Probably needs updating with all the new varieties, but it was done on this forum some time ago. It's in the FAQ.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Which Hostas are distinct (or pass the 10 ft. rule)?

That list is totally useless. Just open the file and your eyes cross. There has to be a better way to present it. Say, all the green with white edge, or white with green edge segregated from all the others. 462 names is quite intimidating, and ultimately, useless when you want to know the best and brightest. There should be 40 or 80, not 462. No one can identify 462 varieties, not even Don R.

bkay

leafwatcher what you are describing is a destination.......I suggest Hosta collecting is a journey, and best enjoyed that way.

But some like to fly so....

Ultimate 100 hostas Edition 2008
Votes
Sagae 32
June 32
Blue Angel 13
Liberty 16
Great Expectations 15
Gold Standard 16
Guacamole 10
Sum and Substance 12
Paul's Glory 14
Montana Aureomarginata 11
Paradigm 11
Inniswood 7
Sun Power 14
Krossa Regal 9
Regal Splendor 7
Whirlwind 8
Orange Marmalade 6
Guardian Angel 9
Northern Exposure 5
Thunderbolt 12
Touch of Class 8
Stained Glass 5
Pineapple Upsidedown Cake 5
Pandora's Box 6
On Stage 6
Old Glory 6
Niagara Falls 7
Love Pat 6
Lakeside Dragonfly 5
Kiwi Full Monty 5
Jimmy Crack Corn 5
Ice Age Trail 5
Halcyon 7
Fragrant Bouquet 8
First Frost 5
Elegans 7
El Nino 5
Earth Angel 5
Blue Mouse Ears 8
Abiqua Drinking Gourd 4
Abiqua Moonbeam 4
Alex Summers 4
August Moon 4
Big Daddy 4
Dick Ward 4
Dream Weaver 4
Fragrant Blue 4
Queen Josephine 4
Rainforest Sunrise 4
Revolution 4
Savannah Supreme 4
Spring Fling 4
Yellow River 3
Wolverine 3
Toy Soldier 3
Summer Music 3
Summer Breeze 3
Striptease 3
Stiletto 3
Risky Business 3
Rascal 3
Praying Hands 3
Potomac Pride 3
Permanent Wave 3
Parhelion 3
Olive Bailey Langdon 3
Marilyn Monroe 3
Lady Isobel Barnett 3
Fire and Ice 3
Maiden 3
Eskimo Pie 3
Blue Mammoth 3
Christmas Tree 3

There were 709 votes posted and 246 different hosta names were noted. Sorry, everything is not in perfect order.

Link below to discussion and voting.

Also in FAQ from 2005 is this.... (you'll have to cut and paste this one)
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/hosta/2005124021031039.html

Paul

Here is a link that might be useful: Ultimate 100 hostas 2008 edition?

You can make a list of the hostas you already have, like all the green with white border, all the greens, all the blues, etc. There you find out that you have already so many of the same design. To protect against impulse buying do not compare how your present young ones look against the catalog pictures of mature ones. Your own young ones might look exactly the same as or better than the catalog picture in a few years. I would compare the Hosta Library pictures of the ones you have against potentially new buys.
Bernd

I have been going through the beautiful pics for the winter and have listed 33 and haven't viewed N+ for listing yet. So yes, I am overloaded. At best, either because of room or finances, I can add maybe 8-10 a year. I would be very interested in an updated listing.

What this has done is lead me to a question about culling, and I am starting a seperate posting on this issue.

Keep the beautiful pics coming. I really admire not only the hostas but the outstanding photography. I just began taking pics last season and can do better than I have done. Expect some pics this season. I have some really nice hostas.

Les

Here is list sorted (73 total)

Since it's been 4 years since last compiled, maybe later this spring when there are more people active in the forum we should redo the poll.

Abiqua Drinking Gourd
Abiqua Moonbeam
Alex Summers
August Moon
Big Daddy
Blue Angel
Blue Mammoth
Blue Mouse Ears
Christmas Tree
Dick Ward
Dream Weaver
Earth Angel
El Nino
Elegans
Eskimo Pie
Fair Maiden
Fire and Ice
First Frost
Fragrant Blue
Fragrant Bouquet
Gold Standard
Great Expectations
Guacamole
Guardian Angel
Halcyon
Ice Age Trail
Inniswood
Jimmy Crack Corn
June
Kiwi Full Monty
Krossa Regal
Lady Isobel Barnett
Lakeside Dragonfly
Liberty
Love Pat
Marilyn Monroe
Montana Aureomarginata
Niagara Falls
Northern Exposure
Old Glory
Olive Bailey Langdon
On Stage
Orange Marmalade
Pandora's Box
Paradigm
Parhelion
Paul's Glory
Permanent Wave
Pineapple Upsidedown Cake
Potomac Pride
Praying Hands
Queen Josephine
Rainforest Sunrise
Rascal
Regal Splendor
Revolution
Risky Business
Sagae
Savannah Supreme
Spring Fling
Stained Glass
Stiletto
Striptease
Sum and Substance
Summer Breeze
Summer Music
Sun Power
Thunderbolt
Touch of Class
Toy Soldier
Whirlwind
Wolverine
Yellow River

Paul

Paul, I like your description " a destination " There is no perfect top 100. We each have individual likes and dislikes. I like a lot of the classics. Krossa Regal will always be a favorite just because it reminds me of people at a different time in my life. Collecting hosta is a journey. I love seeing the change from year to year.
Leafwatcher I do agree with you that it is " overload". I can't and don't want to buy everything. I look at a lot of them and say to myself is this really that different. Rob

Thanks for reposting this list! With so many beautiful pictures posted here, it's hard to narrow down which ones are the most tried and true, so this really helps!

I am still just a newbie, with only 117 different varieties, but I have lots of room and lots of plans! There are 38 hostas on this list I don't yet have. This makes it a lot easier to know which ones to order next!

Karen

It's not that hard. There are so many that look alike,all you need to have is one. For instance,there scads of sieboldiana type blue hostas that it boggles my mind,and all of them look basically alike. Why do we have to collect all of them? I have what I call"the usual suspects" that everyone has,but the special ones,very few. Then there is when you run out of space, that is when you have to stop collecting. When I first started out,I would buy every one that I didn't have. Now,it has to be unique,or else I leave it there. Phil

Thanks for unearthing this list Paul; I will copy it and take it along on treasure hunts. I love to wander among all the offerings, but the wagon gets full in a hurry without some sort of a "filter". Too many hostas, too little space.
Jan

I don't look at my hosta as a collection, but instead as part of a landscape. I think hosta look best in the landscape when various color patterns and leaf shapes are combined.

Yet, I am so attracted to big, round, blue-green leafs with lighter edge that I continually buy more. It started with Francis Williams, then Olive Bailey Langdon then.....

I was determined to get some variety with my fall order planning on Spilt Milk, Kiwi Full Monty and Lakeside Beach Captain. Somehow I ended up with 8 more blue-green with edge as impulse add-ons and nursery freebees.

Create all the lists you want. Some of us just can't be helped.

I don't mind having a bunch that look alike. It lets me evaluate them and decide down the road which ones I like best, have faster growth, have better resistance to insects and good old Mother Nature. Comparing them in pictures just isn't the same as growing them yourself and seeing them up close. Some of them might have the most subtle differences that might not be obvious to the non hosta addict. I do know that if there is a trait that I don't like in a hosta, I won't like others that have the same trait.

BKay, The suggestion you make about the leaf pattern is about what Tony Avent uses on the PDN list of hostas. You can take a look at it. I'll give the link below. Just to give you an idea of what it looks like, I'm not trying to shill for sales.

Here is a link that might be useful: hosta chart

I SLOWLY am formulating a PLAN. See, I have a piece of dappled shaded lawn (after morning sun until 10:30am) that is bigger than all of my present 4 hosta beds combined. Only my energy and finances keep me from prepping and planting it.

That said, my heart knows I will fail if I try to do it all at once, as I would really love to. So I nibble, and drool over all the beautiful hostas I DON'T have.

I am making my overloaded lists a part of what I enjoy about hostas - the dreams of having ALL of them in their grandest glory, and this list changes everytime I see your pics. Then, having made plans that can be achieved. like I have room this year for 3 huge, 2 medium, 6 mini, etc. when the planting time nears I put things in motion. Every MUST HAVE will be scrutinized as to whether it is an improvement over what I already have that is similar. Then I will cull if I have to. I have had a nursery garden before which new plants can grow up in given extra tlc without worrying about garden form. If it still looks like an improvement, then the earlier one goes. If I find I made a mistake, then I have more to do, and more is fun. When it ceases to be fun, that is when I stop being hostaLes.

I guess what I am saying is simply, it isn't overload when you recognize the load and what challenges it creates as part of the fun.

Les

Keep making lists Les. Sounds as though you can get going on some gigantic lasagna beds so that when the shopping bug bites you will actually have a place to plant them all ready and waiting. I only dream of that happening!
Jan

My objective is not to collect hostas, but to enjoy hostas and beautify the yard with hostas. So I'm looking for the most beautiful hostas and have many duplicates because some are just better than others.

I don't have much interest in hostas that can't make my top 50. I'd much rather have five No. 1s than numbers 400-405.

I will say that list of 100 has one glaring omission. Journey's End.

and I don't have room.... or an eye to tell many of them apart.

===>>> this simply means you are moving into the next phase .. from rabid collector.. to selective collector ...

i do miss the old days.. spending hours.. days.. weeks.. poring thru paper catalogs..

but as you note.. sooner or later.. you come to wonder.. why you need another medium white edged dark green centered plant ... and back then.. i probably bought 75% on words alone.. no web to look them up ...

its not bad for your passion to evolve.. as long as you dont spend to much time missing the old phase ...

just get rid of some of the old standards .. when a better look alike come up ...

the phase after this one. is to never buy a hosta you havent seen in person ... so you start visiting hosta garden.. tours.. conventions... and have to see a mature plant.. before you by another babe ...

ken

I suppose having a relatively modest area to plant is the toughest.. when you think about how many new types are coming out ...

It is tough having a collecting mentality and realizing you can only add a few new items if you plant them spaced properly. And with the right light conditions.
My basic goal from the first was #1 to have noticeable differences plant to plant. And #2 space them so they can grow into nice large clumps without needing split very often ..or ever..
That works well for my yard as narrow long gardens are what works for my property.

You all should grow hostas from seeds to experience the variations you yourself can create. There you have the opportunity with every 25 seeds of one plant (one package) to have a lot of variations on solid colors. I bet, when I just culled 90 or so green seedlings I must have had some when mature were like several registered greenies. I think we need to know what we really want to have in our garden and be strict in buying only those.
Bernd

My point was that 465 words in a row isn't a very good way for people to learn which distinctive hosta they would like to own.

Was the 2008 top 100 list based on the 10 ft rule? Or, was it the best performer, based on how good it looks, resistance to slugs, how well it grows, etc?

I don't have very many hosta, but like Harryshoe, I tend to get the same ones over and over. I have very few small ones. The only yellows I have were bonus plants. But I have Guacomole, September Sun and Paradigm, which are yellow with a green edges and fairly similar. I just like the way they look. I also like green with a white edge. I bought more So Sweet last year. I bought Sugar and Cream at the end of the summer last year and it looks a whole lot like So Sweet. I think I need more variety and to curb my impulse to buy it because it's pretty. All hosta are pretty.

bkay

bkay

Ken, that is like saying don't marry the daughter until after you see the mama.

In my case, if I waited to see mature hosta before I brought the wee babe home, I'd not have a single hosta.

I totally remember when I was smitten by hosta. It was love at first sight. I walked into the Asian Market in Chelmsford, and the owner had her mama's Sum and Substance in a pot near the register. I did not know that hosta grew as big as an elephant ear!! Wow. It sure made my DH's green w/white margin old fashioned hosta look pretty puny.

Right now, I'm at the stage of wanting to find a list of those with good substance and any other factors which will make them endure the climate I plan to grow them in. Here on the Hosta Forum we have folks singing in three- and four-part harmony--some in New England, midwest/far north, upper south, and more recently a little squeaky note from the far south. I think it is really making some fine music.

Also, successes are nice to read about, but so are the failures. Things which did not work out. Including soil mixes, sun and shade trials, infatuations for plants which turned to boredom or disappointment. A plant which started good but failed to live up to expectations.

I don't think I'll ever stop choosing plants with names which are significant to me, although I'm willing to let plants by any other name surprise and delight me. A rose is a rose IS a rose after all. especially it is is a plantagenea. :)