I THINK.. there is a rather active hosta club in NC.. [boy was i wrong there..]

check out the link.. and if so.. contact them.. and VOLUNTEER .. to do something.. like the above suggestion.. in return for some divisions ... [forget that.. lol.. there arent any ... but check out the link anyway ....]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE ... [spouses count in my book!!]

ken

ps: i would delete this idiotic reply.. but for the last sentence above my name ....

Here is a link that might be useful: at least they are in NC ... and great peeps ...

Maybe get involved in a garden club or at least contact one and see if they have suggestions.
gc

I agree with the garden clubs but the local Horticultural Society usually has a few at their spring/fall sales. You could also try yard sales or neighbourhood plant sales.

In addition to posting a 'wanted' ad on craigslist, also try looking on there several times a week. Manytimes, especially in early spring, people will post "I'm cleaning out my garden and have hosta divisions for $2 each".... kinda things.

There's also a site called 'freecycle.org'. It's basically like the free-section of craigslist, except you can set it up for emails too. Our local freecycle is quite active, but it's not caught on as well in some other ares. You'll just have to check. But be sure to set yourself up for email notification and be sure to respond right away with FLEXIBLE AVAILABILITY to come and pick up. Sometimes people leave stuff by the curb, so you have to be quick, othertimes, they'll only set up an appointment.... and since the stuff is FREE, you have to be willing to work with THEIR schedule.

Good luck!

Maybe the way to start is one hosta at a time and then it would not seem like such an expense. Possibly when you go to visit your parents you could get some small divisions for their plants or have they send you some in the mail. Those would really make it a special garden.An ad in free recycle also asking for unwanted plants
Good luck.

I've tried craigslist in 3 locations (jacksonville, eastern nc, and outer banks) all which could fall my general location, with no luck at all, for trade or sale. I am thinking maybe they aren't popular here, we have clay soil and sand soil, and a military town full of lots of young couples, not many non military here pretty much everyone I would see when i go into town is a mil family member,and with the tendancy to move a lot (we've moved 5 times since 2008) people just don't seem to plant here.

When we first moved in I saw an ad for hosta divisions for $1 a piece and I so wish I had bought them all, but I didn't realize how much of my property is shade. This is our 3rd year here (going on 3rd) and I haven't seen the lady post since, I keep hoping, but maybe this year she will be ready to divide again.

My husband tells me I'm looking in the wrong places and the people who garden here aren't checking out the wanted ads and that i need to just find someone in person and go up to their door and ask them, but I am extremely shy. He also says my trades aren't enticing to gardeners and he is probably right, i have brand new in box ps3, ipad, xbox 360, tools, but yes other than myself I have not known anyone who likes to play games and garden.

I haven't tried sticking up flyers and the thought almost makes me laugh but it may work

Do you think it's possible that people just don't know what hostas are? I know some people ive asked didn't know, so maybe with he rate people move some have hostas growing and don't even realize it. I could try a picture with my ads.

My parents could send me divisions but i am not sure if they are able to mail that across the border. Also not sure since theirs won't be able to be dig up to divide until may/june when mine will be well into the season and it will be hot here. They do have to divide this year but they like to divide as plant with foliage and not sure that would ship too well this far, eyes would do fine.

Did you happen to try the Craigslist Garden Discussion Forum for your area? I just browsed it; There are LOTS of pages of threads, maybe you should post a Hosta topic and try to start a thread with your local gardeners. It's definetly worth a try, yeah? Bet you'll get a bite or two.

Regards,
Don B.
Westminster, CO.

OR.....As an alternative to trying to TRADE your electronic toys, maybe you might consider instead SELLING 'em on Craigslist, then you can get yourself some Hosta-cash. If you can't find Hosta locally, I'd suggest mail-order. There are many great online Hosta retailers. I am giving you the link for this particular retailer because you said 'cheap' and they have a lot of cheap(AND GOOD) ones.(a lot of 3,4, and 5 dollar plants.) Ten dollar flat rate shipping charge. Also good quality. If you ever want info on other online stores, this is the place to ask.
Good luck with your HostaQuest!

Don B.

Here is a link that might be useful: Green Mountain Hosta Nursery

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Mon, Apr 1, 13 at 13:39

I really feel for your desire to garden when no one around you seems interested. When I was a boat captain, I yearned to dig in the dirt all the months I was away from home. So, our dispatcher allowed me to build a raised bed beside his office trailer. It was the most talked-about feature in the whole complex, and I had so much satisfaction doing it. But those were vines and annuals, hosta were unknown to me in those days.

Is there a family service rep at your spouse's base? I cannot imagine that only you of all the women or families there interested in gardening. Perhaps it would be good to have the help of the base staff, who know the community better, and who could perhaps set up a program to help families garden in some way. Perhaps a local nursery could order in some hosta and, with encouragement, offer hefty discounts to military families. It seems to me good business for the nursery, if there is an untapped market available.

And freecycle is fine, so is Craigslist, but I don't keep up with either locally since I am basically a very independent sort of person.

Other options:
Local newspaper, garden editor....speak with him/her about who in the area is active with hosta. And, they would also know the garden clubs. Local gardeners might be reading the paper, and it could help if an interest in HOSTA is expressed. If s/he asked those with hosta divisions to contact him, for beautification of some military family properties, then what do you think?

Local county agent. Ferret them out from the county courthouse or behind the local high school, and see what they say. I betcha somewhere in the area is a wholesale nursery that is selling to a market far far away. But not locally. For those growing in-the-ground, most hosta won't be up ready for distribution yet, and even if they are, maybe they'd be willing to make a deal for military families.

And like Melissa says, get some hosta from your Mama. It is possible to keep at least one of those in a container to move when you move. It is bound to be most precious of all.

Good luck. And best wishes to you and your husband.

the link just came in my email ...

good peeps.. no clue what you might get.. but at a buck a plant.. you cant complain too much..

of course.. even doubling the price for shipping ... will still get them to you for 2 bucks a piece ...

shoot us some pix.. and we might be able to ID most of them ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Good job, Ken! You're a twisted genius! :)

Don B.

Try Gilberthwild.com. They always have their 'handful of hostas'. Several times I bought the 100 for $100. You get at least 5 different varieties and the shipping is free.

Actually though, try out Kens link first --- seems like a great deal.

HI Marinewife,

I've bought named varieties from Gilbert Wild and sons and been fairly pleased. All the plants were healthy.

If I was looking for hosta on the cheap, that's were I would go. You'll notice they have several deals, but the unnamed ones would be the least expensive.

Bk

Here is a link that might be useful: gilbert Wild hosta

Thank you for the links, I just bought some from kens link (30). I am tempted to do 100 for 100 that is a on of hostas, how do you handle that many?

I have 500 hosta seeds planted indoors and another 600 showed up today, I expected low germination because I've never grown hosta from seed but we will see how they turn out. 12 are up from the first set of 50 I did.

Question, what do you think will go good with hostas in my area? I was thinking ferns, I can get those for free if i dig them.

maybe my hosta growing will inspire others in my neighborhood to grow some, and by then I might have a good amount of hosta babies for them to start off if a lot of my seeds germinate.

I have a few more hosta questions, I am gonig to make a new thread to ask them

Ferns are very nice with Hostas. Free you say? Better yet!

I have had good results with bare-root you buy at Lowes or even Wal-Mart. I know others will say watch out,but I once bought a bag of twelve Gold Standard hostas at Lowes,and I still have all of them. The only thing is,you may not get the plant on the picture. Of course,you won't find any exotic hostas that way. Growing hostas from seeds will take many years before you get anything worth growing,and most of them will be just plain green plants. Phil

Ferns in a hosta bed looks lovely. Be careful though not to let them take over. Every year I pull a bunch out that are crowding some of the hostas. Fortunately, they are very easy to pull out.

I used to subscribe to a garden magazine that in the back had a "seed exchange" where readers who wanted something could list them. But I don't remember which magazine it was-maybe Horticulture. Does anyone remember thiis? Maybe you can start some flowering plants there in NC and work out an exchange for hostas later this season.
Theresa

Theresa- Organic Gardening used to do a seed exchange but had to drop it because the folks posting got bombarded by marketers and other strange humans.

tj