Ahhhh, the lazy part - been there, do that too! Dance With Me - I've heard it is hard so I never got it. Earth Angel - grows like a weed, love it. Ice Age Trail - I had it, got it as a young TC and grew it in a pot but it didn't survive this spring. I've seen pics of IAT purchased from Jim's Hosta that were big and gorgeous. It also is a streaker plant and will produce other streaked plants from seed. If you get it, save me some seeds. Touch of Class - gorgeous, don't have it but have one of the look alikes named Dream Weaver. It does very well here and intro'd by Kevin Walleck, our current AHS prez. Jewel of the Nile - another KW intro and it grows like a weed here. Paradigm - a classic, yes to it. Liberty - a new one for me last fall. It almost didn't come back and when it did was puny. I dug it up and potted it - the leaf is 1" and probably won't make it back next year. I replaced it, it has only produced one new leaf - I hope it comes back next spring. Liberty is a sport, probably tetraploid of Sagae. I highly recommend Sagae for the look, the margin just isn't as wide. I don't have any of the others and have heard nothing about them. For a balanced hosta garden, make sure you bring in solid colors to offset the patterned cultivars. I didn't because I love all the same type. I then had to go back and bring in some solids and to move things around to please the eye. It is the same as the daylily addiction - we bring in our favorite colors, look around and it becomes blah, so we then bring in other colors to liven things up. Some good blues in different sizes I recommend - Abiqua Drinking Gouard or Love Pat - great color, upright growing. Small blues that hold their color late into the season - Blue Jay and Fragrant Blue. Dark greens - Fried Green Tomatoes, a couple of Lakeside plants that I can't remember right now. If you want big, try some of the sports from Sum and Substance - Sum It Up, Bottom Line and Sum of All. Big, fast growing, all with edges but not "clashy" edges. They are all dark green. Other must haves - June, Paul's Glory or St. Paul. I know you don't like the skinny leaves but consider Ginsu Knife, has a slight light margin but lots of rippling on the edge, Marilyn Monroe, lighter green with ripples and Queen of the Seas, big blue with ripples. These offset the big round leaves that I love. For golds, Choo Choo Train, Sweet Sunshine, I think, hybridized by Solberg and a couple more Lakesides I can't remember, really make the shady areas pop. Have fun as another addiction starts. Could I also interest you in orchids?????????? Brooke

I'm beginning to take my claws out of the ceiling where I jumped when the word VIRUS came into my brain. OH NO!!! But now it seems the latest group of plants received DORMANT from Hallson and Green Mt are emerging perfectly fine. I have 3 Guacamole from Chris, and 3 plantaginea, all of which are now emerging in warmer weather with no problem. Even the big Avocado showed some cold burn and the heavy rains earlier in the week washed the damaged parts away. So now the leaves have the centers gone on only the damaged portions. I think it is time to see about taking a few of them away. Mary, thanks for the note. It isn't bad damage. We don't get so icy cold like your zone does. I'd say less than 10% show any kind of damage from cold. MY damage came from too much rain and too poor drainage during dormancy. Plus squirrels.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let anyone who cares know that a small difference was made here...I contacted the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture about the infected plants on this thread. That was in May. Last Tuesday, I revisited this garden center a couple of miles away from my home here in Westminster. I got the opportunity to speak with the owner of this garden center (he owns a second one near North Denver) and I brought up the virused hosta that were in stock the last time I was there. Turns out the inspector that came out and tested the plants was, according to the owner, a 'hosta grower' and gave him a good (but short) lecture on HVX (I'm so glad the owner was on the premesis when the inspector showed up)!! The owner told me he took a 'crash-course' in making himself familiar with signs and symptoms of the virus, and actually HAD HIS MANAGERS AND EMPLOYEES FROM BOTH STORES take a mandatory 'working lunch' where he had Subway come in and cater lunch, and during said lunch, he presented a power-point collection of pics he found on the internet of HVX-infected plants. WOW, RIGHT?? LOL It was right around this time he asked me if I was the person who called in the infected plants; I admitted I'm the guy, and he shook my hand, thanked me for caring. I told him (not pointing out anyone) I wouldn't have, but that his guy on duty at the time didn't get what I was trying to tell him about the HVX. I'm very happy to say that the owner has committed to buying only from wholesalers who are aware of the virus, and sell guaranteed HVX-free plants. He has no hosta in his shops at the present time, but plans to sell them when he's got a wholesaler who he'll buy from. I name-dropped Q&Z and Walter's Gardens as the two I know of that make appropriate efforts to make sure their plants go out HVX-free. The property was loaded with customers when the State Inspector showed up, and the owner was embarrassed, both that he was ignorant of HVX, and that so many customers witnessed the plants getting pulled off the display tables. So....Something very good happened here. If it happened here, in my neck of the woods, it can happen in other places as well. I'm just a second-year hosta beginner, but this is what can happen when the right people are contacted with the right information, and the others involved, from the inspector to the owner on down, go the extra distance and do what's right, do what they know they SHOULD do. Happy 4th Of July, Everyone! Don B.

I'm in Ottawa, ON and we've had some hot weather, a cold spell and a drought this spring. I've been paranoid about this hosta only because it was a HD special. We did have a big Ash tree removed but that was before the plants came up. Thanks for the assessment! I'm happy if it's just a product of our weird spring - it happened quickly. two weeks ago it looked normal.