I have been to HostasDirect.
About 25 min from me.

Unless you buy mature divisions, you will received VERY SMALL tissue culture plants. I bought about $200 worth when I was still new to hosta-ing 2 years ago. And even the mature divisions are single-eye.

I wish I had that money back cuz those plants are still quite small.

I think money is best spent elsewhere.

This is a pic of what I got back in 2007.

Can't see too much detail, but I can see that the tags are from different places... some are Walters, some look like Shady Oaks tags...

One thought for you Melissa... hostas grown in containers tend to dwarf themselves... smaller leaves, slower growth. A few seem to do the opposite - some claim that Tattoo or Great Ex will generate a better root ball... but lots of plants respond to a limited environment by staying smaller...

Jim, those were only in containers for the first year... they were overwintered in the ground and are in the ground now.

But yes, you are correct, Tom at HostasDirect was using whatever tags he had from different nurseries.

I recently received a Blue Mouse Ears from there (a gift from a friend who is a master gardener). It has very good roots, and is thriving in a pot where I am acclimating it to outdoor life. I'm tempted by their current deal for 3-eyed divisions.

The plants my friend purchased look very healthy. Guess it could depend on how patient you are, waiting for them to grow up.

I received a gift certificate from them as a gift. Same experience as everyone else. Plants were healthy, but small. IMO even the mature divisions were rather small.

I had no idea this place was right nearby in St. Paul... right by the State Fairgrounds... now I see the retail site is closed for the season... too bad, I'd have dropped in when I was over that way...

Patann - you don't have an email link on your member page. Please email me directly.

Teresa

I have been to the retail site a few times and had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Tom Carlson. The hostas are small, but have a good root system. The prices are very reasonable. It is a trade off--if you want a mature division, you will pay top bucks for it, but if you can wait a couple of years for the tc's to mature, Hostas Direct is a great source. I am very happy with all of my purchases from them. They are also very aware of HVX and test for it.

I wont order from them again.Paid for new items in February and in May they told me they had sold out.Hostas are incredibly small.The only larger one I recieved from them was 2 inches larger than the box and thus recieved broken stems.They sent letter apologizing for the small hostas but that they had a cold spring.Who would have thought that Minnesota would have a cold spring,what a shocker.Rinky Dink,spend your hard earned money elsewhere.

Hello,
Sorry, it seems like alot of money for the risk. I know what the product cost. There are places such as Hallsons, Naylor Creek, and Green Hill where you can get a mature plant for the same monies or close. They have three times the work into it and at about the same monies. Yes, clean plants.

Thank you all for your information.