Hadspen Blue (TF 2x7) Smith/Ruh-1976 Hadspen Hawk (TF2x20) Smith/Ruh-1988 Hadspen Heron (TF2x10) Smith/Ruh-1976 So apparently the TF2xNN system was the naming scheme used for the joint venture of Smith/Ruh. And those 3 hosta were registered with AHS. ==>>> might need another glass when i am done ... lol.. smith made a cross of a late flowering plant... and you will have to confirm this.. i dont feel like doing the research.. a late re-blooming elegans [blue] ... onto a smallish tardiana ... this was way back in time [70's].. lets call it the advent of hybridizing for a goal.. and his goal was a small blue plant ... dont let me forget about ruh ... anyway.. one blooms near fall.. the tardiana i think.. and the elegans late may.. and it was this freak late re-blooming.. that allowed the cross ... so he plants all the seed he gets ... and simply calls them. 1 x 1.. 1x2 .. etc.. until he culls out some that are worth naming .... he then.. in year two ... makes some more crosses [some probably back onto the first season crosses].. and calls them 2x1.. 2x2 ... etc ... once he gets around to naming them.. he uses the hadspen moniker.. along with sea birds.. like hadspen heron/hawk/samphire .. etc ... most are small.. most are blue... there is one spring yellow hadspen samphire or something or another ... i dont recall if hadspen was his nursery.. town.. ????? anyway ... peter ruh was one of the first guys to discover dirt .. he may even be beyond octogenarian by now .. and he is the AHS historian ... and it has been his life goal ... to register all the historical hosta ... when you see a hosta name.. followed by many peeps names ... the first ... and i am going from memory.. the 1st is seed producer.. the second.. seed namer?? and the third is the register of the plant .... [someone please correct that] ... anyway ... when you see ruh.. he is simply registering it ... and the names prior give its heritage, and credit in terms of other peeps ... i got most of my collection.. from peter ... i dont think the nursery is very active much anymore ... i recall something about the daughter running it.. but i dont recall its current situation .... my first foray into hosta.. was when daisy bachik ... saw my name in the newspaper garden section.. and buzzed right over to meet me.. and insist i join the AHS ... i heard all about this woman named pauline banyai ... gold standard .. herb benedict.. nancy krul .. etc ... so i join.. and the next summer the MI club is offering an overnight bus trip to OH ... who knew peeps actually visited gardens.. let alone rented huge busses to tour gardens in other states ... lol ... so we take off from an Ann Arbor mall at oh-dark thirty .. 6 am ... for all points east and south.. including a visit to peter ruh/homestead gardens.. van wade.. and bob kuks ... and i was hooked like a small fish on a large hook .... and as they say.. the rest is history .... i will never forget.. arriving at vans.. around noon ... freezing to death on an over-air conditioned bus.. and stepping off into 100% humidity .. and 100 degrees .. lol ... [probably a lot like i think AL in summer is.. lol] ... it was nirvana ... i nearly passed out.. i was never sure if it was the heat.. or the hosta.. lol.. anyway.. i digress .. its freaking january.. i can not help you with what my plant does ... i am no longer that up close and personal with them ... in WINTER!!!! .. if i have it.. i have no pic .... many of the TF .. have the early bloom of elegans .. sieboldiana ... some have the late bloom of tardiana ... back when.. there were no hosta with white blooms.. but for plantiginea ... a pure white from start to finish.. most have a flush of purple that fades out fast ... so anything that seemed white was named ... and very often.. was fragrant.. due to plantigineas gene tendencies ... does that help?? ... or time for a mid morning euphemism for lemonade??? ken ps: halcyon is a bird.. is it eric smiths???? .. why didnt he add hadspen on this one.. maybe because it wasnt a seedling .... i dont know.. and too lazy to look it up ... and what did it come from.. that blue one.. was that his also????? Here is a link that might be useful: a kingfisher ... man i love the name playing game ....

this ruined my day ... i hope shirley is doing well ... nothing was more exciting back in the day.. when van would come to the MI meeting at hidden lakes.. and hand me a gift plant of something rare ... in fact.. he brought a nice piece of his new plant clear fork river valley.. and whoever he brought it for.. maybe indiana bob.. wasnt there.. so instead of taking it home.. he gifted it to me ... also.. he visited my garden in livonia during the 99 convention ... and was pivotal in selling me trees for my new 5 acre property ... i guess i have a living legacy from van.. every time i look over the property .... he was so proud when he came to the 2009 convention .. in my new garden ... to see how his trees grew ... the In Memoriam page at the hosta society site.. is just filling up with my old friends ... a good and generous friend ... i will miss him ... ken http://americanhostasociety.org/WaystoGive/Inmemoriam.htm#top

I've been there 3 or 4 times. They are open Monday through Saturday. I can give you the pros and cons of visiting and shopping there. The catalog online is huge but they don't have a lot of them available. When you visit, there is a catalog of "available" plants but a lot of them aren't available either. They print the "current" catalog each May and don't update the catalog during the year. If you want a specific plant call or contact them well in advance. The gardens are huge and take a lot of time to walk around--also consider wearing comfortable shoes since the gardens are on hillsides, etc. Although the garden locations of the various cultivars are noted in the online catalog, they don't have a map which shows where each garden is located. So, looking for certain plants can be challenging. Last time we were there a lot of the plastic houses in which they keep some of the plants weren't open. Also note that plants are kept in houses according to themes, e.g. girl's names. All of this may seem overwhelming and it is for the first time shopper. Also remember, the price is per crown, so the pot with 10 crowns looks wonderful but it may cost $150+ Now for the good points, you get to see hostas that aren't babied in pots or grown under optimal conditions--in other words just like you would see them in a yard. They even grow some out in the sun so you can see what that does to the plants. I often change my mind about purchases when I see other plants there which look better to me in person. I bought about 10 large blue hostas there over the last 8 years and each and every one of them was different than what I thought I wanted before I visited there. I have also bought 20-30 other ones that I liked when I saw them. I try to get there every 2 years so this is the year I will probably get down there--but for me the trip is 1 1/2 hours so it's not too bad. The staff are very friendly and do try to help. Last time there, one guy actually took us through some of the huts and showed us lots of terrific new plants--most weren't for sale yet but were interesting to consider for future purchases. It's a shame that Van isn't around any more since he was usually out in his golf cart--we roamed the day lily area with him one year. They also have a small but good collection of perennials and shrubs for sale near the hostas--last time we jammed a large rhododendron in the back of the car since we couldn't pass it up. We usually allow 4 hours to visit and purchase stuff. One last note, if you see something in the gardens take a good picture of the exact garden it's located in, the plant itself along with the plants around it so you have some chance of identifying it for the staff--they have so many plants it would be impossible for them to know where everything is located. It's a great place to visit and buy plants all of mine from there have thrived--but we think it's good to know some of the stuff I've mentioned before you visit.

We've been to Wade and Gatton several times. Once I even printed off the entire catalog at my office--yes all 200+ pages--double sided of course. We didn't understand how things worked since they have a separate catalog when you get there with what is available--but it's printed in May and not updated so the later in the year you visit, the less that's available. I enjoy walking around the gardens but a map where the gardens are located would be helpful since their grounds are extensive, to say the least. I rarely get what I went down there for--some are not for sale and others can't be found. So I end up getting what's available and looks fine that day. I have Night Shift and Kaleidochrome but not from Wade and Gatton.