Excellent, Denis. Those plants look great; Looks like Van Den Top is first-rate. That montana Aureomarginata is huge!

Enjoy,
Don B.

They look good, Mountainy. I've been wanting a Montana Aureomarginata, and yours looks great.

bk

Soooo thrilled for you! Boy o boy do those hosta look great! They all look so happy in their pots...now you can watch every day for changes, lol

Wonderful Denis - so glad you posted pics..it will be fun watching their progress. :-)

You have received a really nice bunch of hostas. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to seeing pictures of these hosta in the future!

Nice bunch of plants you've got there. Montana Aureomarginata is probably the most commented on plant in my garden and one of the first up.

Great plants I knew you wouldn't be disappointed!
Wish I had more room to order some....lucky you

Better than Christmas. Nice group of plants. You will really like Neptune. Paula

WooHooo! My heart started pounding when I saw your post!
I like the choir of potted ones looking at the box.

Great roots,VDT has great plants.Looking forward to mine,they are not coming until May,but with the early Spring we are having I might see if I can get them earlier.

All this waiting makes me want to add more to the order.It's dangerous.

I'm glad you liked what you got!

I know, It is always a joy to receive new hostas, have fun !

These guys had been in the post since last monday and show no real sign of stress for being a week out of the ground, I guess a sign of top quality plants. I'm glad I got pots big enough for the roots lol.

Montana Aureomarginata is a lot bigger than I expected, its supposed to be slow growing so am really pleased with it, its the star of the bunch so far.

Brother Stefan looks a bit like blanched white asparagus but by this evening I could see a tinge of pink in it, should I keep it out of direct sunlight till it colours up a bit?

They rehydrated really well and are pretty turgid tonight, gonna put them in the unheated back bedroom for tonight as its going to drop down to 3-5 C. tonight.

Thanks for looking folks

Denis

"should I keep it out of direct sunlight till it colours up a bit?"

That sounds wise. Better safe than scorched, eh?

Don B.

Thanks Don, Ya I don't want anything to happen to him and will find a suitable spot,cheers.

Denis

Hi Denis, mine went under a bench in the greenhouse and I covered them with fleece at night just for a bit of added protection. They have moved on and are greening up quite well now. I will try to take some pictures tomorrow.
I don't know what the forecast is for you but we have a few nights predicted for temps low enough for frost. Give those plants of yours lots of tlc till they harden up a bit. Great Montana Aureomarginata you got there, I got one from Mickfields this year, not half the size of yours !
Dave

i see your near fully dormant pots in the first pic ...

these are not fully dormant.. and must be protected from any chance of frost or freeze ... or they will suffer extreme damage ...

such would go in my garage.. in my zone for at least a month ...

i would not be happy about the BRO STEVE ... but time will tell ... you are relying on the full faith of the seller ... as there is no way to ID what they sent... all will most likely turn out well ... it would just be a stress for me ..

congrats .. i am sure you will keep us posted ...

ken

Yes, I like the first pic where all the potted ones are gathered around the Van Den Top box...like an initiation, like a cult, almost. Hmmmmm. Mwaa ha haa!

Seems this is not unique...You see, little 'Rhino Hide' is welcoming a Hallson Gardens order in 2012. : )

Don B.

Dave, I have protected all emerging hosta that need it with fleece and these ones are in the back bedroom, did you get any that looked like my Brother Stefan?(as you say they are greening up)
Yes tonight is fairly chilly and possibility of frost tomorrow night, they will get the tlc alright this was my most expensive order yet!

Ken, I hope I have it all under control, thanks for your concern, as for Bro S. he must have been somewhere very dark to be white like that. I wasn't too worried about him but now ..... lol. I have heard nothing but positives about van den Top so I hope for the best. As we say here "twill be grand!" . I will surely keep ye posted. Thanks

Denis

Lol Don yes they were chanting "one of us, one of us, one of us". I bet there were some great hockey sticks in there to tower over poor little Rhino Hide lol and he would have to have thick skin not to be jealous of the new ones!

LOL Oh, he was a little jealous, all right.

Don B.

P.S. Good thing RH has the thickest skin of all hostas, because those Hallson Gardens plants were WAY bigger than he. It's not his fault, New Hampshire Hostas just can't compare in size of plants to Hallson Gardens. : )

Rightly so for you to be happy with this order! You've received some really nice stock there, some are quite advanced (and of course, look bigger and more impressive when they're up several inches and leafed out), and wow, the root system on Earth Angel! Congratulations, and enjoy!

Denis, this is my Van den Top plants 2 weeks after I received them.

On Arrival

Now

Quite a change. I'm sure yours will soon look more like this.
Does make you wonder where and how Jan keeps his stock.
Dave

Holy Cow, that's a great Montana Aureomarginata. I know what you mean about having a want list since joining this forum. I love this forum for that...inspiration!

I did the same as you last year....I bought the hostas that seemed to be on my wishlist every year: Montana Aureomarginata, Regal Splendor, Sunpower, Maui Buttercups.
All came from Hallson's in Michigan, including a 2-eyed Sunflower. But in September I visited Venero's in Mpls for some conifers and they had a huge Sunpower in their growing area. I said "how much for that whole plant" and they said $45, so I said "SOLD". I didn't count the eyes, but I will this spring...Let's just say the eyes covered a soil plot at least 14" across. I don't mind paying that when you get such immediate impact. The plant sat on the front passenger floor of my van and completely engulfed that side of the van, coming up over the seat cushions. I ended up cutting all of the leaves off before heading home, and did chunk off a few eyes for my sister, too. I can't WAIT to see my new baby's eyes in a few weeks!
Enjoy your order, I wish I could order from van den Top! You probably feel that way reading about all the sellers on this side of the water.

Dave,
Those are looking pretty nice.Am curious about Child of the Queen, see her down front.

Post another update in a couple of weeks to keep the rest of us going and drooling.

James

stoc, go on add a few dozen more to your list, sure its not dangerous just financialy crippling lol!

gardens1, yes I'm as happy as a happy thing that jumped out of a box of happy things and said gee I,m happy lol.
The roots are amazing great foundations for future growth, next year they will be massive (hopefully).

Dave, thanks for your pics, they help a lot, some of yours were looking a bit anemic too but now after your tlc they look great. I am beginning to think that he has a dark dank hosta dungeon that he and his stock wait out the winter lol.

mary4b, Ya MA is amazing I keep going to the other room to look at him lol,
Since I joined here last October I have seen fantastic photos of hostas that I had to have and the lists continue as does the education, I have learnt so much from the great generous gang here.
Regal Splendor is on the list as is Tom Schmid and I can't decide which one to get as they are quite similar, I may end up getting both lol!
Great catch that Sun Power, that will be amazing this year, sounds like it will be 4 foot across plus, do post some pics. I found a large pot of Empress Wu with 5 eyes recently and cheap at 10 euros, Its a rare thing to find a bargain here in Ireland!
I was envious of your nurseries state side until now.

Denis

Ken, I hope I have it all under control, thanks for your concern

==>>> always keep in mind.. that a vast majority of our readers.. never chime in.. and i suspect many are newbies ...

so i always expand suggestions to make sure everyone knows the variables ...

why does your members page say you are in the US ... that aint right.. is it??? i was thinking the isles.. or ireland ... i have too many british colloquialisms... blimey.. crikey.. etc... i am needing some others.. can you recommend some???

ken

Mountainy, I'm throwing you a curve ball ... or maybe trolling some bait by you slowly would be a better way of saying it.

Irish Luck is going to make you proud. I love mine. Excuse me while I find a picture of it for you..... nice shiny leaves, Got this one from Land of the Giants in March 2012.

BUT, here comes the bait.....wait for it.....

I just got Irish Eyes, my DH has hazel eyes and he is first generation Irish, got this one for him. That's crushed red pepper on the newly potted plants. IEyes is on the left. LOTS of eyes.

Ken, ok I understand, thanks.

I don't know, does it? will check. Yes I'm in north west Ireland.

I could suggest some Irishisms but you couldn't use them in polite conversation, the Irish are a very sweary people lol!

Here are a few.

Feck- the word is used as a polite version of the other F-word. A true Irish person uses this or the other one at least once per sentance, also used as a word for throw.Used for strenghtening an adjective.

Amadan- Irish for idiot.

Jaysus- used by people (inc religious) to take the lords name in vain without really doing it, very common.

Gobshite- an idiot. Gob meaning mouth and the other part means what come out of it.

Fanny- A lady's front bottom not the back bottom as you use it, We fall about with great hillarity when on a US comedy some one says they fell on their fanny, also fanny pack is a bum bag here.

Muff- same meaning as above, also a small costal village in County Donegal which is famous for its "welcome to Muff" sign and for "Muff Diving Centre" which I understand is a scuba school.

Arse- Bum,bottom or rear end, also used as a stand alone expletive.

Grand- great, also used in place of ok.

Polluted- drunk.

Ossified- very drunk.

Plastic Paddy - people who feel strongly connected with Ireland even though they were not born there and may have never been there, perhaps those who have Irish ancestors. It's mostly used when talking about Irish-Americans in a slightly-negative way.

Fag- Cigarette.

Janey Mack- gosh!

Savage- very good, as in "thats a savage cup of tea".

I think thats enough to give a flavour!

I will leave you with a clip from an Irish comedy.

Denis
(If any of this disturbs your sensibilities I will remove it)

Here is a link that might be useful: Father Ted, an Irish sitcom.

Mocc, Yes I think I am going to love Irish Luck, Irish Eyes looks very similar to Fortunei Aureomarginata (in the library) of which I have got 2, what do you think? come on mocc sell it lol, what sets it apart?

Ken, I had a look at my member page and you are right I seem to be American!, I tried to change it on my profile and as Ireland doesn't have zip codes it won't let me change anything without a valid address, tried typing None and Ireland in the zip code box and no go, seems the system doesn't allow for backward countries lol. suppose I need to contact admin.

Well, Mountainy, I'm holding offd here until mine gets its groove...I mean margin. No sign of it so far. If it looks like Fortunei Aureomarginata then, I won't bug you.

Love your list of slang or colloquialisms.
Do they still use HIMSELF as an expression?

Fair enough Mocc, I'm not saying that its a bad thing, I hope yours gets a wiggle on and earns its stripes!

Oh yes Himself and herself too! I can see that on pesonalised towels lol and you often hear people refer to their father as the auld lad and the mother as the auld wan. I don't know where wan comes from it may be a derivative of one, Hiberno-English can be very strange at times.
I hope I wasn't too rude above lol

Denis

look at my name... i added MI in front of my zone info ... for michigan ... in the zone box ..

what an idjit.. i forgot all about father ted... i used to literally weep while watching that insanity ... i am trying to picture some of us in a decade... with a hosta tied to the wheelchair ... and a lawnmower behind ... lol ...

as for the rest of your list.... hmmmm ... cant you come up with anything a bit tamer for me to use ... lol ...

but do not worry ... i work under the assumption that we are all grown ups.. and can self-edit that which we dont approve of ...
crikey.. what a savage good list ... lol .. and blimey and there you go.. bob is your uncle ...

ken

Denis, it goes with the territory. Might raise an eyebrow on occasion, but not nearly so "rude" as some rugby songs. Besides, I've heard it all during 20 years at sea.

If you haven't seen the movie SAVING GRACE, highly recommend it for good acting and great humor. Laid in the same town, with some of same actors as the series "Doc Martin" and I love them both. Especially when two old ladies make tea out of Grace's greenhouse crop. Craig Ferguson is in it too, as the gardener. Not Irish, but he's a Celt for sure.

Ken, I sent a message to the admin and got a "how to fool the system" reply so I'm back as Ireland now although in the edditing of my profile my pics on my member page have dissapeared sigh... I will try and find em later and replace.

We say that Father Ted is a documentary lol, living here can be stranger than that at times!

The Irish don't do "tame" and might use your englishisms sarcasticly when trying to be polite and serves as to poke fun at the stuffy English too, It can be comlicated!

Brutal- can be used for something bad, not describing violence but could be someones cooking or taste in clothes or a bad pint.

Its not easy to find an exclamation that isn't rude, insulting or sacriligious lol.

Bobs yer uncle and fannys yer aunt!

Mocc, were you in the Navy?

Yes I've seen Saving Grace very funny film, I must find it and watch again.

Denis

Not the real Navy, me. I was in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oilfield. Private fiefdom of the oil companies.

'Father Ted' Ha ha ha ha ha! I enjoyed it! Thanks!

Don B.

Mocc, I could be wrong but I can't imagine very many women work out on the rigs, must have been quite an experiance, a friend of mine works on a platform off Scotland. You spent 20 years at it, you must be one tough cookie!

Don, glad you liked it , loads more on youtube

I'm still fecking laughing like an idjit! What a funny video and "the list" . Rotf

Yup, I'll bet Mocc put many a Salty Dawg in his place as captain. : )

Don B.