Fayrehale-

You just joined Garden Web yesterday. The recommendation of a hosta source has much greater value when the person making the recommendation has some credence. I certainly would like to hear about your own personal growing experiences with hostas.

Your post above comes off as an advertisement, which is prohibited under the rules you agreed to when signing in.

-Babka

This is NOT my business.. a nursery source which I see all through the postings!

I have a nice collection in Vermont and came to recognize the beauty of
Hostas six years ago.

Sorry you were offended by my post

I appreciate the sources people list and the catalogues they mention and I passed along information source for those raising hostas in warmer areas.

Thanks

Jim

Tks Jim, Enjoyed the site! Don't test my old memory but I encountered George many years ago. He is a fine grower worth knowing and knowing about.

I wasn't offended, just questioning. It just reads like an ad, don't you think? What in your personal experience with them leads you to recommended them over the many, many other hosta sellers?

-Babka

What in your personal experience with them leads you to recommended them over the many, many other hosta sellers?

I'd venture to say it's a matter of proximity, seeing as he's only 15 miles away....

i kinda thought the same thing when i first read it...

and i know of george.. and his operation ..

but frankly ... if a hosta grower is advertising in the dead of winter.. man does he have bad timing.. lol ...

welcome to the forum fay .... dont worry about the gaffe ... this time of year.. we need all the posts we can get.. the forum dies until spring hits z8 .. and then all those peeps start bragging about their hosta coming up ... and depressing the bee-gee-bees out of us north country peeps ...

how many hosta do you have???? and which is your favorite??? and do you have pix you can post.. we can teach you that ...

again.. welcome

ken

do you know glen or roy .. both in the general area??? .. no last names .....

both their gardens have been on recent local tours ....

ken

Farehale,

welcome to the hosta forum,
Here is something you may be looking for (from the poultry forum)
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/pages/poultry_catalog.html

HostaManfred

Here is a link that might be useful: Sandhill

Welcome to the forum fayrehale.
Thank you for the lead on the blog. I always like a good garden blog.

Last year the American Hosta Society First Look event was held in Brownsville, Vermont. Just like the name suggests, First Look is an opportunity for hybridizers to showcase potential new hosta introductions and perhaps you were there. I toured some great Vermont gardens. Plus, the rolling country side made for some great photo opportunities.

I look forward to hearing more about your gardens. Thanks for joining the forum and keeping the discussions going.

I must say I was rather surprised at some of the responses! I always thought gardeners were a special sort and a friendly group!! Oh well.

Do not have a lot of pictures at this point.. about 60 various hostas at this time and plans for two more major areas.

For years I hated Hostas as all I saw was people using small leaf green or small leaf variegated to line their front walks and driveways and I HATED it:)

Then I was introduced to the wonderful world of Hostas with all the beautiful selections. hard to pick a favorite! I love the pair of Sun Power that flank the front walk and the scarlet runner covered arbor that is the entrance from the road.

I love the Blues and the Variegated.. super large varieties .. not yet into minis but that day may come.

I also use daylilies and have 130 or so.... Both the Hostas and the daylilies I keep mapped and labled as while they are for our own enjoyment, I figure they may bring a little extra pocket money in retirement when they have to be dug and divided.

Thank you hostamanfred for noticing my interest in finding a source for Chanteclers! We do want a home flock when we can finally be in VT full time in the spring of 2010.

We only have .6 acres and have to allot much of it for fruit and vegetable production. and we intend to have very little lawn!!!

anyway I have rambled long enough

J

"and we intend to have very little lawn!!!"
fav

Here is a link that might be useful: Grass

Thanks to butch_ragland for a GREAT comment on Grass.

I have always believed in masses of plants, flowers, and home food production.

Hostas are a great way to occupy space in a beautiful way

Can one have to many?

"Can one have to many?"
fav

I was on your side when you suffered a little ad hominid attack now you start to ask silly questions.

Hosta people are obsessive/compulsive collectors leading to unreasonable highs then terrible lows.

The high occurs when they view photos or pour over catalogs leading to ordering just a few more, this high continues until they receive and plant these little babies.

The low comes when they get the credit card bill.

A self-test to help diagnose your condition. Do you have to have one of these?

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Expectations

Thanks, Jim, for posting this. I had read George's blog in the past, but lost it when I switched computers. It's always good reading!
Welcome to the forum. I've been a member for years, but rarely post. I can imagine that you may have been reading for some time before you joined.
Linda P

since you now feel settled in.. and properly welcomed ...

MAYBE i can explain about the first posts ...

we do this .. for us.. because we love the plant ...

the rules prohibit advertising ... your own biz ...

i personally do not put in all this effort ... so that others can profit from it.. in a money sense ...

so... we are rather protective of our effort ...

it is just fine... to post links to your favorite supplier ... and tell us all about them.. we do it all the time.. that is relating our/your experiences with that supplier ...

it is not OK for that supplier to post.. what amounts to free advertising to a bunch of gung ho addicts ...

to further the addict metaphor.. its fine to tell us what great heroin you got from george.... but george cant come here and tell us what corner to meet him on.... lol ..

we are enablers.. not suppliers..

thanks for coming around.... hope to see you often..

ken

Just ringing in here. I have been a member since 2001, unfortunatly, I choose to let gardening go by the wayside as we lost a child, and I had a back surgery that has left me disabled. I can speak to the bonds that are formed on Garden Web. I,, in passing went to a local nursery, and posted it on here that they were having a clearance sale on hostas. Some not all mind you, sent me some very offensive emails accusing me of being the owner, ect... Others picked on me for holding out on the information.
(I had to get the ones I wanted First :)
I have a greenhouse in my backyard,not a business by any means that is struggling with little or no attention from me now, and I have watched as over 275 hosta varities have came and went in our our yard. Its hard to ask someone else who doesnts share your passion to help you with you hobby.

Gardeners complain about everything - even who goes on the $#@%&*% blogs!

Tulips are popping here in the far SW Virginia mountains, though it is still 100+ days from Spring. We haven't had much Fall moisture and now temps at night in mid-teens, so hope the trees, shrubs and hosta are wet enough.

Butch will get after us for winter moisture, but I am letting the weather take care of it this year. hoping for high snowfalls!!!

Did get by and visit Ran Lydell's place in late October - still much to see even late in the year. Ran is a great hosta guy, his trees and shrubs are also legend.

This blog does let us both overwinter happily talking to like minded nuts and also learn from those who have had experiences to relate.

My winter plans are to top three of those fast growing poplars I am known for planting - they are now 40-50 ft tall after 5 years. Will take out the top 10 feet to keep them manageable.

Bruce Banyai

"Butch will get after us for winter moisture, but I am letting the weather take care of it this year."
Hey Bruce, just back from Mumbai?

I'm not sure how much moisture hosta need in the winter, have to assume some or even a lot but I swear I don't know how much. Conventional wisdom is they need to go to bed wet but I can't prove it and not sure I believe it?

I've frozen TC plants that have never been in soil all winter and they did well, in fact I held down on moisture until they broke dormancy in the spring.

Questions, no answers! Observations that do not rise to the level of proof?

So, what have been up to?

Butch, as you commented, I can offer my observations on winter moisture needs for hosta. Since we know that snow fall and winter snow cover can both blanket the top soil layer and prevent winter dry wind dessication and possibly provide a slow moisture release to the exposed surface layer roots, it can only be beneficial for their sustainability.

Also, when the ground gets wet, then freezes and stays frozen, it actually does both: keeps the surface zone roots moist and insulate them from everyday thermal freeze/thaw.

Mumbai attacks: you don't know how close your insights were to reality!!

I was scheduled to be in Mumbai that day and the business partners I would have been with went to the cafe in the luxury hotel for drinks TWO HOURS before the shooting - they are Indian but I would have stood out as an American (ok, of Hungarian descent with black hair and tanned skin, but I guess I still look American.)

They left the cafe and were walking on nearby streets when the gunfire erupted.

As the hymn goes, "Count your blessings, name them one by one..."

Speaking of winter moisture, exppecting 1" rain here the next 48 hours: if it goes above 40 degrees F I will drag my 40+ tropical plants out of the basement for a winter refreshment drink!

Bruce

"Mumbai attacks: you don't know how close your insights were to reality!! "

I thought I remembered you did some work in India or with Indians. Yes, count your blessings always. In your case think of your life because of your mother, just luck. You know I was always her favorite.

I have a fortunate life and know it, most of it just luck!

My question comes from observing hosta uprooted, winter heave, etc dry as a bone breaking dormancy, putting down roots and doing fine. Again this does not reach proof of anything and I've never read anything on the subject.

I do know moisture contributes to freeze/thaw problems.

Bruce--I do not believe in luck and you had it right the first time, "Count your blessings...",
it was not 'the day written down' for you, unlike some others, that day! You obviously have
more to do or learn or realize in the plan for your life! I am thankful with you, that you have
more time!

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them."

BTW--I'd like to add my welcome to fayrehale/J and you, too, Samuel, as you're back with us
on this forum!! I am very sorry for your loss! I can only imagine and relate somewhat with the
loss of my own brother and how it affected my mother and myself to lose him at age 9, when
I was 12! There is no greater loss than that of losing a child, I believe!

I hope your garden offers you peace and solace as a 'gift' of grace!

Janice/Hey_J

Welcome to the Forum, Fayrehale, and thanks for the info on George's blog. I've met him several times and always found him to be a nice guy- not enough gas money to get all the way up to his place yet, though. Sends a great email. Do ignore the challenge to your first post. I've recommended several hosta growers in the past years,in great detail, as have others, and that is the first time I've seen such a snippy remark about "credence". As for my creds, I belong to 3 hosta societies, was co-Pres. of one, have over 400 hostas (1/3 acre) and will be a tour garden at the 2011 convention. George is a good name to know, as are the people from Morrisville, VT who grow wonderful hostas and daylilies. Keep on posting - Zone 4A- Brrr!

Just want to thank Hostaanna, Janice/Hey_J
and the others who have offered kind welcoming words! Must say I was rather taken aback by the initial challenge and my faith in Gardeners has been restored!

We are a kind, generous and sharing group.. or at least that has been the majority of my experience.

Yes... Brrrrrrr. right now here in VT.. we just had an artic front come down and take us below zero... tomorrow 40s and rain.. hate the swing.. would like to see 18-24 inches of snow SOON to put my gardens to bed!!

We have had this lovely Vermont Village home for 5 years and work away inside and out.. looking forward to the day we will be here full time... as I posted earlier, the love of hostas happened 6 years ago when I realized the wonder large selection that existed.

Have some coming into their 4 year next season so they will be making a nice show.

Jim

Jim--I hope you will be offering us many photos to drool over, of your hosta and Vermont home!
Sounds like a wonderful combination!! You didn't happen to take any Fall pics. did you? :o)

Janice