Looking forward to seeing everyone. Spring has finally sprung and the gardens are looking great!

In the Ozark Mountains and nearby Ouchita and other ranges, there are many small freshwater springs that are gorgeous. They are naturally cool looking and beautiful settings for hostas. I'd found a place for sale on low ground with a small creek flowing down to Goodall Hollow on Lake Norfork. It had 5 small springs. I wanted to buy it so badly that it hurt. I will probably regret it until the day I die. Hostas and flowing water go together like a bacon and eggs. Hostas and pennywort are a wonderful match. IMO Les

The two page summary at the link made some interesting comments. For one, they did not induce HVX by way of SEEDS. Another, the higher the relationship to sieboldiana, the lower the possibility of HVX in those plants. Oh wow, I can see a big surge in folks buying Elegans and other sieboldiana offspring. Even with dessication, Frances Williams becomes a winner. Never heard of Great Arrival, which they specifically mention, but I suppose I must put it on my short list. Plus, the springtime is when most of the HVX is transmitted. Not during or after blooming, and not in late fall. Debris in the soil just about insures the presence of HVX will survive to infect. And a freshly infected hosta can infect other hosta too. Not familiar with the plant type they were able to infect with HVX, but it took two years for the exposure to test positive. I'm wondering what the prognosis would be for plants popped into the spot where an infected hosta was removed? Meanwhile, I'm thinking that I'd like to read the whole report. It seems that us potheads (i.e. hosta in pots gardeners) are a bit safer as long as we observe good garden cleanliness. Keeping the tools clean requires scrubbing, not simply immersing in something like the bleach. I'm glad to note that Dawn, once again, is a very useful product to keep on hand. Not just for washing down wildlife soaked from oil spills, but sanitizing gardening tools. If I were an in=ground hosta gardener, I'd have potholes all over the place. Cannot kill this HVX with boiling water like you can pernicious weeds. Just excavate and leave dormant for MORE THAN TWO YEARS? oh dear, that is no fun. I'm thinking that HVX is not my major problem. It is foliar nematodes. That, I think is the issue to concern warm climate hosta gardeners. Now I am waiting for advice from AHS on nems. Thanks for bringing this to the forum, Babka. NOTE: Great Arrival is a reverse sport of Great Expectations. Well, so much for putting it on the wish list. I'll have to go with Elegans and Frances Williams, and maybe Olive Bailey Langdon, which I do not have. Incidentally, there is no picture in HLibrary of a mature Great Arrival. I wonder if anyone has a mature one...... This post was edited by moccasinlanding on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 16:07

Exciting MAJOR event coming! The North American Lily Society is holding its annual convention in Chicagoland! This is a rare opportunity, if you live anywhere close. You can also visit the NALS website for further details and registration information. http://nals2016.lilies.org/ NORTH AMERICAN LILY SOCIETY TO HOLD 2016 SHOW/CONVENTION "SATURDAY IN THE PARK" AT BOTANIC GARDEN JULY 6-10 The North American Lily Society will hold its 69th Annual Show and Convention, "Saturday in the Park," at the ChicagoBotanic Garden on July 6-10, with receptions and dinners at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago-Deerfield on Lake-Cook Road, just East of I-294, the Tri-State Tollway. Rooms are also available for those wishing to stay. Best way to learn all the details is by checking NALS' website, which gives all the details of who and what will occur, and when and where it will happen. Be sure to attend to see hundreds of lily stems and attend their lectures and tours. Lecture/classes will be held at the Botanic Garden, along with tours of their research facilities and a special tour of rare books at the Garden's library, with a focus on those about lilies. Most of the lecture/classes repeated in four different blocks, allowing our local Society members as well as the general public to pick and choose. Judicious selection will allow you to attend all of them, without missing a single one. Lecture/classes include: Dr. Johnny Randall of the North CarolinaBotanic Garden will speak about Sandhills lilies, Lilium pyrophilum. Brent Heath, of Brent & Becky's Bulbs, will give two different presentations: first, Lovely Long-Lasting Lilies and Awesome Alliums, and second, Bulbs as Companion Plants. Franc Officer of North Star Lily Society will give tips and techniques for lily photography, and weather permitting, a photo tour of the garden. Bring your camera. Kathy Anderson of Pennsylvania will lead a judges' panel, talking about what's new in the lily judging world. Brian Bergman of the Ontario Lily Society will talk about lilies for gardening and hybridizing. Dave Maltby, also of the Ontario Lily Society, will discuss the Eastern hybrids in North America. Warren Summers of Michigan will also give a talk about lily hybridizing North America. Art Evans of Arkansas will give a presentation about Rhizoctonia, a new and deadly fungus that is invading North American lily gardens. Kathleen Hoxie of Virginia and our own Bill Hessel will give a demonstration of floral arrangements featuring lilies. The ChicagoBotanic Garden's Library will conduct a special tour of its rare books, featuring those on genus lilium.