I got that last year too from LotG, the fragrant h.'Holy Mole'. Bernd

with this years deep freeze ...

i wonder when his ground will thaw???

maybe near july;... lol

ken

I got this in 2012 from LotG, here in 2013, really added beauty to my landscape, hosta 'Dick Ward', named after a famous hybridizer. Bernd

Ken, the ground might be frozen now, some more snow might fall, but the sun is independently of all that getting higher up in the sky. We all have a good snow cover now, insulating the soil from the above temperatures somewhat, so perhaps the ground is not frozen that deep. So I think the snow will be gone around April fools day as usual here, and then we will have a 80 dgrs day in April, as usual. Bernd

I love your 'Dick Ward', Bernd. I have one too, and it's a favorite of mine. You have some great hostas on order; The one that really jumps out at me is 'Gentle Giant'. Looks like it's truly a giant, and has a great unusual look to it.

Don B.

Don, yes, hostas are so much fun! There is also 'Devon Giant', thought about getting that too. I also think about 'Blueberry Waffles', perhaps next year, can make place because I still have duplicates to give away. Duplicates I put at the curb and they disappear. But then I have a seedling off 'Blue Umbrellas' growing with a relatively very large leaf, and that should get a spot somewhere. And then I have 60 or so streaked seedlings in my basement.... Not enough space yet for all that, but this year will be fun!
Ha, you need to buy a lot more, every year! I went from 35 to 210 in 4 years plus all the seedlings and duplicates. Some people have over 1000. But they probably have several acres or hanging gardens. Bernd

This post was edited by berndnyz5 on Fri, Feb 21, 14 at 8:37

Ah, yes, Dick Ward is one I got back in 2010, on my first ever hosta order with Plant Delights Nursery. I think that is the toughest hosta able to take any conditions thrown at it. I absolutely love it! It was beaten up this last year by sweetgum balls and pecans falling on it, some leaves were torn, but they did not wimp out. One that I keep close to Dick Ward is Princess Anastasia, from Green Mt. Nursery. It has been a beauty from the start also.

I'm waiting to place my LOTG order until my "allowance" hits the bank. About Monday. I don't want to list publicly what I'm ordering, I know one is in the scarce/rare category, and it might sell out. Crossing my fingers about it. Then there is one (so far) with NH Hosta....but it will be so lonely, it must have a travel companion on the long road south.

I'm very excited to see so many new fragrant hosta now available from a variety of nurseries. I'm noticing that in this my third year of hosta addiction, I'm on autopilot to place orders.... True, I have yet to call Nancy or Bob Solberg....cannot leave them out, now can I......

Moccasin, I like the fragrant hostas definitely, also because they can take extra sun where others might get burned. In addition to the 'Holy Mole' seen above I have 2 'Avocado', 2 'Guacamole', 'Fried Bananas', 'Cathedral Windows', 3 'Fragrant Bouquet', 'Fragrant Dream', 'Stained Glass'. 'Aphrodite' will be moved into still more sun and heat to finally get some good blooming going.
Bernd

Bernd, you have the major players of the family, with the exception of Mama herself. I recommend you get two of those. Plant them together. Some sporting might happen for you. I would be ecstatic if I found a sporting fragrant hosta, whether it be an already named plant or not.

Consider two other readily available sports from this family tree: Doubled Up and Ming Treasure. I think both are smaller than the species. You might just add them onto your order.

One that I am looking for is Fragrant Flame, listed as a "streaked breeder" found by Mark Zilis, also a sport of the species. What I'd like to know is, why can we not find those designated as "breeder hosta"? What makes them so different from the ordinary garden variety of hosta? Are they that much more likely to set seed or have viable pollen?

They're considered breeder hosta because they are more likely to produce unusual offsping as opposed to solid color offspring. At least, that's the way I understand it.

bk

Breeders are usually very good pod parents with desirable characteristics, the mamas, and are developed in their gardens by hybridizers. Last year I used 2-year seedlings of 'Blue Lightning' and 'Fickle Blue Genes' (free seeds from Jeff Miller of LotG via Hosta Seedgrowers Forum) as my poor man's breeders. That worked out nicely. Bernd

Here are those seedlings I got from my 'Blue Lightning' "breeder". Plants like 'Blue Umbrellas', 'Blue Mammoth', Blue Hawai' were pollen donors. Seedlings are now in 9 oz cups under 24 hrs light. Seeds of those were planted Nov.13, seedlings are now 3 months old, will probably grow a lot in next 2 1/2 months. Bernd

Those are strong looking new hosta, Bernd.

My question about the "breeder" hosta is not defining what they are.....it is about their availability to the public, if you will. Some are impossible to find at any nursery. All I'm looking for is one little plant, not trying to be a commercial breeder or anything. Just one little plant.....which is very hard to find.

Moccasin,
you might have noticed that there was a hosta 'Dorothy Benedict' at the recent First Look Auction for $200, that's a classic breeder. That's the same prize Land of the Giants has it for, just looked it up. 'Blue Lightning', 'Fickle Blue Genes', 'Ice Age Trail', 'Fascination' and 'Outrageous' are others used in hybridizing, probably at a lower price. Others could chime in here, like Steve. Please find attached a link to a list of streaked hostas at the hosta seed growers forum.
Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: Rob Kuenster's Streaker List

This post was edited by berndnyz5 on Sun, Feb 23, 14 at 14:01

Hey Bernd, thanks for the link to the list of streakers. However, I cannot open the files. When I click on a hosta name, it wants to download an .xls file, and I don't have OFFICE on my computer, not any part of it that can open .xls files anyway. I thought my computer would do the .docx and such, but do not know about these. Drats.

But at least I have a LIST although not a list which can be downloaded A to Z at one go. What am I missing here.....

Mocc, I never clicked on them. I have MS Office and can not get anything either, it simply blinks once. Therefore, I would look into the Hosta Library to get definitions of hosta names. I also do not know, if all these hostas on the Streaked list are also in the Hosta Library. I saw those in the H Library for which I had interest. Bernd

Bernd, thank you for that information about your experience. Also did you send me an Excel spreadsheet of your garden info about 2012 early in the season? WestPhal it says? I found it today, and by right clicking on it (.xls file type) it would open if I specified the compatibility mode, forget what the app/program was that did the trick in Windows7.

Do you still use Excel for your hosta information?

Moccasin, Yes I sent you that file as an example how I keep track of my hostas.
I still use MS Excel, now in 2014 have more hostas, a bigger map, separate sheets for 'must haves', 2012/2013/2014 seedlings, chemicals in use, and a work plan. Excel is a neat package, even my grandson uses it. Powerpoint and Word are also part of Microsoft Office, mine is a 2007 version and still works.

I have Excel and do not know which other program could be used to open it. But perhaps you could ask a computer geek at a mall, they might tell you. I loaded my son's copy of Office on my computer, so perhaps a computer store would load it on your computer for a small fee.
Bernd

I have these on order from LOTG. Hope they arrive before July!
*Quesadilla F (hard to find, think it is new, Guacamole sport)
*Color Parade F
*Dubuque Sweet Standard F
*Good As Gold (I have a fondness for gold things)
*Rascal

Speaking of Dick Ward:
There is no picture of Alligator Alley in HostaLibrary. It is a sport of Dick Ward.

Does anyone have a picture of it mature?
Here mine is, new from Naylor in July last year

Mocc, you should google for Hosta 'Alligator Alley' and then click on Walters garden, there is a picture of a mature one. Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: hosta 'Alligator Alley'

This post was edited by berndnyz5 on Thu, Feb 27, 14 at 10:06

Okay, in order to show my Alligator Alley later in 2013, I'll post this picture from November using GW's uploader. That way, it will remain in the thread as long as GW indexes our posts.

Not mature by any means, but it is showing vigorous growth since it arrived in zone 9a in July 2013.

I like center variegated hostas, have too many of the white or yellow margin kinds. Your h. 'Alligator Alley' certainly looks very nice, I should get one too, or put it on my 'Must Have' list. Bernd

Since one new post is about Very Large Hostas, in my thread here it shows 'Millenium'. LOTG is the place to go.
Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: very large hostas at LOTG