Blue Cascade

Fog Light

Leather and Lace

and another try at Spartacus

You can find my list in my post Waiting for spring. The alphabet is only responsible for Gemstone and Awakening Angel, the rest is plain and simple addiction...and some enablers (not only in this forum) who are showing nice pictures all year long :-)

Two good choices you made, sherry.
I couldn't even wait until the alphabet was finished to place an order.

Almost, thanks to seeing Karin Black Cat's.
Christmas Candy because I liked Tiddisolo/Dave's.
Gemstone due to seeing peren.all/Laurie's and zkathy's.
Gravity Rocks just because I liked the picture
Hands Up, peren.all/ Laurie again.
Lakeside Paisley Print from ALL of you who posted it. Looks good in every garden.
Snake Eyes because I had one I liked but lost it, so trying again.
Sultans of Swing, the web site picture got me.
Waterslide, saw a mature pic in Garden Gate magazine and then Karin Black Cat and zkathy's picture confirmed it for me.

Of course, there were lots of temptations on the alphabet. I still want Frisian Pride and so many more.
I've also ordered another Elephant Ear named Black Swan, three Hibiscus, and four miniature roses. Can't wait to cruise the local nurseries. Soon!

Frisian Pride

Lakeside Banana Bay

Elvis Lives

Valley’s Lemon Squash

As well as Appletini and Lemontini because I couldn’t remember which one impressed me.

I’m not as much a people person as sandyslopes (those attributions are impressive, sandy), so you know if your pictures of these hostas were actionable.

Oh, you're getting Frisian Pride. ....so jealous! But good for you. :-)

Well, the alphabet definitely caused me to add to my list! Some of those I ordered this year were confirmed by pictures in the alphabet, but some have been on the list for quite a while. And this year I set a budget and have tried to stick to it (but hey, it's only March). I ordered 19:

Abiqua Blue Crinkles

Alex Summers

Antioch

Blue Jay

Corn Muffins

Devon Green

Elegans

Fortunei Hyacinthina

Fragrant Dream

Francee

Great Expectations

Janet

Old Glory

Ripple Effect

Silver Bay

So Sweet

Striptease

venusta

Whirlwind

And I'm hoping that at the Hosta club sale I can get a few more:

Dinner Mint - that was definitely one I noticed in this year's alphabet.

Get Nekkid

Maybe Blue Dolphin - still hoping someone chimes in about that one... Don?

Maybe a few others... we'll see.

Afterglow and Grand Prize......so far.

my wish list from the alphabet is as follows:

-Cathedral Windows

-Climax

-Spilt milk

-Emerald rough Cut

-Teaspoon

-Hercules

It may change tomorrow. OK , yeah it will change tomorrow,but those are the for sure ones. Thanks for all the beautiful pics. This forum rocks!!!!!

The alphabet has added to my wish list as well. I have placed two orders so far. I have ordered:

Jessica Alba

Parisian Silk

Enduring Beacon

Smiley Face

Lemon Ice

Holar Crimson Grape

Holar Purple Flash

Valley Lemon Squash

Blushing Blue

The King

The Queen

Foxfire Palm Sunday.

The addiction is real!

I ordered a lot this year. The alphabet got me started looking, and then I searched for more info here and found other threads with other Hosta pics so I searched further and then I scoured the vendor's sites and searched for more info here and found some others. I honestly can't remember which ones I saw on the alphabet and which ones I saw elsewhere on here. The ones that fueled my search engine:

Awakening Angel - Thanks DD and SS. There's one pic of it emerging that sent me searching for it and DD's high praise (and other pics) assured me I needn't worry about that "one picture" thingy. Also led me to an "Almost Blue" thread that kept me busy for a while searching for more info on many others - Reptillian, Riptide, Tidewater . . .

Foxfire Irish Mist (and anything Foxfire I could find) - very interesting and somewhat sad story about this place. Actually, I think it was just a random comment about it being a favorite of collectors that got me started.

And some others:

Abiqua Trumpet

Arctic Blast

Cloudburst

Coal Miner

Cold Heart

Devon Green

English Sunrise

Jetstream

Lakeside Banana Bay

Lakeside Dragonfly

Lakeside Midnight Miss

Little Treasure

Love Song

Raspberry Sundae

Ruffed Up

Skylight (but that was already on my radar)

and did I mention Tidewater?

Many others, some that made the cut and some that did not, but those are the ones that jumped out at me.

The alphabet post gets me through winter, looking and dreaming of spring. I look at all the wonderful pictures and think "I should add that to my list" then I try to tone down my list. Here is what I ordered:

Abba Dabba Do

Ann Kulpa

Choo Choo Train

Cracker Crumbs

Forbidden Fruit

Irish Luck

Lakeside Cha Cha

Lakeside Ripples

Lakeside Zinger

One Last Dance

One Man's Treasure

Waterslide

World Cup

Touch of Class

This is my current wishlist (most of it came from the alphabet although some from other pictures posted here)Bullet Proof (nice
blue)
Dancing Queen
Fortunei Albopicta
Gemini Moon
Ice Age Trail
Lakeside Elfin Fire
Lakeside Little Tuft**
Little Aurora
Little Treasure
Neutrino
Pandora's Box
Pixie Vamp
Pocket Full of Sunshine
Popcorn
Sunset Grooves
Tokudama Flavocircinalis
Touch of class
Twist of Dwarf
Whiskey Sour

I have been looking at some online stores, but haven't ordered anything yet. I just ordered one new canna variety I didn't have. I suppose hostas will be next. I may also need to replace a couple minis if they do not make it: cherish and baby bunting.

Can someone explain what “the alphabet” is? (Sorry I’m new!)

Welcome lara! The Alphabet is an annual event here. On Dec. 26th we start with the letter A. Everyone shows pics of Hostas starting with A, then 2 days later ones that start with B and so on until we come to Z. Then we do catagories like Blue or Mini. It helps us get through winter and is great fun. Check out some or all of the posts. We are happily & hopelessly addicted and I hope you will join us! Here is a link to start you off Hosta A 2017

Awesome! Thank you so much! I am in my first house with the ability to plant/garden and I have a 50’ x 8’ bed that gets 1 hour of sun on one end and 5 hours of sun on the other (All before 12) so I am hoping to find some great Hostas to put in this spring. :)

Welcome, Lara. Prepare to be "inspired" to buy more hostas!

Welcome, lara! Have fun reading the posts!

Steve I am also looking at Ruffed Up--where are you ordering it from? I didn't know about the Foxfire hostas until a year ago and they are hard to find. I saw two (Divine Winds and Shadow Dancer on an auction but the prices skyrocketed so I didn't continue to bid, now I am sorry.

Popmama, I have Ice Age Trail and it's a beauty--I got it 4 years ago from Jim's Hostas. It took a couple of years to really look good but it's one of my favorites.

Whiskey Sour looks so good but I don't see it for sale. I think Karin's pictures started my aim to find this one. It looks so good.

I am looking forward to Embroidery from the AHS auction, that's the only one I got so far.

I ordered a bunch of new hostas but the only one I can truly blame on the alphabet is Lakeside Paisley Print. I didn’t know what Lakesides even were and that one made me fall in love. I can’t wait for a couple of years to go by to see how she grows up!

Ls Paisley Print was also one that got my itch going a few years back. It was among my first mail-orders back in 2013. Definitely not a fast grower for me, 4 eyes last year. I'm sure it might grow a little faster in more sun, but I like the way it looks in a lot of shade.

Hi lara, 8' x 50' mostly shade bed - you've come to the right place! Probably lots of peeps here that would love to start with that blank canvas. Hope we can help guide you. Where are you from?, I'm (we are?) always curious.

Hey miles, I ordered Ruffed Up from Land of the Giants as well as a couple of Foxfire Hostas.

Hey Michelle, I'm afraid to ask, but where did you find The Queen.

There were also several Hostas on order before the Alphabet hit, that only confirmed my desire to order them:

Fluted Fountain

Irish Luck

Jessica Alba

Midnight Oil

Teatime

....

Hi Steve I am located in Canada and I have ordered it from Hosta Fever. I have both Irish Luck and Teatime and love them both. I am now off to look up Midnight Oil.

Lakeside Paisley Print and Whirlwind were two of my first mail-orders. They are both very slow growers. I just keep giving them words of encouragement. Haha.

I have 2 Paisley Prints--I bought a very small one and then got a much larger plant. The larger plant grew very well. The small one was hanging on last summer. Ice Age Trail is on the right, directly in front of the hydrangea and the smaller Paisley Print is just to the left of it. Both of the plants that I bought are Paisley Prints but I wonder if you can buy a plant that is just too small to thrive? Has this happened to anyone else with hostas?

Steve, if I order Ruffed Up it will be directly from the hydridizer, have you ever looked him up? Monty Carlson at Northernair Hostas. He has other great plants that are worth a look (perhaps some more orders?)

miles, I also had problems with LS Paisley Print. Last fall I put it into the garden, maybe that helps. Ordered Paisley Border and Emerald Paisley to test if the sports are better. I will not give up hope for PP, maybe it just needs a little longer than others :-)

I was not familiar with Monty Carlson (but I'm learning). Thanks for the tip. Its always great to discover hybridizer's websites and I'm looking over his catalog. MN Wild looks interesting as does Sunfish and ....

It's easy for me to get a Hosta that's too small to thrive under my care, but I figure I'm still learning. (Not really what you're asking, but these two cents were burning a hole in my head).

Steve,

I am learning too. If I get the Ruffed Up we will have to compare pictures and see how they do in our yards. I don't think that I will buy such a small division again--I saw PP at a nursery while shopping for annuals and herbs and I just grabbed it without thinking--I hope that it grows better this third summer.

Karin,

Never thought about comparing the sports to the parent plant but that is interesting. I just wonder if this particular cultivar PP has some issues--it's been tissue cultured, maybe that affects it?

I can’t find the thread where we were talking about whiskey barrels, but I found some today at the Tractor Supply near here. Real ones stamped Jack Daniels Distillery on the bottom. Brought home five of them with 13 assorted bags of soil, unloaded it by myself then went straight to the chiropractor.

zkathy, ha! Sounds like something I would do. Last year, I loaded a whole bunch of free flagstone into the back of my suv. I figured when I got home, I'd have help to unload it. But no one was around so I unloaded it all myself too. I spent a couple days moaning and groaning about my aches and pains after that one. But sometimes I just want what I want and I don't want to wait!

Send us some pics of your whiskey barrels! I think we just got a Tractor Supply not terribly far from me (17 miles). I told my mom they had interesting stuff there and she had that look of disbelief.

The Alphabeth postings where awesome!!! :-)