-ble across the AHS site but quickly hit the backbutton, too much, too complicated. They willprobably choose the wrong hosta for the placethey want to put it, or it will arrive so tiny itwon’t flourish for several years and they willget discouraged with hostas and plant a KnockOut® rose or two. Then they will study travelbrochures.

How do we reach these folks that love andwant to grow hostas?

Now suppose you have 25 different hostasthis time, gathered from home improvementcenters, local nurseries or the Internet. You con-

Editorial: Back to the Future

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I have said many times that as hosta folkswe all seem to go through the same series ofpredictable phases of collecting. Variegatedhostas especially those with white or yellowcolored leaf centers first attract us. Then we getthe inevitable hosta blues that may last foryears, filling our gardens with every blue hostawe can find, searching for the bluest of all.Then one spring all that blue looks a little toopeaceful and calm and suddenly gold feverstrikes. Yellow hostas are all we see. This in-fection usually lasts only for a year or two atthe most.

By now our hosta collec-tor’s eye has maturedand, believe it or notsolid, green hostas be-come very interesting.Puckers, ruffles, and thesubtle shades of green in-terest us more than riotouscolor. Then our interestwanders one of many ways.For me, crazy as it sounds, Iam not a big fan of variegatedhostas. Streaked hostas do notincrease my pulse rate. White-centered hostas fill me withdread; I fear for their lives. I like

solid colored hostas best andof them I have a thing for theyellow ones.

It probably began when Istarted growing hosta seeds.

Grow some seeds of a yellow hosta and youwill germinate yellow ones, blue ones, usually,and green ones. What a deal. I started with ‘Au-gust Moon’, still an underused parent, but itwas when I began to create my own line of yel-low hostas that I really fell in love with them.There is always something special about yourown kids.

So here is the somewhat ironic tale of mylove for yellow hostas. It started with two reallynondescript late flowering hostas. I am crazy

busy running a nursery through themonth of June but things slow downto near normal in the heat of July.Only then can I turn my full atten-tion to hybridizing hostas so I havealways used late flowering hostasas parents primarily. (My ‘AugustMoon’ seedlings were producedfrom a re-blooming plant in thenursery.) So, it was a cross of thefairly newly discovered at thetime H. yingeri and a yellowform of H. tsushimensis, nowcalled ‘Ogon Tsushima’, thatwas the starting point formost all of my bright yellowhostas.

That first cross pro-duced two hostas that Inamed, ‘Whiskey Sour’,

which favored its H.tsushimensis parent,with bright yellowspring color and puck-ers, and ‘Sun Catcher’that looked more likeH. yingeri, with heav-ier substance andmore sun tolerance.While unique, theylooked like theycould be improvedso I crossed themtogether withtheir siblings, a

F2 cross. Theytended to become

green in hot weather so I wantedtheir prodigy to stay yellower longer and they

also had bright red color on about half theirpetioles. I thought it would be nice to enhancethat, too. So I was selecting now for two colors,yellow and red.

The two best seedlings from the F2 crossbecame ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’, againthe most H. tsushimensis looking seedling and‘Sun Worshiper’, the H. yingeri representative.The yellow was much better and the red nowextended up the petiole to the base of the leafblade. I loved the yellow but most visitors onlysaw red. Always sensitive to my customers’preferences, I realized that this bright redcolor was something new and should con-tinue to be enhanced if possible.

As luck would have it, I had also beenfooling around with some rather ratty look-ing second generation seedlings from H.clausa normalis. I wanted that bright redcolor on the base of the flower tube to findits way into the flowers of my seedlings.Why not try to put it on the leaf petioles, too?One yellow seedling had good red petioles butlacked vigor, substance, and wanted to run allover the garden. I decided to cross it with‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’ and its siblings.I had now, more or less unwittingly, crossedthree Korean species, combining their genesfor producing red in hosta leaves.

Maybe 100 seedlings resulted from fourcrosses. The crosses with ‘Strawberry BananaSmoothie’ proved the most interesting and re-sulted in a great diversity of leaf shapes, fromnarrow to round. The addition of the H. clausanormalis genetic material had not only inten-sified the red in the petioles and flower scapesbut also pushed the red up into the leaf alongthe midrib. Four hostas from this cross made itinto trade, little ‘Smiley Face’ with its unusualthick, round leaves and pink scape and petioles,‘Lemon Ice’, the largest of the four, with brightred emerging buds and bright yellow leaves inspring, ‘Peach Salsa’, with its light yellowleaves and bright red scapes, and my favorite,‘Mango Salsa’, not quite as yellow but withmore narrow ruffled leaves with good sub-stance and blood red petioles and scapes full ofpretty purple flowers.

From the first cross of this long line of yel-low hostas several of the seedlings showedsome red color on the tips of leaves, at least fora few weeks in early spring. Some of theseedlings from the other three crosses of the‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’ siblings and theH. clausa normalis seedlings produced hostas

with persistent red on the tips of leaves and inthe case of ‘Beet Salad’ a thin red edge on theleaf margin. ‘Beet Salad’ is green, not yellowbut has located red pigment in the vein that sur-rounds its leaves and has wonderful dark redscapes. It also passes red edges on to itsseedlings!

So what started as a plan to create hostasthat stayed bright yellow in the shade becamethe quest for the red leaf hosta. Ironically, it isa green hosta, ‘Beet Salad’ that seems to havegotten us there, but that is a story for anotherday. For me, every spring I fall in love with mybright yellow Korean hostas again. It doesn’thurt that they are accessorized in red but unlikemany of you, I still see the yellow first, andlast.

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Yellow HostascOntinUED On pAgE 3

Hosta ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’

Hosta ‘Mango Salsa’

Hosta ‘Smiley Face’

Hosta ‘Lemon ice’ emergingHosta ‘peach Salsa’

Page 3 / March 2014The Green Hill Gossip

sider yourself a gardener but still probably havemore lawn than mulched beds. You would liketo have a few more, different hostas but youhave exhausted your local sources. Where doyou find more?

What you need is not another trip to Googlebut a guide to walk with you through all thewonders of Hostadom. You need a hosta buddy.Most of our customers come in pairs, learningas much from each other as they do from me. Itis hard to find a hosta buddy on the Internet thatcan shop with you but internet hosta buddies arereal and help promote hostas. Forums, hostaspecific or general gardening are a great sourceof help. We need to cultivate those assets. It isthat one more thing we can never get to for peo-ple like me, however.

A local hosta club could also be one suchguide. I speak at lots of local hosta clubs and tryvery hard to make my presentation at a level forthe least and most experienced folks in theroom. My talk on growing hostas is best suitedfor these occasions which I can adapt to localconditions. But frankly, hosta club members arenot at the beginner’s level. Most know whattetraploid hostas are or at least that they exist.

In the past, we were all beginners really,even the so called experts. They had just been atit longer. We have now learned so much aboutall the tricks that hostas can do that, again un-knowingly, we have much more hosta knowl-edge than we realize. There is now a huge gapbetween hosta club members and hosta garden-ers with 25-50 different hostas. For example:

We assume they know all hostas are not thesame size.

We assume they know white-centeredhostas are hard to grow.

We assume they can recognize deer dam-age.

We assume they care about HVX.We assume they know about minis and

“mice”.We assume they know what a sport is.We assume they label their hostas.We assume they will become hostaholics. We assume they know what a hosta division

is. We assume they know that hosta liners are

not meant to be planted directly in the garden.We assume they will all someday join us in

Hostadom, for the love of hostas.We assume they will go with the flow like

we have. We assume too much. How do wereach these folks that want to know more abouthostas?

Say you have a large shade garden with awide diversity of plant material but lots and lotsof hostas. You may even consider yourself ahosta collector. You have mastered finding newand exciting hostas and have come to grips withthe amount of money you have begun spendingon plants. How do you make the next step andbecome an active member of Hostadom? At-tend a hosta meeting? Maybe the better ques-tion is, why would you want to?

What makes the AHS attractive to you? Ijoined because it was the only real source, inorder of importance, of information on where tobuy hostas, of color photos of hostas and intel-ligent articles about hostas. I joined for the plant.I stayed for the preservation of Hostadom, this

great love of hostas and hosta folks. The AHSno longer is the best source on where to buyhostas, Google is, or color photos of hostas,Google is again. Hosta information is every-where. I just counted, I have 25 hosta books inmy bookcase, and I probably am missing a few.Information about hostas is all over the Internet,where everyone appears to be an expert, in-cluding me.

We call it the hosta society for a reason. Thecommon love for a plant can foster love for oneanother. But as humans sometimes people be-come the reason that we come together, hostascome second or third. We bring in speakers ofall kinds to our National Meetings but rarely isone of our hosta superstars the banquet speaker.They seem too much like friends and we wouldrather hear someone who has a book, a localradio show and is entertaining, nothing too se-rious. Yes, hostas are the friendship plant butsometimes those friendships get in the way ofus promoting the plant. Remember, you have alarge shade garden with a wide diversity of plantmaterial but lots and lots of hostas. You have nofriends in the room and you are coming to learnabout hostas at the highest level. What are youlooking for?

It is time to get back to basics. We all startedat the bottom and worked our way up in hostas.Now we need to bring others along the samepath. Yes, times have changed and just like inbusiness there is a lot more competition but weneed to grow up the next generation of hosta ex-perts. So, I am back to talking to local gardenclubs for no compensation, just the hostas I cansell. Master Gardener groups and talks to youngnursery professionals at trade shows are greatopportunities; they all love hostas. Local garden

centers need speakers so that they can survivethe home improvement center onslaught. Al-most anyone reading this little newspaper cangive a short talk about hostas to any of thesegroups. You are all experts to them.

It is also time to sing the praises of hostasand not fester on all the little problems they mayhave. (I guess, even the optimist in me does notthink deer are a little problem.) The good so out-weighs the bad. And please leave society poli-tics behind the curtain. Think of that new hostawant-a-be in the back of the room that has comefor high level intellectual hosta discourse andnot of the problems of the day. Please keep clubbusiness in the board rooms and not have it fill45 minutes of every local club meeting. It’sshow time, let’s talk hostas.

Finally, here is one last little story thatopened my eyes to how far we have come andhow far we are now from that gardener with twohostas. Nancy and I were vendors at the DukeGardens plant sale last April. We had our usualspread of miniature hostas on a table as well assome larger ones on the ground. There weremany plant collectors present as well as youngcouples pushing strollers. We were asked againand again what those little plants on the tablewere. Some wondered even if they were herbs.I came to understand that even seasoned plantcollectors did not know that miniature hostasexisted. Fortunately, we had a demonstrationdish of three little hostas so they could see howto use them. They proved very popular, onceeveryone knew what miniatures were and howcute they could be. This year we are going toteach them about mouse madness!

Please be positive, you never know who iswatching. Hostas are supposed to be fun.

EDitORiAL,cOntinUED FROM pAgE 2

Shade gardening, some folks really make itlook easy, but it has always been a never end-ing battle for me. Don’t get me wrong, I lovemy trees and the cool shade they provide formy house and garden. I just hate fighting theirever expanding root systems. Even the “good”trees like oaks and hickories will eventuallysuck a garden dry in the dog days of summer.I have become resigned to their superiority andjust pray that my beeches and oaks will giveevery new hosta I plant in the garden threeyears to fulfill its destiny before slowly stran-gling the life out of it. There you have it, thejoys of shade gardening, boy I am glad that’sout of the way!

So where am I going with this, this time? Ireally do love living in the woods, I think it isin my DNA, and I love to surround myself withplants that interest and amaze me. Shade gar-dening is a very natural thing for me and prob-ably you, too. So, let’s put a shade gardentogether, right here on this piece of paper and inyour mind’s eye.

Whether we start with an empty woods orjust a few trees, any shade garden will begreatly dictated by the existing vegetation. Inother words you will have to work around thetrees. If you are blessed with many trees, it isbest to remove a few, actually a few more thanyou think you should. Don’t worry they willfill in the bright spots overhead faster than youwould like. Selecting to remove the trees withthe most aggressive root systems seems like agood plan but usually tree position takes prece-dence. The shade created by these trees shouldbe dappled but consistent. Bright morning lightis preferred over strong afternoon sun.

If you have been given a garden with justa few large trees, then island living is in storefor your hostas. The roots of large trees aremuch more aggressive out by the drip line thannear the trunk. There is plenty of good livingspace, probably pretty shady space however,near the trunk of a large tree. You might needto raise the beds there, but be careful not to puttoo much soil over the roots and never near the

trunk. Given a choice, I would take the forestover a couple of handsome old trees. There ismore flexibility there.

Now, let’s fill up our wooded space with ashade garden. What comes first is a path. Youneed a way to walk into the garden and a wayto get out. You need a cart path to the compostpile and maybe room to get a truck in to prunethose pesky trees after a storm. I like paths thatcurve and vary in width, creating narrow pas-sages and giving the illusion of greater dis-tance. I like paths that disappear round a corneror are hidden entirely from view when the gar-den is viewed from below.

I have mossy foot paths; there is no grass inmy small garden. Probably six or so speciesmake up my moss lawn and are probably attheir best in February, bright green in the deadof winter. Moss must be kept well watered insummer and weeded periodically but when set-tled in is pretty self-sufficient and in my gar-den now invasive. Every couple of years nowwe need to edge the beds and remove the ex-panding patches of moss that will suffocatesmall wild flowers and even miniature hostas.

Your paths can be of any material that isfunctional, prevents erosion, and does notscream for attention. Your eye should be at-tracted to the wonderful plant material in thebeds and not be distracted by a bed of shinywhite rocks. Mostly though, your paths shouldbe functional. They should handle a cart wherenecessary and they should get you quicklyfrom here to there if there is the need. Theyshould most of all provide the path that bestshows off the charms of your garden, from thetiny treasures to the unexpected vistas. Mostgarden paths are one way streets, offering vis-itors the perfect angle to see your creative de-sign. Walk a garden backwards one time andyou will be amazed at the difference.

Once the garden paths have been outlinedin your mind, or better yet laid out with gardenhoses, now it is time to obstruct them. If a pathcurves, there should be a rock or a shrub thatmakes it curve. I like rocks and small stackedfieldstone walls to follow a path’s edge, butmaybe just on one side. I want it to look natu-ral and see the handiwork of the gardener at thesame time. If your garden is more formal thenthe walls may be of brick or mortared stone. Itdoes not offend me even if the entire garden iswalled, (not a bad idea in these times of thegreat deer invasion), brick walls provide awonderful vertical space for climbing plants.

Large and small rocks can be used as spec-imens in the beds, mimicking the shape of largehosta clumps. Instead of a clump of three

hostas, why not try two hostasand a rock. Rocks compete wellwith tree roots and are droughtresistant. Some gardeners thinkthat rocks even trap water be-neath themselves for hosta rootsto find. Moss now covers mostof my rocks which adds the il-lusion of ancientness to my gar-den but I think I will have to pullsome of it off this spring so I canagain see the roughness of therocks beneath.

Save a few rocks for a waterfeature or two. Even my smallgarden has two small plasticponds with frogs and fish andmore birdbaths than I can count.Water reflects the garden andgives it depth. Running wateradds a further dimension stimu-lating equally ear and eye. I likelow maintenance frog pondsand the start a jumping froggives you as you draw near. Koiponds require better water qual-ity and may become the mainattraction for your visitors. Theyare also usually large enough toallow a window of bright lightinto the garden as the sun movesacross the sky.

Finally, there needs to beplaces to sit. The cool and calmof a shade garden demands thatyou linger, breathe deeply, andtake it all in from a specially selected spot. Ilike the old fashion concrete benches. They agewell, even supporting a little lime loving mossat their bases. Benches provide a place to restbut are not so comfortable that you are temptedto overstay your welcome. Some garden furni-ture however is easier to fall into than climbout of and a visitor may be reluctant to makethat great a commitment. Comfortable gardenchairs are best served with a tall, cool bever-age.

Next we need to provide a good home forour plants. It’s funny; hostas are good inbeds… raised beds, and pots, too. But beforewe go there, here is a little story from the trop-ics. I like to say that my father invented what hecalled the “hill” in Miami. We lived up on thepiney ridge on solid coral rock. To plant fruittrees holes were routinely dynamited into therock and then filled with soil. As my dad be-came more and more infatuated with collect-ing palms, generally shallow rooted plants, he

deciphered a new method of planting in raisedbeds. He brought in dump truck loads of soilfrom the glades and I enthusiastically hauled itacross our acre lot, artistically sculpting it intoserpentine beds. On these “hills” we plantedour palms that thrived above ground level.

I have used raised beds ever since in myshade gardens in the woods. I try never to covermore than one third of any of my structuraltrees’ root systems with soil but can pile it ashigh as two feet between tree trunks. My bedshave a verticality to them, more like miniaturemountain ranges than hills. These beds fill thespaces between my paths and surround myponds, providing amended soil free of treeroots, if just temporarily, to give my hostas andtheir companions a good head start in theirfight with the tree bullies.

I like to use a loamy soil as a base withsome clay and some sand. If you can make

cOntinUED On pAgE 4

the Joys ofShadeGardening

Hosta ‘Lime Ripple’

growth of the popularity of hostas in the pastdecade. Serious hosta growers in areas wheredeer are too numerous need to get a fence oruse repellant regularity to prevent thosevarmints from turning your beautiful hostaclumps into celery stalks. Hostas are evidentlyvery nutritious to other mammals as well;voles and even the occasional crazed squirrelwill eat hostas. Keep up the good fight!

12. Hostas with blue leaves are shadelovers. Since almost all blue hostas can betraced back to H. sieboldiana, a hosta thatprefers a cooler spot in the garden, blue hostasare very reliable in shade. Some hybrids, like‘Halcyon’ can, however, grow well in a gooddeal of sun but with some leaf damage if tem-peratures are extremely high.

13. Hostas with yellow leaves are notsun lovers.Yellow hostas, because they haveless chlorophyll than green hostas, need morelight to produce their food. Thus, it wouldmake sense that they would prosper in moresun. Unfortunately, many gold hostas are chil-dren of H. sieboldiana, the shade lover, andcannot handle hot sun. Many gold hostas arealso from H.sieboldii and H. tsushimensis andsome of these are more sun tolerant especiallyin the North.

14. Hostas with fragrant flowers de-mand sun and water. All fragrant-floweredhostas can be traced back to H. plantagineaas a parent. H. plantaginea grows best in asunnier location, (but not the full sun of theWalmart parking lot), with lots of water. Igrow my fragrant-flowered hostas on a deckthat gets mid-day sun in pots sitting in saucersof water.

15. Hostas grow best in rich, welldrained, moist soil. Not all of our gardenshave “rich, well-drained, evenly moist soil”no matter how much soil amending we do. Ifnot, the solution may be to grow your hostasin pots! In a container, the gardener can con-trol the soil, light, water, and nutrition for itshostas. From Zone 7, maybe Zone 6, south,there is no winter protection needed for pottedhostas, just maybe for your expensive ceramicpots.

16. Hostas make great cut flowers.Scapes of hosta flowers are great in flowerarrangements. Cut the scape after a couple offlowers have opened, place in water, re-cut-ting the scape every few days, and the flowerswill last for up to two weeks.

Does cutting your hosta scapes inducemore hosta leaves? No, the growing point ofthe shoot that made the leaves is now on thetop of the scape making flowers. Allowingseed set however might take some energyfrom next year’s plant so cut the scapes afterthey begin setting seeds, after several flowershave opened, or when the scapes become un-ruly, grabbing at garden visitors.

17. Hostas can be propagated by divi-sion. We all know that hosta clumps can bedivided in half, in quarters, or even down tosingle divisions using a sharp Ginsu knife. Ilike to do this in August after the hottestweather has past so that the divisions can re-grow new roots before dormancy. Others pre-

fer to divide their hostas in early spring asthey emerge but usually only in half or maybequarters, if it a large clump. The tissue cultureprocess is just dividing hostas in test tubes inthe present of growth regulating hormones. InTC, hostas can be divided every 4-6 weeks in-stead of 2-3 years in the garden. It is becauseof tissue culture that hostas are so affordable.Think how long it would take you to amass100 divisions of your favorite hosta seedlingby garden divisions. I bet you would have tocharge a lot for them.

18. Hosta tetraploids are improvedhostas. Hostas that are chemically convertedfrom their normal two sets of chromosomesto double that number (4 sets) have their ad-vantages and disadvantages. Convertedtetraploids have shorter scapes, larger flow-ers, thicker leaves on more compact plants,and maybe richer colors. Unfortunately, theyare smaller plants generally, except for white-centered forms, have shorter roots and growmore slowly. There is some good and somenot so good. Someday, because of theirgreater genetic variability tetraploid hybridsmay produce great advances in hosta hy-bridizing but it looks to be a slow process.

19. Hostas grow best north of I-80. Ithink they do. The combination of coolersummers with lower light intensity, longerdays, and a shorter growing season allowshostas to be grown in more sun without heatstress. The more tropical H. plantaginea andits children, however, may actually grow bet-ter in the South if given ample water and light.

20. Hostas will grow in Florida. Not allhostas need a cold dormancy to flourish.Many hostas will grow well in the panhandleof northern Florida but ‘So Sweet’ is almostevergreen in Orlando and further south.Hostas can be grown in Los Angles also, butall do better in pots than in the ground.

21. Hostas grow larger year after year.All hostas have a maximum size based ontheir genetic composition but hosta clumps dotend to increase in the number of shoots yearafter year. After, maybe a decade some hostaswill only produce shoots from the edge of thecrown, leaving a “fairy ring”. Some olderhosta clumps start to wander around the gar-den, opening up, looking more like a forestthan a tree. I do think there are limits togrowth, but they are dependent on changes inthe garden environment and the enthusiasm ofthe gardener.

22. Hostas have interesting names. Allhorticultural plants have “fancy” names givenby their originators. There are over 8000hostas with names that we have recorded andreally many more in hybridizers’ gardensacross Hostadom. I do not know if any otherplant has such interesting and entertainingnames, so much so that many hostas are pur-chased for the name alone. There are songnames, food names, names of friends, andsomewhat risqué names. Great names makefor great hostas. Just look at the “mousemania” that the name ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ hasgenerated.

23. Hostas have interesting flowers.Hostas are not grown for their flowers, butsome should be. There are of course fragrantflowers that fill our August evenings in thegarden with delight. There are a few doubleflowers, too, more curiosities for me than any-

thing else. Now hostas are beginning to haveflowers with different colored stripes, darkpurple, red, and black. Yellow and blue flow-ers have been reported too. Soon you may bebuying hostas for their unusual flowers aswell as the pretty foliage, believe it or not.

24. Hosta hybridizing is fun and easy. Itcan be, but it can be difficult and frustrating,too. Hosta seeds are easy to germinate andgrow into nice little plants. Some hostas setseed easily, but usually the ones you reallywant to set are obstinate. If you want to givehosta hybridizing a try, cross a blue hosta witha yellow hosta. The result will be green, blueand yellow seedlings. Streaked hostas makegood pod parents, yielding variegatedprodigy. You can even sow the seeds in thegarden in the fall and they will jump out ofthe ground in the spring. Give it a try, it reallyis fun.

25. Hostas are red, too. The quest is onfor red hostas. We now have hostas with com-pletely red or purple petioles and scapes.There are hostas with purple up the midribinto the middle of the leaf and even a little redon the leaf margin. The ultimate goal is tohave hostas with red leaves that stay red. Theyare coming, I can’t wait.

26. Hosta collecting is addicting. If youare reading this little newspaper, then you areeither enjoying the hosta high, trying to col-lect in moderation, or have quit this week forthe umpteenth time. Hosta collecting creates apositive feeling in a world of negativity. It isa good thing. Just stay positive and don’tspend all the grocery money.

27. Hostas come with friends. Hostashave been correctly called the “FriendshipPlant.” Some of the best friends that I havefound their way to me because of our mutualinterest in hostas. Some I have pursued andsome have chosen me, but with all, our rela-tionship goes much farther than just the plant.It may be because we met under the thera-peutic effect of hostas in a shady garden.

28. Hostas are our friends. I believethere is a spiritual relationship between hostasand humans. We really do love them in somemagical way. We share our lives with them,the joys of spring, the stress of summer, thesadness of autumn, and the hope-filled dreamsof winter. They are friends that give back

more than they take. They make us feel goodabout ourselves.

29. Hostas emerge magically in thespring. No one can argue that this is the num-ber one reason we grow hostas. For three orfour weeks in the spring, hostas entrance us.We get caught up in the spirit of spring re-newal, freshness and purity, resurrection.Hostas more than any plant I know relish inthis explosion of rebirth. Picture a seven footclump of ‘Sum and Substance’ expanding rap-idly enough to make a full clump from baresoil in 2-3 weeks. You can almost watch itgrow. And when those huge leaves begin tounfurl, goose bumps will run up and downyour spine.

In spring we all do the hosta dance, run-ning to the garden two, three or more times aday, looking for new shoots. We count theeyes and calculate the profit. We help theminis emerge by removing a leaf or that extramulch we gave them as a blanket for winter.We suffer when a twig pokes a hole in a per-fect leaf. We wander out into the garden andare lost for hours, transported to hosta heaven.

Maybe we wish that we could be likehostas and have a fresh start every year. OnNew Year’s Eve we like to think we have thatmagical power reserved for immortals, but byFebruary we realize that we all carry the pastinto the future. Then comes March and Apriland we do the hosta dance and it is anotheryear of hope in the garden. Last summerseems years away. This is why we growhostas, first to share their joy and their confi-dence in the future and second to share it witheach other.

30. Hostas are supposed to be fun!!!Welive in a critical world. We see the glass halfempty more than half full. We see the slugholes in our hostas and not the perfect leaves.We abandon old favorites for the newest hostasport that appears on-line. We are uncomfort-able in a world that moves too fast. All timeslows down in the shade garden when we lookand listen to what the hostas have to say. Life,yes, is filled with disappointments but hopesprings eternal. Happiness is really content-ment, accepting our circumstances. Thehostas know this better than we do as they sitpatiently and peacefully in the shade. Hostasare supposed to be fun, hosta folks, too.

Page 4 / March 2014 The Green Hill Gossip

BAck tO BASicS:HOStA FAct SHEEt,cOntinUED FROM pAgE 1

Hosta ‘Sourpuss’

marbles from a handful of your prospectivesoil it has too much clay, if it falls easilythrough your fingers it is too sandy. Clay isgood because it holds moisture but there mustbe some sand, larger particles, in between sothat the water can percolate deep into the newbeds. Choosing the right soil is important andoften your choices are limited but check morethan one supplier before having 15-20 yardsdumped in your driveway.

Almost any organic matter makes a goodamendment for the soil for your new beds.Compost, peat moss, pine bark, manure, oneor all, are wonderful. Living in the South, I pre-fer pine bark, since it is slow to break downand usually weed free. I use it as a mulch also,just a thin layer applied every couple of years.

I have also added gravel to beds in the past todiscourage voles and aid in drainage with var-ious results. I generally incorporate a little fer-tilizer, (10-10-10) into a new bed to feed thepine bark I have added and help get thingsgoing.

The vision of the garden should now becoming into view. All the above improve-ments to your woods may be classified bylandscape architects as hardscape. It is non-living and to some extent permanent. It is alsoexpensive, large outlays of cash for rocks,walls, path material, benches, and soil. Buy-ing plants, the reason you did all this con-struction in the first place, will seem likeshopping at your favorite discount wholesalerin comparison. Buying plants is the fun part,no work at all and I will not spoil the fun of itfor you by telling you which plants to buy.Grow what you like, not what I like, andhopefully more than a few hostas will find

their way into your shade garden.I do feel obliged to ramble on about plant

placement philosophy however. Our native de-ciduous forests tell us that plants should be lay-ered vertically in a shade garden. From theground up there are groundcover species,herbaceous plants, shrubs, understory trees,and canopy trees. A good shade garden shouldhave all of these in my opinion. The trick, how-ever, with all these layers of plants is to man-age shade in a shade garden. Old forests witha closed canopy do not let enough light fall tothe forest floor to allow many herbaceousplants to flourish. They tend to congregate atthe forest edges or in areas opened up by afallen tree. Early spring wild flowers are theexception. They appear and bloom in full sunbefore the canopy leafs out and are dormantagain by summer.

Most of the plants you will want to growneed part sun, at least some strong light for an

hour or more each day. Hostas are no excep-tion, enjoying a healthy dose of morning sunin most climes. To accomplish this I like tohave my tree canopy level very high with a fewopen areas to let in strong sunlight for an hourhere and then later, an hour there. I also try tokeep my understory tree layer pruned very low,preferably eight feet or less. My shrubs are alsominiatures or miniaturized by pruning. This al-lows light to fall all the way to the ground andto my waiting hostas. The trick is to get lots ofindirect light into a shade garden but also somestrong direct sunlight for short periods of time.

Finally, I like to fill the five layers of plantsin my shade garden with varieties that give thegarden seasonal interest. I know of no plantthat is at its prime at all times during the year,most are spectacular for a month or two and

tHE JOYS OF SHADE gARDEning,cOntinUED FROM pAgE 3

cOntinUED On pAgE 9

By Bob Solberg

‘Guacamole’ is 20 years oldBelieve it or not Hosta ‘Guacamole’ is 20

years old this year. That’s right, twenty yearshas quickly flown by since Green Hill Farmintroduced its flagship hosta. In that time‘Guacamole’ has been selected AHGA Hostaof the Year in 2002, won a Benedict GardenPerformance Award of Merit, and has proba-bly found a place in your garden. I wouldguess millions have been sold in specialtyhosta nurseries, garden centers, and home im-provement centers worldwide. For me it is theperfect beginner’s hosta, successfully grow-ing no matter where it is planted and howmuch it is ignored.

If I were to introduce ‘Guacamole’ today,I would probably patent it but in 1994 patentswere more of a negative than a positive for anew hosta. Many nurseries would not buypatented hostas because they could not prop-agate them. Twenty years later we live in anera of plant patents, trademarks, and brand-ing. Hostas that are not “big market” plantsand even some outright losers are nowpatented to protect marketing rights.

Fortunately, in 1994 nurseries were will-ing to pay $10 per plant wholesale for greatnew plants like ‘Patriot’ and ‘Guacamole’.Some wholesalers bought several hundredplants to sell but also to propagate. Those daysare now gone. Hosta specialty nurseries willstill pay $10 or more for a new introduction

that they can then sell right away for two orthree times as much but wholesalers now allrely on smaller, less expensive hosta liners orbare root plants from Holland.

For many hosta suppliers, exclusivity iswhat they are selling. This is why patents,trademarks and marketing programs have be-come so important. In the battle for marketshare patents allow you to control the mar-keting of a hosta for 20 years.

A plant patent is in effect for 20 years onlyif it is policed and enforced. Licenses are is-sued for the propagation and sale of patentedhostas. Parent holders or the folks that man-age them for the owners must find and keepunlicensed nurseries from producing theirplants. If they do not then the patent is nolonger in force.

A plant patent is tied to a specific hostacultivar, in my case ‘Orange Mar-malade’PP16,742. Trademarks on the other handare tied to a certain name, like SILVERSTAR™ but not to a specific cultivar. An “im-proved” form of a trademarked hosta can re-place the originally introduced cultivar,although this has not occurred with hostas tomy knowledge.

Marketing plans, like PROVEN WIN-NERS®, a registered trademark, rely on theexclusivity created by plant patents. Growersoutside the program cannot produce theseplants and nurseries that sell these plants mustadhere to the terms of their licensure. This in-cludes the required use of program pots and

labels and maybe limited areas of marketing. So in short, hostas have become big busi-

ness in the past 20 years. With the large homeimprovement centers gaining a larger andlarger market share in the retail nursery busi-ness, their large suppliers have become moreand more competitive as profit margins havedwindled. Product exclusivity has become thereason to choose one supplier over another. Aplant patent does not however guarantee ahigh quality hosta and in the end buyers forthe “box” stores must choose plants they thinkwill sell quickly. In the end, a hosta like ‘Gua-camole’ is still in demand in these markets be-cause it is attractive, has a good name, and iseasy to produce. No patent necessary.

People frequently ask whether I regret notpatenting ‘Guacamole.’ I still believe thatpatenting it in 1994 would have restricted itsdistribution and I was able to maintain exclu-sivity and those $10 wholesale prices for 3full years. More importantly, ‘Guacamole’ putGreen Hill Farm on the world stage as a lead-ing producer of new hostas. Even now whenbeing introduced to someone not familiar withour nursery, I just mention that we introduced‘Guacamole’ and it usually gives me somecredibility. In 2002 when ‘Orange Mar-malade’PP16,742 was ready to be released, timeshad changed and I patented it. It too can nowbe found in the home improvement centersthrough exclusive marketing. Sometimes, youhave to change with the times.

‘Curly Fries’ named 2016 AHGA Hosta of the Year

Our unusual little, yellow, agave-likehosta, ‘Curly Fries’, has been selected theAmerican Hosta Growers Association Hostaof the Year for 2016. It was also selected asone of the top 25 hostas on the AmericanHosta Society 2012 Popularity Poll as well astheir 2012 Mini Poll. I had no idea how pop-ular it would be but of course I am thrilled.

Nothing seems to come without a littlecontroversy these days. (Some may suggestthat I may have even created this one.) Thequestion has come up, again, “Is ‘Curly Fries’really a mini?” I always thought it was a smallbut through a technicality it is registered as aminiature for leaf show purposes. Size in leafshows is determined by the area of a typicalleaf, length times width. Anything 6 squareinches or smaller is a mini.

Very narrow-leafed hostas, like ‘CurlyFries’ (6” X 1”) are considered minis althoughthey are larger plants. I have suggested theidea of having a biological standard to judgesize instead. One often used is anything ‘Blue

Mouse Ears’ size or smaller is a mini. ‘CurlyFries’ makes a larger clump and thus is asmall.

Size aside, the selection of ‘Curly Fries’to all the above is very good news for hostahybridizers. In the past, it is hosta sports thatclimb the popularity polls and are selectedHosta of the Year. Seedlings do not fare aswell. Neither do small plants, or solid coloredhostas. ‘Curly Fries’ is a small, solid yellowseedling with interesting leaves and lots ofpersonality. It should give all of us seed grow-ers hope that that little unique seedling in theseedling tray we like so much, if given a goodname, can rise to the heights of hosta popu-larity. So keep up the good work.

‘Sourpuss’ goes for $720 in AHS National Auction

It was an auctioneer’s dream. Threegroups of bidders, really cartels that hadmassed their piggy bank savings, were ac-tively engaged. The bidding started to jump$25 at a time, like ping pong, bouncing backfrom one bidder to the next. All three biddershung in there almost until the end when thefinal bid for a huge division of Dave Chopko’s‘Sourpuss’ hit $720. The room erupted withapplause and Dave just grinned.

The American Hosta Society National

Page 5 / March 2014The Green Hill Gossip

Hostas perform best when planted withferns and other perennials in prepared beds.They can also be tucked into the landscapeon a hole by hole basis if an area of at least2-3 feet wide is prepared to a depth of 9-12inches. When planted in the woods withwildflowers it is important to remove allsurface tree roots within 2 feet of eachhosta clump.

Bed Preparation: The most importantingredient in successful hosta growing isbed preparation. Good hosta soil should re-main moist after a good rain yet drain well.It should have enough organic matter toprovide plenty of air spaces for vigorousroot growth but be firm enough to discour-age voles and other rodents. It should havehigh fertility and a light covering of mulchto keep the soil cool in summer and retainmoisture. Here is how we do it at GreenHill Farm.

First the area to be planted is com-pletely tilled with our old Troy Built tillerto its maximum depth of 8-9 inches. We re-move all the surface tree roots that the tillerfinds. If the soil is poor and/or hard, we willfrequently add 4-5 inches of purchased top-

soil, a good sandy loam, and till it in to theexisting soil. Then 3 inches (about 30% ofthe total bed) of organic matter is spreadover the bed and tilled in with some 10-10-10 fertilizer to “feed the bark”. We usuallyuse coarse pine bark nuggets in our bedsthat are locally available in bulk, but well-rotted sawdust, compost or manure willalso work well. The coarser the organic ma-terial is the larger the air spaces in the soilwill be and the longer they will remain inthe soil.

The addition of gravel gives the bedmass, moderating soil temperatures as wellas making it firmer. Also, it is a vole deter-rent. If you can dig in your bed easily withyour hands then the voles can too. We nolonger spread gravel over the entire bed andtill it in to a depth of 4 -5 inches, althoughit has worked well for us in the past. Wejust add gravel where we plant our hostasand other perennials that voles might eat.

Finally, after a good rain to settle thingsa little, the bed is ready to plant.

Hole Preparation: Hostas do notgrow deep into the soil, usually no deeperthat one shovel depth or so. Wide holes are

better than deep holes, since hosta rootsusually extend as far or further from thecenter of the plant as the foliage does. Diga hole wide enough to accommodate all theroots of the hosta to be planted without cut-ting or folding them. Make a small moundin the bottom of the hole to rest the crownupon and cover it with about an inch of 3/8inch gravel, either crushed granite or peagravel. Take the bare rooted hosta and runits roots down the hill. Cover the roots andcrown with another inch or so of gravel,making a hosta and gravel sandwich.Loosely fill the hole with soil that has beenamended with some slow release fertilizeror manure (especially if planting in thespring). Do not pack the soil around theplant. Water thoroughly and mulch with athin layer of pine bark, shredded oak barkor whatever is your local favorite. Remem-ber to keep the mulch off the hosta petiolesin order to discourage fungal diseases.Also, deep mulches encourage voles.

When to plant:Hostas can be success-fully planted any time that the ground canbe worked. The best times to plant hostasare when they are actively making newroots, in the spring after the first flush ofleaves has hardened off and in late summeronce the hottest weather is past. Here inNorth Carolina that is usually early Mayand late August. Most plants that we shipto retail customers are sent during those op-

timum times. Planting at these times allowsthe plants enough time to establish a goodroot system before the droughts of summerin the first case and before they go dormantfor the winter in the latter.

Containerized hostas can be plantedwith a minimum of shock throughout thespring, summer and into fall. They shouldbe completely bare rooted before plantingand their roots untangled. If your hostas ar-rive bare root they will probably appreciatebeing soaked in a bucket of water for sev-eral hours to rehydrate them before plant-ing. Pinching a leaf or two will also reducedesiccation shock and usually stimulate an-other flush of leaves. Hostas usually accli-mate completely to their new homes in 1-2weeks and should be kept moist during thatperiod. A topdressing of fertilizer will alsoencourage rapid new growth.

Finally, for hostas to achieve their max-imum potential, the soil must be able toreadily take up the water and nutrients thatthey need. Good bed preparation in the be-ginning makes all the difference. This how-ever is not the end of the process. Overtime tree roots will reinvade your beds rob-bing your hostas of water and heavy rainswill compact the soil making it hard for anywater to penetrate deep into the bed. Alas,then the beds will need reworking. Re-member, a garden is never completed; it isalways a work in process.

Planting Instructions . . .cOntinUED On pAgE 8Hosta ‘guacamole’

Hosta ‘curly Fries’

The Local Gossip 2014

www.HostaHosta.com

Host

a‘Brentwood Blues’’

Hos

ta‘Tilt-A-Whirl’’

Hosta ‘Plum Pudding’

Hosta ‘Baby Booties’

Hosta ‘Megan’s Angel’

www.HostaHosta.comHosta ‘Plum Pudding’

Hos

ta‘Secret Treasure’

Hosta ‘Smash Hit’Hosta ‘Lightning Flash’

Hosta ‘Neutrino’

Hosta ‘Chorus Girl’

Hos

ta p

lant

agin

ea‘Poseidon’

Page 8 / March 2014 The Green Hill Gossip

Auction is one of the main fund raisers tofund The Hosta Journal. It is held at the Na-tional Convention each June. It’s about morethan just raising money however; it is edu-cational. A little story is attached to each ofthe hostas up for bid and nuggets of knowl-edge are gathered by even the most expert ofhosta collectors. There are always hostas inthe auction that I have never seen before, andsome I hope to never see again.

The auction is also very entertaining. Thelong time auctioneers, Mark Zilis, TomMichelletti, Don Dean, Mike Shadrack, KimLarson and I, add humor to the fast pacedproceedings that is sometimes aimed at theplants themselves but more frequently ateach other. It is quite a show, 3-4 hours ofgood family entertainment, and it is free andopen to the public. Yes, you may overpay for

a hosta or two but it is after all a charity auc-tion; all for a good cause. Catch it when itcomes to a city near you, like Cedar Rapids,Iowa this summer. Green Hill Farm to Host Dixie Regional and AHS National Convention

It all took place very late at night, after afew adult beverages. To quote Jimmy Buffet,“It was too much Tequila, or not quiteenough.” Nancy and I were sitting with ourusual Saturday night Hosta College cronies,several who are on the AHS Board, chattingcasually about the difficulty in finding peo-ple to host the AHS National Convention. Iwas listening out of the one ear and dis-cussing something else more interesting, likehostas, at the same time.

As background, putting on the NationalConvention has become a big job, too muchfor many local hosta clubs to undertake

alone. As a result the National, the AHS, hasoffered to do large portions of the work tohelp out, so much so that in theory two indi-viduals can hold the meeting with AHS help.Such was the case last year in Milwaukee,which by the way was a rousing success.

So there we sit last March, again I repeatvery late at night after a few adult beverages,and the topic rolls around as to who will hostthe 2015 National Convention, just two yearsaway. Normally, three or four years lead timeare needed. Oh yes, I chaired the 1991 Na-tional Convention and co-chaired with TonyAvent the 2001 meeting with the support ofthe now defunct Carolina Hosta Society.After the 2001 convention Nancy told meshe would divorce me if I ever volunteered todo it again. So, with the club gone and thethreat of divorce hanging over my head, Ionly casually paid any attention to the dis-cussion at the other end of the table.

Suddenly I heard, “We’ll do it!” I could-

n’t believe my ears. Nancy had signed us up,meaning Nancy and me, to host the 2015Convention. Fortunately, I never threatenedto divorce her. I know now it will come topass June 18-21, 2015 in Raleigh, NC, andwe’ll do the best we can and hope to see youall there.

But that is not the end of the story or thefull extent of our insanity. As a warm up, atrial run, I thought it might be fun to hostathe Dixie Regional, this year. We could workout the bugs and have a good time too. TheDixie meeting is very flexible and we havedone that a couple of times before and it wasnot too overwhelming. Nancy thought I hadlost my mind this time. It will be May 30-31,2014, closer to home in Wake Forest, NC.We’d love to see you then also.

Finally, a plea for help. If you would liketo do a little something to help out please letus know, especially for the National. Wepromise to make it fun. Thanks.

tHE LOcAL gOSSip 2014,cOntinUED FROM pAgE 5

“New and exciting!!!”New Medium to Huge:NEW ‘Sourpuss’ (D. Chopko) - (Sport of ‘LemonMeriangue’) - Huge, (30” X 64”) This fantastic sportof ‘Lemon Meringue’ is the pride and joy of DaveChopko. It not only makes a huge clump of green fo-liage bordered in yellow but brought the huge priceof $720 at the AHS Auction last summer. Be sure togive this one half a day of sun, lots of and fertilizer,and then stand back. $50 ♥NEW ‘Tilt-A-Whirl’ (Solberg 2013) - (‘Corkscrew’X ‘June’) - Small, (11” X 18”) Sometimes things dowork out the way you planned. I wanted to take myhosta ‘Corkscrew’ and give it blue foliage, so I crossedit with ‘June’. This small, upright, highly twisted hostais the result. Perfect in a pot. $50 limitedNEW ‘Leapin’ Lizard’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2013) -([‘Splashed Leather’ X ‘Treasure Island’] open pol-linated) - ( Medium, (12” X 30”) This medium-sizedhosta has it all. The attractive green leaves are highlyruffled, folded, and heavily puckered. Every leaf is alittle different resulting in a wild and crazy hosta. Thisseedling of Doug Beilstein’s is not only a First Lookwinner but a sure show stopper in the garden. $45 NEW ‘Lightning Flash’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2013) -([‘Color Fantasy’ X ‘Alabama Gold’] X ‘VenetianBlue’) - Small, (9” X 16”) We are introducing thisflashy little hosta just for fun. It is another of DougBeilstein’s seedlings that has very narrow blue leaveswith cream streaks . It is vigorous and yes, it does pro-duce streaked seedlings. It will make you smile. $35 NEW H. plantaginea ‘Poseidon’ (M. Zilis 2010) -(Sport of H. plantaginea ‘Athena’) - Large, (20” X45”) This hosta is the best variegated sport of H. plan-taginea in the trade today. It has wide, bright whiteleaf margins, even white edges on the flower bractsas well as the 30+ petaled flowers of ‘Venus’. It ismuch more vigorous for me than other variegatedforms and likes several hours of bright light and lotsof water. I think this is a great hosta. $35NEW ‘Chorus Girl’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2013) –([‘Goddess of Athena’ X ‘Blue Veil’] X ([‘Neat Splash’X ‘Gosan Sunproof’] X ‘Golden Friendship’) – Small,(11” X 21”) I am always attracted to cupped and puck-ered hostas and I especially like little ones. This littlebeauty makes a tight clump of bright gold leaves thatare held upward toward the sun. A seedling of DougBeilstein, it is a great plant for hybridizing. $30 NEW ‘Lakeside Paisley Print’ (M. Chastain 2006)- (Seedling) - Small to Medium, (12” X 30”) This maybe Mary’s most interesting variegated seedling of all.The highly ruffled, cupped blue-green leaves haveyellow variegation in the leaf center that explode likefireworks from the petiole. The result is a leaf with adark broad margin with feathers of yellow shootingup and out. Purple flowers appear in June. I finallybroke down and had to have this beauty. $30NEW ‘Megan’s Angel’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2009) -(Sport of streaked ‘Blue Angel’) - Huge, (22” X 54”or larger) This one of Doug Beilstein’s is a sport of theclassic ‘Blue Angel’, named for his daughter. Thehuge blue leaves emerge with this wide, soft yellowborder that will become white by late summer. Itgrows well and has the same wonderful near whiteflower display as its parent. It will grow large enoughto fill a whiskey barrel. $30 ♥NEW ‘Plum Pudding’ (Solberg 2011) - (‘OneMan’s Treasure’ X seedling) - Medium, (16” X 24”)A seedling from our purple hybridizing line, thismedium- sized hosta has unusually dark greenrounded leaves with very good substance. Rich purple

scapes and flowers appear in September. Seed is veryeasy to set. It is a customer favorite and great for hy-bridizing or displaying in a container. $30NEW ‘Bridal Falls’ PPAF (J. van den Top, WaltersGardens ) - (Sport of ‘Niagara Falls’) - Large, (24” X40”) This tall beautifully arching hosta is the white-margined sport of the classic ‘Niagara Falls’. It hasthe ruffled piecrust edge of its parent and growsquickly into a magnificent clump. The flower scapesappear first as rising stars with whitish bracts beforerevealing their lavender flowers in June. This one isdestined for greatness. $25NEW ‘Potomac Glory’ (R. Whitmore 2002 ) - (Sportof ‘Potomac Pride’) - Large, (20” X 40”) This yellow-centered form of the classic ‘Potomac Pride’ make alarge, sturdy, spreading clump. The leaves have ametallic glint to them when grown in morning sun thatdemands attention. It has large lavender “spider”shaped flowers in June. It is a very distinctive and at-tractive addition to the hosta bed. $25NEW ‘Secret Treasure’ PPAF (J. van den Top) - (Sportof ‘One Man’s Treasure’) Medium, (16” X 28”) Thisis a special hosta from Jan van den Top in Holland.Nancy fell in love with it when we visited Jan twosummers ago. It is a beautiful white margined sportof ‘One Man’s Treasure’, a great blend of rich purplepetioles and scapes, dark green leaves and brightwhite margins. Makes a great pot plant!!! $25NEW ‘Smash Hit’ (Zilis) - (Sport of ‘Orange Mar-malade’ PP#16742) - Medium, (14” X 30”) This sport of‘Orange Marmalade’ PP#16742 has a much wider blue-green margin than its parent indicating that it is prob-ably tetraploid and will grow a little better. The leafcenter is still bright yellow in the spring, turning or-ange, and then near white. It has lavender flowers inJuly. It is distinctively different. $25♥NEW ‘Cherry Flip’ (Solberg, Zilis) - (Seeding48/49 X ‘One Man’s Treasure’) - Medium, (16” X30”) This upright hosta from our purple petiole hy-bridizing program has nicely rippled green leaves. Thepetioles are maroon on both sides on this seedling.Very fertile purple flowers appear late in summer andmay extend into fall. Perfect in a pot. $20 NEW ‘Fragrant Queen’ PP#19508 (J. van den Top, D.Eechaute 2008) - (Sport of ‘Fragrant King’) –Medium, (16” X 25” or larger) I love all fragrant flow-ered hostas but this tetraploid one has it all, a verywide white margin, great substance, and large highlyscented flowers in July and August. It also grows well.It is one of the showiest hostas on the market. $20NEW ‘Lakeside Dragonfly’ (M. Chastain 1997) –(Seedling of unknown parentage) – Small to Medium,(12” X 30”) A classic hosta from Mary Chastain, itswide white margins demand attention. It forms a fastgrowing, flat mound of highly colored foliage that ishappy growing in the mini bed or in the front of thehosta border. Lavender flowers appear in late July.This one will give you instant color. $20♥NEW ‘Pea Pod’ (Solberg 2013) - (Sport of ‘SugarSnap’) - Large, (22” X 40”) This all green form fromthe ‘Sweet Sunshine’ line has dark green leaves thatare cupped and puckered and surprise, surprise, nearwhite fragrant flowers in July. It is sun tolerant and isthe perfect replacement for a ‘Tokudama’ in southerngardens. $20 or “Two for $30” NEW ‘Rocket’s Red Glare’ (B. Stegman) –Medium, (12” X 30”) This hosta is an excellentseedling from ‘One Man’s Treasure’, I believe, withvery shiny, bright green leaves and red petioles. Thereis a slight ruffle to the leaves. A fertile parent it bloomsin late August. This one has great color. $20NEW ‘Tropical Dancer’ PP#21209 (J. van den Top, D.Eechaute 2008) - (Sport of ‘Spring Fling’) – Medium,(14” X 26”) This tetraploid sport of ‘Spring Fling’ hasthe same wonderful ruffling as its parent but has amuch wider white margin so it stands out in the nurs-ery or garden. It is sure to brighten up any dark cornerof the garden. $20

New Miniature and Small Hostas:

NEW ‘Baby Booties’ I have been very impressedwith this great, true miniature hosta. Its leaves have avery showy white margin and a cute rounded shape.It is a seedling of Doug Beilstein’s, a F2 cross of‘Swoosh’ and H.capitata. It also grows very well inthe nursery. $20NEW ‘Brentwood Blues’ This little hosta is a won-derful sport of ‘Rhythm and Blues’ from Steve Wat-son of Brentwood, Tennessee. It has bright whitemargins on blue-green leaves with well-proportionedflowers. It has a great combination of colors. $25 NEW ‘Cat and Mouse’ PP#20862 (H. Hansen, ShadyOaks 2007) – (Sport of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’) - Mini,(3” X 6”) This much sought after sport of ‘BlueMouse Ears’ has a lighter, hazy yellow leaf center. Itremains smaller than its parent making it just thatmuch cuter. Lavender flowers appear in June and July.No “mouse” collection is complete without this littleguy. $25NEW ‘Church Mouse’ (Walters Gardens) - (Sport of‘Blue Mouse Ears’) – Mini, (8” X 14”) This new sportof ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ has a narrow, light green mar-gin that gives the plant a coarsely ruffled edge sort oflike ‘Embroidery’. It has typical lavender flowers inJune on one foot scapes. This mouse is a little differ-ent. $20NEW ‘Firefly’ (D. & J. Ward 1996) – (‘Pin Stripe’seedling) – Small, (7” X 16”) This very bright nar-row-leafed creamy white-margined little hosta has lotsof personality. It is small enough for a container butalso large enough for the garden. It blooms in July. Itsshiny leaves flash in the evening. $20NEW ‘Neutrino’ (Japan, M. Zilis 2011) – (H. venustaseedling) – Mini, (5” X 16”) This cute little hosta hasheart-shaped leaves bordered in creamy white. A lit-tle slow to grow, it is perfect in a bowl or through. Itflowers in late June or July. It is a tiny treasure. $20NEW ‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’ (M. Zilis 2011) – (Sportof ‘Blue Mouse Ears’) – Mini, (6” X 14”) This sportof ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ has nice undulating blue-greenleaves especially attractive as they emerge. Since wehave had this “mouse” at the nursery, it has proven tobe a faster grower than most. Here is one more for the“mouse house.” $15NEW ‘Surfer Girl’ (C. Wasitis, Bridgewood Gardens2000) – (Seedling of unknown parentage) – Mini, (4”X 12”) This cute little green hosta has very wavy, surf-board shaped leaves. It makes a tight clump, and iseasy to grow in a container. It has purple flowers inJuly. Give it a try. $15

Medium to Large Hostas:‘Almost Heaven’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2012) -(Seedling of MCBS #2 Red Seedling [Mary Chastainseedling]  X OP) - Small to Medium, (14” X 30”) Thisis a cool hosta from Doug Beilstein! It has three dis-tinct colors in the leaf, a white center and a wide bi-color border of dark green and chartreuse thatproduces plenty of energy so that this small hostagrows very well. It really needs a special place of itsown where garden visitors can pause and enjoy itsbeauty. $25‘Bailey’s Cream’ (Beilstein 2009) - (‘Sea Prize’ X‘Blue Angel’) - Medium, (20” X 36”) I like differenthostas, especially different colors on new leaf shapes.This hosta has both, from its clean pure white mar-gins and Irish green centers to its not quite round,shiny leaves. It looks a little “unhosta”, maybe moretropical, and I like that. Nice lavender flowers in mid-summer. $20 ♥‘Barbara May’ (Solberg 2004) - [(H. pycnophyllaX ‘Harvest Dandy’) X (‘Blue Arrow’ X ‘Sea Fire’)] -Medium, (14” X 30”) This beautiful blue hosta haseverything you want, great bright blue color withabundant white wax on the top and bottom of theleaves, interesting, almost triangular leaves with del-icately ruffled margins, strong veins and good sub-stance. A “long season” hosta that holds that blue colorwell, producing light lavender flowers in July and Au-gust. $12

‘Blue Legend’ (K. Anderson) - Large, (28” X 60” orlarger) Most very large blue hostas are well, not veryblue. ‘Blue Legend’ is an exception. It is a very largehosta with very waxy blue leaves that resemble H.montana and its strong venation. It has many lightlavender flowers in June. See how big you can growthis one from Minnesota. $20♥‘Blue Ridge’ (Solberg 2009) - (Sport of ‘FrostGiant’) - Large, (28” X 66”) This large sturdy, blue-green hosta quickly makes a stately upright clump inthe garden. It also grows well in Southern gardens,holding up well into late summer. Its straight scapesproduce near white flowers in June. Large plants!!!Limited. $20‘Blue Tooth’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2011) – (‘June’ X‘Azure Snow’) – Large, (18” X 36”) I love hostas thathave long, narrow leaves with lots of veins. This pow-der blue hosta has both, leaves 11.5” X 4.5” and 12pairs of veins! It also has light lavender Bird of Para-dise-like flowers in August. It makes a large symmet-ric mound. $20 ‘Blueberry Waffles’ (Sandy Brown 2008) - (‘SpiltMilk’ × ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’) - Very Large, (30”X 68”) This is the one you have all been waiting for!!!Maybe it is the huge almost perfectly round leaves, ortheir deep blue color, the color of blueberries, with allthe perfect puckering, or maybe just the impressivemound of foliage that makes it the perfect specimen,(probably all three), but this is a spectacular hosta thatyou can’t get out of your mind. It flowers with its H.sieboldiana kin in June. It’s destined to be one of thehottest hostas of the year. Special $25‘Brutus’ (D. Beilstein 2007) - (‘Sea Drift’ X H.venusta) - Very Large, (36” X 65”) ‘Brutus’ is a huge-leafed, dark green monster that is a little unruly. Atmaturity, every leaf has an intricate pattern of ridges

Our New Hostas for 2014‘Sourpuss’

‘Tilt-A-Whirl’‘Leapin’ Lizard’‘Lightning Flash’

H. plantaginea ‘Poseidon’‘Chorus Girl’

‘Lakeside Paisley Print’‘Megan’s Angel’‘Plum Pudding’

‘Bridal Falls’ PPAF‘Potomac Glory’

‘Secret Treasure’ PPAF‘Smash Hit’‘Cherry Flip’

‘Fragrant Queen’ PP#19508 ‘Lakeside Dragonfly’

‘Pea Pod’‘Rocket’s Red Glare’

‘Tropical Dancer’ PP#21209‘Baby Booties’

‘Brentwood Blues’‘Cat and Mouse’‘Church Mouse’

‘Firefly’‘Neutrino’

‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’‘Surfer Girl’

Spring 2014Complete Retail Hosta Listing♥ indicates our introductions

cOntinUED On pAgE 9

Page 9 / March 2014The Green Hill Gossip

then give way to another that will surprise andcharm the eye. Any plant that is grown for itsflowers has a peak time of bloom.

Hostas are not immune from this either al-though we would like to think so. There arespring hostas and there are summer hostas,maybe a fall hosta or two also. Very few hostaslook great all season. So I want a variety ofplants in my shade garden that will togethergive me a reason to go and sit on my concretebench any day of the year.

Again I will not tell you what plants togrow but here are some examples of what I likejust to flesh out the concept. My hellebores are

spectacular from January to March dependingon the weather. They tend to like to be dry inthe summer so we have banished them fromthe heavily watered hosta beds and now theyflourish across the driveway at the edge of thewoods. I also love my little bulbs that bloombefore any hostas dare to show their eyes. Cro-cuses are great because they are all gone be-fore the hostas emerge as are my miniaturedaffodils. ‘Jet Fire’ and ‘Tete-a-Tete’ are reli-able bloomers for me in the shade and I can cuttheir messy foliage when the hostas begin toleaf out.

I think every shade garden needs some na-tive wildflowers to usher in spring. They tooare usually up and gone before the hostas or atleast do not seem to mind sharing their spacewith them. April is filled with the excitement of

watching, hour by hour, my hostas jumping outof the ground. By May they have filed their al-lotted places and bring a wave of color over thegarden floor. The hydrangeas are the nextgroup of showoffs. They vary year to year butprovide a large leafed back drop that stops theeye as it glides over the sea of hostas.

We have lots of ferns as groundcover andspecimens. A few drastically pruned Japanesemaples provide clouds of red and yellow fo-liage anchoring the beds. Miniature mountainlaurels with their rich green color and seem-ingly hand painted flowers demand close upinspection. Fall brings reblooming azaleas,sasanqua camellias in full bloom, and maybe afew crocus flowers. By then the hostas are shotand there comes a time when I wish the frostwould just hurry along and take them. The

conifers then begin to take on their winter col-ors and start to stand out. Finally, in winter, themoss is at its peak and the garden is still verygreen and inviting.

I will add only one more suggestion to thisdiscussion; take it easy. A small garden well-tended is more rewarding than a large gardenthat becomes a maintenance headache. Mak-ing new beds and filling them with specialplants is fun but weeding and watering themcan almost become a full time job. A shade gar-den is supposed to be relaxing, not work. Startslow and remember eventually those nasty treeroots will invade your new beds, they will stealthe water and fertilizer meant for others and thebeds will need to be reworked. But now, justsit back and enjoy the shade, and take anothersip of that tall, cool drink for me.

and valleys that draw closer inspection. It is toppedby pretty purple flowers in early summer on tallscapes. It makes an impressive specimen if raisedabove ground level. ‘Brutus’ is a beast! $20‘Bumblebee’ (D. Savory 2000) - (‘Honey’ seedling)- Large, (19” X 52”) This golden yellow hosta of H.montana heritage, has large heavily corrugated goldleaves. It has grown well for us here and shonebrightly in the hoop houses. It has near white flowersin early summer on 30 inch scapes. It is a nice, largegold to try. $20 ♥‘Catch of the Day’ (Solberg 2013) - (Sport of‘Hoosier Harmony’) - Large, (20” X 36”) I guess we alllike to go sport fishing; I do it occasionally with mixedresults. Sometimes if you produce thousands of hostasin tissue culture you begin to create a better plant, onethat grows better. This wide green-margined, bright yel-low centered sport of ‘Hoosier Harmony’ grows wellfor me. I like to grow this one in a container on the deckso that it gets a little more sun and we can enjoy the fra-grant flowers in August. $20‘Cup of Grace’ (Beilstein 2009) - (‘Halcyon’ X‘Breeder’s Choice’ op. seedling) Medium, (21” X36”) What do hosta folks want in a “dream hosta”?Frequently, they want it to be very dark green withwhite flowers. Add a very upright habit and highlycupped leaves and you have ‘Cup of Grace’. Thishosta is very well proportioned and exhibits classicgrace. It is striking as the focal point of a mixed con-tainer. $20 or “Two for $30”‘Dandy Lion’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2011) - (‘GreenPiecrust’ X ‘Just So’) - Large, (20” X 40”) Everyoneloves a hosta with large rounded yellow leaves. Thishosta makes a compact mound and is ideal for coolNorthern gardens. It has light lavender flowers in Juneand keeps its golden yellow color well. $20‘Dragon’s Eye’ (W. Lefever, Solberg 2008) - (‘Rip-tide’ seedling) - Large, (22” X 36” or more) This largehosta has frosty, undulating gray-green leaves with tallpurple petioles, very waxy white leaf backs. Lavenderflowers appear on waxy purple scapes in August.Good in the garden or as part of your breeding pro-gram, (sets seed). $15 or “Two for $20”‘Dream Boat’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2009) - (H. ni-grescens op) - Medium to Large, (22” X 40”) Fromthe first time I saw it, the unusual cupping and color ofthis hosta, made it a favorite of mine. It’s truly uniquefoot-long artichoke colored, upright leaves are boat-shaped, a small flotilla sailing in the wind. It flowers inJuly and August, is fertile and would make a greatbreeding plant. It is worth a look for sure. $20 ♥‘Final Summation’ (Solberg 2008) - (Sport of‘Sum and Substance’) - Large, (20” X 60” or more)This is the dark green-edged sport of ‘Sum and Sub-stance’ that for many years I have searched for all overthe hosta world. It was selected for its wide green mar-gins, superior rich colors and slightly cupped, veryround, giant leaves. It has typical lavender flowers inJuly. $25♥‘First Frost’ (Scolnik, Solberg 2002) - (Sport of‘Halcyon’) - Medium, (16” X 34”) “Great hostasports start with great hosta parents.” ‘First Frost’ is afrosty white edged sport of ‘Halcyon’. Blue leavesemerge with a sharp margin the wonderful color ofthe center of ‘June’ and then turn pure white. Laven-der flowers in July. It also holds up well in the gardenuntil the “first frost”. AHGA Hosta of the Year for2010! $15 ‘Frost Giant’ (W. Lefever, Solberg 2008) - (‘Galaxy’seedling) - Large, (28” X 66” or more) Big blue-green,sturdy, leaves that have a bright yellow margin thatbecomes cream in late summer make this a verystately hosta. Straight scapes produce near white flow-ers in June. It is a nice addition for that big hole in theback of the bed. Large Plants $25♥‘Frozen Margarita’ (Solberg 2003) - (‘Fried Ba-nanas’ sport) - Large, (22” X 42”) This hosta has veryshiny, plantain-yellow leaves with a clean, variablewhite margin. It is a rapid grower that appreciatesmorning sun in the garden. Its light lavender flowersare very fragrant flowers in August. Cool and re-freshing, served only without salt. $15 ♥‘Ginsu Knife’ (Solberg 2002) - (‘Irongate Supreme’X ‘Green Fountain’) -Medium, (14” X 28”) Imagine

a hosta with arching leaves with wide, irregularlycream-colored serrate margins that have large undu-lations and some twisting. It has white fragrant flow-ers in late July. A unique hosta that looks as goodfountaining over a pond in the garden as it does at thehead table of the Hosta Show. $25 ♥‘Grape Fizz’ (Solberg 2011) - (‘Rhapsody in Blue’X H. plantaginea) - Large, (16” X 36”) Here is a hostawith heavily substanced green leaves that might looka little wild and crazy if grown in some sun but has themost wonderful large purple striped, gently fragrantflowers. It flowers late, in August, but is well worththe wait. I grow mine in a container on the deck.

$15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Guacamole’ (Solberg 1994) - (Sport of ‘FragrantBouquet’) - Large, (24” X 48”) This large openmound of rounded gold leaves with a dark green mar-gin is the perfect beginner’s hosta. It is a fast growerif given some direct sun and one of the last to go dor-mant. Large lavender fragrant flowers in August, too.AHGA Hosta of the Year for 2002! $15 ♥‘Honey Pie’ (Solberg 2012) - (‘September Sun’ XH. plantaginea) - Large, (18” X 40”) This may havebeen my favorite hosta this summer. Despite all theheat, boy did it grow. The honey colored leaves puckerwith age and fragrant flowers follow in late summer.It is a large hosta, a cross of ‘September Sun’ and H.plantaginea, having the best characteristics of bothparents. Give this one a little extra sun also.

$20 or “Two for $30‘Jetstream’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2013) - (Seedling ofH. yingeri OP seedling) - Medium to Large, (26” X40”) I am a sucker for a waxy blue hosta. I also likehostas that make perfect clumps, with all their leavesneatly arranged in just the right place. This medium-sized hosta, with the help of a little morning sun, isthe perfect combination of both. A seedling of DougBeilstein, plant this one next to ‘June.’ $20‘King of Spades’ (Beilstein 2007) - (‘Neat Splash’ X‘Blue Moon’) - Medium, (16” X 30”) This unusual,medium blue-green hosta has extremely heavy puck-ering throughout its spade-shaped leaves. This eye-catcher forms a very tight clump in the garden and isa very tough, dog-proof plant. Lavender flowers inJuly. $15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Lemon Ice’ (Solberg 2011) - (H. clausa normalisF2 seedling) X ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’) -Medium, (12” X 26”) This is the beginning of the nextgeneration of red and yellow hostas. It is the largest ofthis very excellent and varied group of seedlings andhas bright yellow leaves with bright red petioles andscapes. It keeps its yellow color very well and will bebetter in the shade garden as too much light willbleach it white. It is the one that Mark Zilis selected toproduce for his nursery. Nice purple flowers on redscapes in July. $15 ♥‘Machete’ (Solberg 2004) - (Sport of ‘GinsuKnife’) - Medium, (16” X 28”) This one is a very vig-orous upright, fountaining green hosta that accentu-ates all the great features of its parent except thevariegation. The leaves and petioles are large, highlyruffled with serrate margins that combine well withlarge, white fragrant flowers on very sturdy scapes inJuly and August. Limited. $20♥‘Mango Salsa’ (Solberg 2011) - (H. clausa nor-malis F2 seedling X ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’)- Medium, (12” X 20”) Maybe the best of this redseedling cross, this hosta is sun tolerant, has unusualwavy yellow leaves and red on both sides of the peti-ole into the leaf and red scapes. It has lavender flow-ers, maybe with a little red, and is a great breedingplant, fertile both ways. Light years away from its sib-ling ‘Smiley Face’, an equally stellar hosta. $25‘Millennium’ (Wilkins 1995) - (‘Herb Benedict’ X‘Sagae’) - Huge (36” X 80”) One of the best ex-tremely large blue hostas because of its huge heavilysubstanced, rounded, dark blue leaves, good growthrate and heat tolerance. Near white flowers open ontall scapes in late June. It is impressive in the gardenor a large container. $20‘Mojito’ (M. B. Vanous, Q & Z Nursery 2008) - (‘Av-ocado’ sport) Medium-large, (16” x 36”) Thistetraploid sport from the ‘Guacamole’ family hasrounded dark green, very heavily substanced leaves

that are frosted with white wax in spring and shiny insummer. The very thick scapes have very large (largerthan ‘Guacamole’) light lavender flowers that are veryfragrant. Grows a little slower than ‘Fried Greentomatoes’ but still very vigorous. Large plants. $25‘Mystic Star’ (G. Johnson 2004) - (H. yingeri X‘Dorset Blue’) - Medium, (10” X 32”) This hostacaught my eye everywhere I saw it at the AHS Con-vention in New England. It wonderfully combines thesubstance and shine of H. yingeri with the rich darkblue color of the “Tardianas”. It is a good-sized hostabut short enough to site near the front of the hosta bed.It is late flowering and I think very distinct. $15 ♥‘Nate the Great’ (Solberg 2003) - (H. nigrescensX ‘Tokudama Aureonebulosa’) - Large, (22” X 40”)Tall and proud with large round blue-green leaves thatare deeply cupped and puckered, this large uprighthosta is worthy of the front of the bed. Lavender flow-ers on tall straight scapes top this one off in July. It isnamed for my son Nathan. $20 or “Two for $30”‘Night Shift’ (D. Savory 1991) - (Sport of H. ‘Day-break’) - Large, (22” X 50” or more) This large-leafedsport of ‘Daybreak’ has a dark green margin and greatyellow color in the leaf center that lasts well through-out the summer. It makes a spectacular specimenclump as it spreads to fill a wide space in the garden.It blooms in July and August with nice lavender flow-ers. Great when placed near a walk. $20 Ocean Isle’ (Chopko 2006) - (Sport of ‘El Dorado’)- Large, (22” X 48”) This impressive hosta has long,thin pointed, wavy blue-green leaves with a wide,bright gold margin. The leaf center becomes a shiny,rich green color by mid-summer. It has very good sub-stance, a high vein count, and light lavender flowersin June and July. Winner of Best Sport at 2004 FirstLook. It becomes better with age. (Named for our fa-vorite North Carolina beach.) $20♥‘Orange Marmalade’ PP16,742 (Solberg 2002) -(Sport of ‘Paul’s Glory’) - Large, (18” X 42”) Breath-taking mound of heart-shaped blue leaves with a cen-ter that emerges bright yellow, then turns an orangishgold before becoming pale yellow or white dependingon the amount of sun. Lavender flowers in July. Beau-tifully variegated all summer! Yes, it really looks or-ange-yellow or yellow-orange, like the Crayolacrayons. $20 ‘Pacific Sunset’ (R. Goodwin 2003) - (Sport ofseedling) - Small-medium, (10” X 30”) White-mar-gined hostas are common but blue hostas with creamywhite edges are much rarer. This medium-sizedseedling of Randy Goodwin has a coolness to its ap-pearance, a slight waviness and nice flowers in sum-mer. It is a front of the bed hosta that should beadmired at close range. $15♥‘Peach Salsa’ (Solberg 2013) - (H. clausa normalisF2 seedling X ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’) -Medium, (12” X 20”) This bright yellow hosta haspuckered leaves that are almost translucent, it glows!It is also a showoff with its bright red, not purple, peti-oles and scapes. Don’t cut the flowers off this one. Asibling of my ‘Smiley Face’ and ‘Mango Salsa’, thisone is a dappled shade plant that will brighten up anygarden path. $20‘Pearly Gates’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2012) - (Seedlingof Sea Prize X  OP) - Medium to Large, (17” X 38”)This one of Doug Beilstein’s has wide pearly whitemargins that streak through the blue-green center of itsleaves. There is a softness to these sturdy leaves thatbrightens and calms the garden simultaneously. It’svery showy, and also grows very well. $20♥H. plantaginea ‘Doubled Up’ (Solberg 2011) -(Tetraploid sport of H. plantaginea) - Medium toLarge, (20” X 30”) smaller and more compact thanthe species. Found in tissue culture stock at Green HillFarm and tested for ploidy in Holland by Ben Zonn-eveld, this fully tetraploid form of the species has veryglossy and rubbery leaves, makes a more compactclump, and has larger flowers and a unique fragrance.It makes a great pot plant for the deck or patio.

$20 or “Two for $30♥‘Plum Nutty’ (Solberg 2011) - (‘Candy Dish’ X[(H. pycnophylla X ‘Harvest Dandy’) X ‘RaspberrySorbet’]) - Medium, (16” X 30”) I may be crazy forintroducing this hosta with its shiny, (no wax), long-

pointed leaves that are highly rippled but I really likeit. It does have some purple on the petioles but is re-luctant to set seed, (but does), for me since it flowerson nicely arching scapes in July here. You may havebetter luck. $20‘Prairie Sunset’ (M. Zilis 2009) - (Sport of ‘PrairieFire’) - Medium, (19” X 48”) This is a hosta that Ihave wanted to have for over ten years since I firstsaw it at Q & Z Nursery. The yellow color is warmand glowing and the contrast of the bright green mar-gin defines the undulating leaf perfectly. The promi-nent veins give it strength and structure. It is a large,medium hosta. $20 ♥‘Sharp Dressed Man’ (Solberg 2005) - (‘Francee’seedling) - Medium, (15” X 36”) This one was a sur-prise, unique in both its leaf shape and coloration. Theleaves are very thick with wide green margins andpure white centers with a wonderful streaking of athird lighter green color in between. It grows verywell, never melting out or burning. Lavender flowersin July. It is both handsome and elegant, named formy son Michael. $25Hosta rectifolia SILVER STAR™ (K. Muroya) -(Collected in Japan) - Medium, (18” X 24”) Imaginefinding this hosta in the wild!!! It is the best form ofH. rectifolia to date and is brightly variegated, too. Itswhite-margined leaves and very upright habit make itthe perfect hosta for the centerpiece in a mixed con-tainer of perennials, annuals or mini hostas. It has tall,straight scapes with purple flowers in late July. $20♥‘Spring Shower’ (Solberg 2007) - (H. sieboldianaX ‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) - Medium, (14”X 30” or larger) A welcoming sight in a special placein the garden, this light blue “Longiana” has classicheart-shaped leaves with strong venation and most re-sembles a “Tardiana”. It has light lavender flowers inJuly. Try it next to ‘Camelot.’ $15 or “Two for $20”‘Stained Glass’ (Hansen, Shady Oaks 1999) - (Sportof ‘Guacamole’) - Large, (15” X 32”) A large, brightyellow-centered, dark green-edged sport of ‘Gua-camole’ that comes out of the ground glowing. Cer-tainly a classic hosta for the morning sun garden, ithas large, fragrant lavender flowers in August. $15‘Star Power’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2009) - (‘KomodoDragon’ × ‘Super Bowl’) - Medium to large, (20” X48”) Looking for an impressive upright yellow hostawith large heart-shaped leaves that are ruffled andsomewhat puckered? This one from great parentagehas good color and a sturdy stance that will brightenup any shady corner. It has lavender flowers in Juneand is fertile. $20 or “Two for $30” ♥‘Sugar Plum’ (Solberg 2011) - (Seedling X ‘OneMan’s Treasure’) - Medium, (20” X 28”) This is theone!!! The ultimate goal of breeding purple-petioledhostas is to produce an upright plant with rich regalpurple color that runs up into the veins at the base ofthe leaf. Add a bright white back to the leaf and youhave the perfection of the purple running all the wayinto the white. This is that dream plant. It has purplescapes as well and blooms in late August and Sep-tember. It is a prolific seed producer. $30♥‘Sugar Snap’ (Solberg 2011) - (Sport of ‘SweetSunshine’) - Large, (22” X 48”) This dark green cen-tered sport of the yellow gold ‘Sweet Sunshine’ makesa great fragrant-flowered hosta even better. It is veryvigorous of course, but also maintains the cupping andpuckering in the now variegated leaves. It has the lookof a ‘Tokudama’ with the bonus of near white fragrantflowers in June and July. $20♥‘Summer Squall’ (Solberg 2007) - (H. sieboldianaX ‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) - Medium, (14”X 32” or larger) Selected for its rich blue color andnicely folded leaves, this “Longiana” may be the bestand bluest of the lot. It makes a strong statement inthe garden, good substance and sturdy leaves and is agreat breeder. It has 3 foot scapes of light lavenderflowers in mid-summer. A great hosta! $20♥‘Sun Shower’ (Solberg 2007) - (H. sieboldiana X‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) - Medium, (14” X30” or larger) ‘Sun Shower’ was a surprise. A “Lon-

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giana” in every way, it is a rich yellow in spring thatcatches every eye. It will fade a little toward chartreusein mid-summer but remains a very attractive hosta. It isa one of a kind and the centerpiece of my “Longiana”hybridizing program. Light lavender flowers appear onyellow scapes in July. $20 or “Two for $30”♥‘Sweet Sunshine’ (Solberg 1997) - (‘Sweet Susan’X ‘Tokudama Aureonebulosa’) - Medium to large,(16” X 36”) Still a hybridizing breakthrough, this yel-low-gold hosta has round leaves that are cupped andpuckered like a ‘Tokudama’ but also has near whitefragrant flowers in June and July. The best thing ofall, however, is that it grows very well. I saw severalnice clumps of it in New England. Now availableagain. $15♥‘Tarheel Blue’ (Solberg 2013) - (‘Powderpuff’ X‘Skylight’) - Small to Medium, (14” X 32”) A goodblue hosta should have great blue color and hold thatcolor well into the summer. This small hosta doesboth; it is my best blue yet. The secret is in the wax.A cross of two very waxy parents, ‘Powderpuff’ and‘Skylight’, it makes a nice dense clump and stays bluehere into July. Some morning sun will bring out thebest in it. $30♥‘Thunder Boomer’ (Solberg 2007) - (H.sieboldiana X ‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) -Large, (18” X 38” or larger) This is the largest of my“Longianas” to date. Its stately, pointed, medium blue-green leaves are gently rippled, arching along themidrib, providing a calm elegance. It has good sub-stance, sturdy scapes with a nice floral display in mid-summer and like all the other “Longianas” it is a great“long season” hosta, holding up well into the fall.

$15 or “Two for $20” ‘Tropicana’ (M. Zilis 2010) - (‘Sea Prize’ X ‘YellowRiver’) - Medium, (19” X 40”) This new seedlingfrom Mark Zilis is a chameleon of color. It emerges inspring with a bright yellow leaf center bordered inwhite that later will become light green. New leaveswill again be yellow, giving the plants two colors ofleaves at the same time. It makes a medium-sizedclump that will catch your eye in spring or summer.

$15 or “Two for $20” ‘Winter Snow’ (Winterberry Farms & J. Anderson2003) - (Sport of ‘Sum and Substance’) - Huge, (35”X 70”) This wonderful sport of ‘Sum and Substance’makes a huge spreading mound of round 20” char-treuse leaves that have exquisite wavy white marginsthat are consistently evenly wide. It has the typical tallscapes and lavender flowers in July that generallyneed early pruning. It is more impressive than its par-ent to me. $15

Miniature and Small Hostas:‘Appletini’ (M. Zilis, M. Vanous 2009) - (Yellowsport of ‘Blue Dimples’ X ‘Shining Tot’) - Mini toSmall, (6” X 14”) A great new mini, maybe the best ofthe “tini” series from Mark Zilis, it has the bright yel-low color, the shine, good substance, and cute leafshape to make this fast growing hosta a star in the gar-den or in a container. It also has nice lavender flowersin July. $10‘Blue Mouse Ears’ (E. & J. Deckert 2000) - Mini,(6” X 12”) A very tight mini mound of very thick,rounded, mouse-like, blue-green leaves. Lavenderflowers on very short scapes in July. Cute as its nameand now a classic! $10‘Cameo’ (Hansen, Shady Oaks Nursery 2002) -(Sport of ‘Baby Bunting’) - Mini, (4” X 12”) ‘Cameo’is back in the catalogue again. I just cannot seem to letit go, it looks so good in the nursery in summer withits widely bordered summer leaves. Try giving thiscream-edged beauty a little extra sun and water andwatch it flourish. It has purple blooms early and willre-flush for me in late July. $15‘Cherish’ (Shady Oaks Nursery 2002) - (Sport of‘Baby Bunting’) - Mini, (5” X 10”) From the sameline as ‘Pandora’s Box’, ‘Cherish’ is a pretty cream-centered true mini with a wide blue-green margin. Ithas purple flowers in June and again in August someyears. This one grows! $15♥‘Coconut Custard’ (Solberg 2007) - (‘Blue Cadet’X ‘One Man’s Treasure’ o. p.) - Small, (6” X 14”) Thislittle yellow hosta has heart-shaped leaves that arefrosted with lots of white wax in spring, making it richand creamy. Top that off with bright purple petioles thatextend up into the leaf. Well proportioned, frosted yel-low scapes in July-August with pretty orchid-coloredflowers. Its a delicate look on a sturdy plant. $15♥‘Cookie Crumbs’ (Solberg, Zilis 2002) - (Sport of‘Tiny Tears’) - Mini, (5” X 10”) Finally a clean white-margined mini reminiscent of H. venusta. This veryflat mound of green heart-shaped leaves has a sur-prisingly wide white margin. It has. purple flowers inJune. $25♥‘Corkscrew’ (Solberg 2003) - (‘Tortifrons’ X ‘OneMan’s Treasure’) - Small, (9” X 22”) Like its parent,‘Tortifrons’, the leaves are dark green and contortedbut unlike its parent, it grows very well making a fullclump quickly. The small clump of upright and arch-ing twisted, shiny dark green leaves produces laven-der flowers in September and October, frequently onforked scapes. Winner of 2002 Best Seedling Awardat First Look. One of a kind! $15

♥‘Cracker Crumbs’ (Solberg 2002) - (Sport of ‘ShinyPenny’) - Mini, (6” X 12”) The miniature bright goldleaves have a shiny, dark green margin that appearshand painted. Good substance, growth rate and laven-der flowers in July. It is perfect for troughs. $15♥‘Crumb Cake’ (Solberg 2008) - (‘CinnamonSticks’ X ‘Cracker Crumbs’) - Small, (4” X 12”) Thisrapidly growing hosta makes a very tight flat moundof honey-gold round leaves with mahogany petiolesthat are shiny, wonderfully wavy, and have very goodsubstance. Its mahogany scapes have pretty lavenderflowers in July. It is a cute little hosta tough enoughfor the garden but deserving of a very special spot. Ijust love it! $15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Curly Fries’ (Solberg 2008) - (‘Pineapple Up-sidedown Cake’ seedling) - Small, (5” X 16”) Justlook at the photo. I will add that the agave-lookingleaves are stiff as a board and you can see that ouraward winning ‘Curly Fries’ is the most unique hostato be introduced in some time. Best grown in half aday of sun, its highly ruffled narrow leaves emergeyellow and then fade to near white. The scape is deeppurple, topped with lavender flowers. It makes a greatcontainer plant or grows very well in the garden. Youjust have to touch it. $20♥‘Delona’s Smile’ (Solberg 2013) - ([‘Kinkaku’ F2seedling X Hercules] F2) - Small, (10” X 16”) Some-times you never know how things will turn out. Thishosta was hybridized to be very yellow, have heavysubstance, be sun tolerant, and be large. Well, threeout of four ain’t bad. It is everything I wanted but issmall. Named for the late Delona Shockey you mayhave received one as the gift plant at the AHS Con-vention in Nashville. It is bright and cheery like De-lona. $20‘Dragon Tails’ (Zumbar) - Mini, (5” X 8”) This brightyellow mini is best grown in a little strong light to ac-centuate the tight rippling along the narrow leaf mar-gins but too much will bleach it white. It makes a cutelittle tuft of foliage with pale purple flowers in July. Itreblooms here for me on a second flush of summerfoliage. $15 ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’ (M. Zilis, E. & J. Deckert2006) - (‘Royal Mouse Ears’ sport) - Small, (7” X18”) This is the best wide creamy white marginedform of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’. The cute round blueleaves have a wide border that emerges bluish yellowand becomes white in part sun. Lavender flowers topits short, stocky scapes in June. $15NEW ‘Green Mouse Ears’ (E. & J. Deckert 2004) -(Sport of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’) - Mini, (5” X 9”) Thisminiature hosta has “mini mouse ears”, greener andsmaller than it parent. It maybe a little slower to growalso which makes it the perfect solid colored hosta toput with two variegated ones in your new mini bowl.Cute little scapes with lavender flowers appear inJune. $15‘Hideout’ (Leonard Jones) - (Sport of ‘Hidden Cove’)- Mini, (4.5” X 11”) This little fella has very curly,white-centered, narrow dark green leaves that appearto be in constant motion. It is a fast growing hosta thatfavors some cool sun and plenty of water. A great con-tainer plant, it blooms in June and July with lavenderflowers. $15‘Holy Mouse Ears’ (M. Zilis, E. & J. Deckert 2006) -(‘Royal Mouse Ears’ sport) - Small, (6” X 16”) Of allthe ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ forms, this one is my favorite.The cute round leaves have a blue margin and anunique bluish yellow center that becomes creamywhite in part sun. Lavender flowers top its short, stockyscapes in June. It is the baby of the family. $15‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ (G. Johnson) - (‘Hadspen Heron’seedling) - Mini, (2.5” X 6”) This hosta has a flat spi-der-like habit, short, narrow leaves with surprisingsubstance. It is perfect for the trough or fairy garden.Light lavender flowers in July. $20‘Lemon Zest’ (M. Zilis 2009) - (‘Shining Tot’ X ‘GoldRegal’) - Mini, (5” X 12”) This nice little, somewhatupright yellow-gold hosta has lance-shaped leaveswith pretty good substance, and is a little different frommost minis. It flowers late, in August and will nicelyfill the front corner of your next trough. $15‘Light Everlasting’ (PSI-Shady Oaks Nursery) -(Sport of ‘Eternal Flame’) - Small, (8” X 16” maybelarger) This white-margined sport of ‘Eternal Flame’has proven to be a very sturdy little plant. Its leaveshave excellent substance and very wide margins, evenon small plants. It is not a fast grower and will proba-bly enjoy the extra loving care of a container at least fora year or so. I think it is a winner! $20 or “Two for $30‘Limey Lisa’ (W. Zumbar, K. Walek AHS (R) 2009)- Mini, (6” X 21”) This little hosta has unique limeygreen leaves, brighter in spring, that are round anddeeply cupped for their size. It is very vigorous andmakes a great garden plant, useful as a groundcover orfrom of the bed specimen. It has purple flowers inJuly. $15‘Little Devil’ (H. Gowen) - (‘Swoosh’ X H. venustasport) - Mini, (5” X 12”) This cute little white-mar-gined mini has rich green-centered elongated leavesthat have a nice little ripple. It is a rapid grower, per-fect for a fancy container. Lavender flowers in lateJuly and very popular. $15 ‘Little Miss Muffet’ (W. Zumbar) - Mini, (4” X 8”)This little hosta is a classic H. venusta with little char-treuse heart-shaped leaves and pretty good substance.

Little lavender flowers in June. It is a miniature ‘GoldEdger’ for the trough or that special mini garden bed.Do not plant next to ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider!’ $15‘Mouse Trap’ (Shady Oaks Nursery) - (‘Blue MouseEars’ sport) - Mini, (6” X 14”) Best growing of thewhite-centered sports of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, ‘MouseTrap’ emerges with a pure white center with a few scat-tered green flecks. Summer leaves may green up in ex-treme heat so there is never any melting out! Lavenderflowers on cute white scapes in June. It is the center-piece of your hosta “mouse” collection. $25‘Pixie Vamp’ (D. & J. Ward 1996) - (‘Pinstripe’seedling) - Mini, (6” X 12”) This showy little hostamakes a perfect mound of bright green heart-shapedleaves bordered in snowy white. It has lavender flow-ers on purple scapes in June and July. Very vigorous inthe garden or in a container. A favorite of Nancy’s. $15 ♥ ‘Smiley Face’ (Solberg 2011) - (H. clausa normalisF2 seedling X ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’) Small,(7” X 16”) This hosta just makes me smile. It has thecutest round leaves that are full of personality and aunique rich yellow color. It has pink petioles and sur-prisingly heavy substance. It makes a small tightmound perfect in a pot or a special place in the garden.Pink scapes and rich purple flowers with reddish tubesappear in July. It is fertile both ways. $20 ♥‘Sugar Babe’ (Solberg 1977) - (‘Iron GateSupreme’ X ‘Saishu Jima’) - Small, (10” X 16”) Thisis the smallest fragrant- flowered hosta that I know.Its narrow leaves have decent substance and a very at-tractive cream margin and often some streaking. It isstoloniferous and rapidly makes a spreading mound.Its unique rich purple flowers have a very strong sug-ary fragrance that you can smell from the garden path.Limited, never tissue cultured. $35‘Tears of Joy’ (P. Black & T. Johnson, Sebright Gar-dens 2005) - (Sport of ‘Tiny Tears’) - Mini, (4” X 13”)This little H. venusta like mini has green leaves thatare folded and twisted when they emerge. It is a fastgrower and spreader, perfect for covering a containeror trough. The flowers appear to be yellow, lots ofpollen but no petals. It is different. $15©‘Tiny Bubbles’ (Solberg 2008) - (‘Corkscrew’ X‘Lemon Frost’) - Small, (8” X 16”) This bright yel-low harbinger of spring has arrowhead-shaped leaveswith good substance but it is the closed orchid flow-ers that persist for weeks in mid-summer on perfectlyproportioned yellow scapes that make this a veryunique hosta. It is a very sturdy little plant that growsvery well. $15♥‘Tongue Twister’ (Solberg 2008) - (‘Iwa’ X ‘BlueBlush’ o. p.) - Small, (8” X 18”) With its dark greenleaves that twist upward out of the clump, this great lit-tle hosta looks as fresh in October as it does in May. Ithas great substance, rich color, and is cute to boot. Thelight purple scapes produce light lavender flowers inSeptember and light purple pods in October. My best“long season” hosta, still green here in late November!

$15NEW ‘Wonderful’ (R. Goodwin 2005) - (‘LittleWonder seedling ) - Mini, (3” X 6”) This tiny hostahas teardrop-shaped yellow leaves that form a verycute delicate miniature mound. Hybridized by RandyGoodwin, it is a perfect container hosta or grow it asRandy does in a special bed just for minis along awalk. $15

“Two for $20”:♥‘Crumb Cake’ (Solberg 2008) - (‘CinnamonSticks’ X ‘Cracker Crumbs’) - Small, (4” X 12”) Thisrapidly growing hosta makes a very tight flat moundof honey-gold round leaves with mahogany petiolesthat are shiny, wonderfully wavy, and have very goodsubstance. Its mahogany scapes have pretty lavenderflowers in July. It is a cute little hosta tough enoughfor the garden but deserving of a special spot. I justlove it! $15 or “Two for $20”‘Cup of Grace’ (Beilstein 2009) - (‘Halcyon’ X‘Breeder’s Choice’ op. seedling) Medium, (21” X36”) What do hosta folks want in a “dream hosta”?Frequently, they want it to be very dark green withwhite flowers. Add a very upright habit and highlycupped leaves and you have ‘Cup of Grace’. Thishosta is very well proportioned and exhibits classicgrace. It is striking as the focal point of a mixed con-tainer. $15 or “Two for $20”‘Dragon’s Eye’ (W. Lefever, Solberg 2008) - (‘Rip-tide’ seedling) - Large, (22” X 36” or more) This largehosta has frosty, undulating gray-green leaves with tallpurple petioles, very waxy white leaf backs. Lavenderflowers appear on waxy purple scapes in August.Good in the garden or as part of your breeding pro-gram, (sets seed). $15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Grape Fizz’ (Solberg 2011) - (‘Rhapsody in Blue’X H. plantaginea) - Large, (16” X 36”) Here is a hostawith heavily substanced green leaves that might looka little wild and crazy if grown in some sun but has themost wonderful large purple striped, gently fragrantflowers. It flowers late, in August, but is well worththe wait. I grow mine in a container on the deck.

$15 or “Two for $20”‘King of Spades’ (Beilstein 2007) - (‘Neat Splash’ X‘Blue Moon’) - Medium, (16” X 30”) This unusual,medium blue-green hosta has extremely heavy puck-

ering throughout its spade-shaped leaves. This eye-catcher forms a very tight clump in the garden and isa very tough, dog-proof plant. Lavender flowers inJuly. $15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Lemon Ice’ (Solberg 2011) - (H. clausa normalisF2 seedling) X ‘Strawberry Banana Smoothie’) -Medium, (12” X 26”) This is the beginning of the nextgeneration of red and yellow hostas. It is the largest ofthis very excellent and varied group of seedlings andhas bright yellow leaves with bright red petioles andscapes. It keeps its yellow color very well and will bebetter in the shade garden as too much light willbleach it white. It is the one that Mark Zilis selected toproduce for his nursery. Nice purple flowers on redscapes in July. $15 or “Two for $20”©‘Spring Shower’ (Solberg 2007) - (H. sieboldianaX ‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) - Medium, (14”X 30” or larger) A welcoming sight in a special placein the garden, this light blue “Longiana” has classicheart-shaped leaves with strong venation and most re-sembles a “Tardiana”. It has light lavender flowers inJuly. Try it next to ‘Camelot.’ $15 or “Two for $20”♥‘Thunder Boomer’ (Solberg 2007) - (H.sieboldiana X ‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) -Large, (18” X 38” or larger) This is the largest of my“Longianas” to date. Its stately, pointed, medium blue-green leaves are gently rippled, arching along themidrib, providing a calm elegance. It has good sub-stance, sturdy scapes with a nice floral display in mid-summer and like all the other “Longianas” it is a great“long season” hosta, holding up well into the fall.

$15 or “Two for $20”‘Tropicana’ (M. Zilis 2010) - (‘Sea Prize’ X ‘YellowRiver’) - Medium, (19” X 40”) This new seedlingfrom Mark Zilis is a chameleon of color. It emerges inspring with a bright yellow leaf center bordered inwhite that later will become light green. New leaveswill again be yellow, giving the plants two colors ofleaves at the same time. It makes a medium-sizedclump that will catch your eye in spring or summer.

$15 or “Two for $20”

“Two for $30”:♥‘Honey Pie’ (Solberg 2012) - (‘September Sun’ X H.plantaginea) - Large, (18” X 40”) This may have beenmy favorite hosta this summer. Despite all the heat, boydid it grow. The honey colored leaves pucker with ageand fragrant flowers follow in late summer. It is a largehosta, a cross of ‘September Sun’ and H. plantaginea,having the best characteristics of both parents. Give thisone a little extra sun also. $20 or “Two for $30‘Light Everlasting’ (PSI-Shady Oaks Nursery) -(Sport of ‘Eternal Flame’) - Small, (8” X 16” maybelarger) This white-margined sport of ‘Eternal Flame’has proven to be a very sturdy little plant. Its leaves haveexcellent substance and very wide margins, even onsmall plants. It is not a fast grower and will probablyenjoy the extra loving care of a container at least for ayear or so. I think it is a winner! $20 or “Two for $30♥‘Nate the Great’ (Solberg 2003) - (H. nigrescensX ‘Tokudama Aureonebulosa’) - Large, (22” X 45”)Tall and proud with large round blue-green leaves thatare deeply cupped and puckered, this large uprighthosta is worthy of the front of the bed. Lavender flow-ers on tall straight scapes top this one off in July. It isnamed for my son Nathan. $20 or “Two for $30”♥NEW‘Pea Pod’ (Solberg 2013) - (Sport of ‘SugarSnap’) - Large, (22” X 40”) This all green form fromthe ‘Sweet Sunshine’ line has dark green leaves thatare cupped and puckered and surprise, surprise, nearwhite fragrant flowers in July. It is sun tolerant and isthe perfect replacement for a ‘Tokudama’ in southerngardens. $20 or “Two for $30” ♥H. plantaginea ‘Doubled Up’ (Solberg 2011) -(Tetraploid sport of H. plantaginea) - Medium toLarge, (20” X 30”) smaller and more compact thanthe species. Found in tissue culture stock at Green HillFarm and tested for ploidy in Holland by Ben Zonn-eveld, this fully tetraploid form of the species has veryglossy and rubbery leaves, makes a more compactclump, and has larger flowers and a unique fragrance.It makes a great pot plant for the deck or patio.

$20 or “Two for $30‘Star Power’ (D. & M. Beilstein 2009) - (‘KomodoDragon’ × ‘Super Bowl’) - Medium to large, (20” X48”) Looking for an impressive upright yellow hostawith large heart-shaped leaves that are ruffled andsomewhat puckered? This one from great parentagehas good color and a sturdy stance that will brightenup any shady corner. It has lavender flowers in Juneand is fertile. $20 or “Two for $30”♥‘Sun Shower’ (Solberg 2007) - (H. sieboldiana X‘One Man’s Treasure’ F2 seedling) - Medium, (14” X30” or larger) ‘Sun Shower’ was a surprise. A “Lon-giana” in every way, it is a rich yellow in spring thatcatches every eye. It will fade a little toward char-treuse in mid-summer but remains a very attractivehosta. It is a one of a kind and the centerpiece of my“Longiana” hybridizing program. Light lavenderflowers appear on yellow scapes in July.

$20 or “Two for $30”

SpRing 2014 cOMpLEtE REtAiL HOStA LiStingS, cOntinUED FROM pAgE 9

Page 11 / March 2014The Green Hill Gossip

ORDER FORMOrdering InstructionsAll hostas are container grown and shipped bare

root. Hostas can be shipped year round but usuallytravel best from May-June and August- September.Shipping is by UPS and the cost is $15.00 per orderexcept for all orders to the Rocky Mountain Statesand the West Coast that will be shipped by USPS Pri-ority Mail at a cost of $25.00 per order.

Please include payment with order. Makechecks payable to Green Hill Farm, Inc. And we nowtake VISA and Master Card so you can call in yourorder. Order early as some hostas may be in limitedquantities. We will not substitute but will send a re-fund unless you request otherwise.

All our hostas are satisfaction guaranteed. If forany reason you are not satisfied with your hostas,call us at the nursery immediately and return theplants within 5 days and we will gladly replace thehostas or refund your payment.

Green Hill Farm, Inc.P.O. Box 773

Franklinton, NC 27525Call:

919-309-0649 NurseryEmail:

HostaBob@gmail.com

SATISFACTION GUARANTEE:All hostas are guaranteed to be true to name and certified pestfree. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied withyour hosta order just return the plants by UPS within 5 (five)days of receipt and the hostas will be replaced or your pay-ment refunded. But please call us first and let us know of anyproblems. Thanks, Bob and Nancy.

Name ____________________________ Phone ____________________Street _______________________________________________________City _____________________________ State _____ Zip ______________Date _______________ Desired Shipping Date _______________________

VISA/ MC # __________________________________________________ 3 Digit Sec. Code ____________ Exp.date _____________

Signature _____________________________________________________

Quantity Hosta name Price

REGULAR UPS SHIPPING orUSPS PRIORITY MAIL (west of Rockies)

TOTAL

15.0025.00

Subscribe to the “Gossip Jr.”Our eight page newsletter printed twice a yearOne year $8.00 | Three years $20.00

Come see us atSarah p. Duke

plant SaleApril 4-5in Durham, nc

For more information contact: HostaBob@gmail.com

the Dixie RegionalMay 30-31

in Wake Forest, ncFor more information contact:

Bob or nancyHostaBob@gmail.com

2014 AmericanHosta SocietyconventionJune 11-14in cedar Rapids, iA

For more information visit: harshbargerhostasociety.weebly.com/

information.html

American Hemerocallis Society

conventionJune 26-28

in Asheville, ncFor more information visit:

www.daylilies.org/2014convention/index.html

Come Visit Us ...We love to have visitors. If you are coming from a distance, please call for an appointment to make sure that we are not on a field trip or “Company Lunch.”

We will be open Fridays and Saturdays from late April through Memorial Day from9:00 to 5:00. Please check our website for sale dates and directions to the new nurseryin Franklinton. We will have a wide selection of our hostas available at very reasonableprices as well as ferns, conifers and maybe a few other surprises. Hope to see you soon.

UPS Shippingis $15.00 & $25.00 Rocky Mountains and

West Coast via USPS Priority Mail

Page 12 / March 2014 The Green Hill Gossip

Each year Green Hill Farm offersa special new hosta introduction exclusively to hosta

clubs for their members. This year ‘Infatuation’ is the2014 exclusive club plant! This usually gets us in a littletrouble with some of our other customers, but we willnot offer this hosta on any of our wholesale or retail lists.The only way that you can get ‘Infatuation’ this year isthrough your local hosta group. In this way, we hope toincrease the membership of local hosta clubs.

Let me elaborate a little on that. We live in changingtimes where the social and educational organizations ofthe past, plant clubs and societies, are in competition formembership with the new social media of the Internet.While both offer hosta information, discussion, and evenpersonal relationships to some degree, hosta clubs canoffer “hands on” interaction with people and plants.

Have you ever noticed that the attendance is greatest atthose hosta meetings where hostas are sold? When I givemy lectures across the country, I like to flatter myself tothink that all those hosta folks have come to hear me talk.In reality, they probably come just as much or more for

the truck load of hostas that comes with me. The bestway to attract new members and keep the ones youalready have is to have a hosta plant sale. While asmuch as we like to say we are a “people” society, re-member we are a hosta society first.

If sales are good are auctions better? This de-pends on the make up of your membership. Ifyou have several members that are active bid-ders, then yes, auctions can be fun for the at-tendees as well as good for the club treasury. Ifyou only have bargain hunters, then it may notbe so good. These days it seems there are morebargain hunters than high bidders. Why nottry a raffle instead? A raffle keeps everyoneinvolved for the price of a raffle ticket andall you need is one ticket to be a winner.Nancy once bought overeighty tickets trying tosecure a hosta photo-graph at the MidwestRegional, by far a ma-

jority of the tickets sold, and still lost.Raffles have a place for the high bid-ders and the bargain hunters and canbe a good alternative or addition toan auction.

If auctions and raffles are goodand hosta sales better, the best en-couragement to join a hosta cluband keep coming back is freehostas. Yes, absolutely free hostas.Door prizes are great. At my talksI like to donate a plant or two fordoor prizes. If they are givenaway at the end of the meeting, it keeps peoplein the seats. (Just kidding.) Some clubs also use freehostas as bribes to attend garden tours or rewards for ajob well done for the society. We now have a free hostaevery week at our local hosta sales at the nursery. Youhave to find it but it is absolutely free.

The point I guess I am trying to make is that I rarelysee anyone leave a hosta meeting where there are plantsavailable, free or otherwise, without one or two. Hostafolks love hostas!!! That is where our exclusive new

hosta and our list of other recent introductions come in.These are plants that most all of your members have notyet acquired or are good plants for beginners and give-aways.

Our exclusive club hosta this year is ‘Infatuation’. Itis one of the rising stars of our red petiole hybridizingprogram. Waxy, blue hostas with rich cranberry petiolesare a rare treat when you discover them and infatuationquickly leads to desire. This hosta has the added benefitof having wavy leaves that move gently, even on thecalmest days. Late blooming but it is an easy plant withwhich to hybridize. I just might be in love. ‘Infatuation’is $25 per plant with a minimum order of 10 plants. Sup-ply is limited so order early.

Other new hostas include ‘Chorus Girl’ and ‘Light-ning Flash’ from Doug Beilstein. ‘Lakeside Dragonfly’and ‘Lime Ripple’, a new large ruffled gold hosta from

Ed Schultz are other colorful additions to ourlist. We also have some of our bestsellers like ‘Plum Nutty’, ‘PeachSalsa’, and ‘Tarheel Blue’, our bluesthosta at wholesale prices. ‘RuffledMouse Ears’ and ‘Surfer Girl’ are newminis, too. . If you would like more in-formation about our 2014 club offer-ings, you can call Bob or Nancy at thenursery, 919-309-0649 or e-mail us atHostaBob@gmail.com. Remember, allthese hostas are pictured in the “HostaClub 2014” section of our website,www.HostaHosta.com with our completeClub List.

‘Infatuation’

I can’t stop talking aboutcontainer growing. And eventhough most of my containershave hostas in them, the diver-sity doesn’t stop there. My fa-vorite things to combine withhostas are dwarf and miniatureconifers. I typically start withtwo mini or small hostas andthen add a conifer. I’m very at-tracted to the young version ofChamacyperis obtusa ‘Habari’. Itlooks like a saguaro cactus in anevergreen tree form! It can take alittle bit of shade, and I try to usehostas that can handle a little moresun to go with it. In shaded cornersin which I have dish gardens, I usemore Cryptomeria varieties sincethey need a little shade to preventburning. I frequently use Cryptome-ria japonica ‘Tenzan’ and ‘BlackDragon’. They have the perfect shapefor dish gardens when young.

Another one of my favorites are the hemlocks. Thereare many dwarf and weeping forms of Tsuga canadensisthat are very attractive, and they love the shade and mois-ture that we give to our hostas. A favorite of mine is ‘Lit-tle Joe’ which has white foliage in our garden. A win, winsituation. In my sunnier areas, I grow small trees and

shrubs in large containers. You can movethem around whenever you are in themood, and they are easy to water andfertilize so that the tree roots won’tcompete. After several years, when theconifers get too large for the dish orcontainer, it’s time to start over. Theconifers can then go into a larger con-tainer or into the ground, and thehostas can be reworked into anotherdish with fresh soil and fertilizer. Thefun is endless.

As some of you already knowby keeping up with Facebook,Bob and Cody put in a wonderfulraised bed for me at the newnursery. We filled it with every-thing we could think of and atefresh vegetables all summer.We had tomatoes, greenbeans, radishes, onions,leeks, carrots, Brusselssprouts, herbs, and much

more. All in a 6’ x 22’ garden! And with thehelp of 8 layers of Remay (a strawberry frostcloth), we have had fresh lettuce all winter, de-spite the single digit temperatures we have hadthese long and cold months. Since then, Bob hasdoubled the size of the garden. Now I need toget some topsoil and horse manure brought in,and we will get to have twice the fun this year.

What excitement after living in the shade for the last 24years! (I’m sorry hostas.) I’m sure there will be more pic-tures on Facebook this summer.

I thought I’d update those of you who know Cody.He is home from college right now getting ready to studyabroad in Trier, Germany for four months. I will misshim greatly, but I am so proud and happy for him to havereceived this wonderful opportunity. Last summer (afterhis freshman year) he earned a research grant that gothim time back in Austria and Germany. He plans tomajor in German and Psychology. I don’t know whereCody will end up living once he is done with his educa-

tion, but you can bet I know one thing, he will havea couple of hostas growing there!

A word from NancyBy Nancy Solberg

is the 2014exclusive club plant!

Hosta ‘infatuation’