It might be helpful to state which country and/or state you're located in.

I might have some but not this time of year. If I do have any, it won't be until the Fall when I can see what I may be able to divide and if I have any seedlings. If you want to send me a message so I can try to remember.

You would need to water a lot in your climate

hostas need a steady supply of moisture to thrive

I never checked about that ignored. That is for the information!

Oh, how I wish you lived nearby. I planted a blue hosta many years ago and it is "yuge" and has spread all over the northern side of our house in spite of all of my efforts to reduce the multiplication. (I don't use pesticides.) We have paver bricks down with a fountain on top and it even grows between the bricks, under our barberry, everywhere. We call it "hosta-land." People compliment us on the look as though it were intentional. It is not. I believe they would survive anything, even mailing to you. When the end of the age comes, three things will survive: Peeps, cockroaches and my hostas.

ilovecomputers that does not sound like a Hosta to me. There are Hostas that spread but I cannot think of a blue one that does. Could you start a post and add pics?

Yes, you're a long way from a local hosta society (central MN, central IA, central NE). If local stores aren't selling hostas, then maybe they don't do well there? Have you seen local private gardens with nice hostas? There are, though, lots of good mail-order places in the upper Midwest, like Land of the Giants.

Yes I have seen beautiful Hosta gardens! I do have a few myself that were huge I had to take them apart, and they still keep on thriving!

DTeager, what is a Hosta society? I never heard of that before?

DTeager, I originally thought about that too (that maybe she can't find any hostas near her because they don't do well in her area), but SD has more or less the same climate as MN and WI (which is where my main two hosta suppliers are). She's kinda centrally located and in zone 4b. I think the problem is that there isn't much in SD in general...a couple of "bigger" cities, which are still small compared to any other normal city in the US, and the rest of the state is pretty much just teeny towns. If she's in Faulkton, Google says that the place only has 736 residents. My guess is that the people in it either haven't "caught on" to hostas like the rest of the US and/or that they don't have the $ to spend on pretty plants. IMO, she could have all the same hostas shipped to her (by online sellers) that the rest of us can, and she might be able to turn it into a business if she can spark enough interest from her townfolks.

Meyabug, it seems like you might like a walk through my FAQs. https://www.delvalhosta.org/faqs-part-i

DTeager, I wish there was a hosta society here. Maybe sunnywood, don_in_colorado, and I should start one! Hostas seem to get bigger and more lush in other parts of the country, but they certainly grow here. But they don't seem to be popular enough to inspire an entire society.

there is a trading forum ...

such used to be banned within specific plant forums ... i have no idea what that current status is ...

Try Walmart.

There's a Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade group. I cannot vouch for its trustworthiness.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind

That was nice of you to share Ken!

There's a Walmart 44 miles from you.

How much variety (in hostas) do you see at Walmart? She said she has 2 hostas, and although she didn't mention where she got them from, they just might have been from Walmart--as the only ones available. (Not to mention that Walmart hostas are probably infected and not recommended to get anyway.)

Ignored, you've never been to a Walmart? I'm sure there are plenty of them in NE Ohio. Natural human curiosity should have led you to a Walmart just to see what the deplorables are buying these days!

I'd say about a couple dozen different varieties at Walmart depending on the local growers supplies, with different varieties every year.

"not recommended" by who? Hosta snobs! IF, as you say all the hostas at the big box stores are infected (majority of hostas sold in US) hostas will soon go the way of the Ash tree. Life happens.

Sure wish Global warming would hurry up - temperatures in the teens in April is bullcrappy.

Guess I am "hosta snob". I have seen too many infected hostas among the pots for sale at the big box stores, as well as at some local nurseries. I am not willing to take that risk, especially since the symptoms don't always show up right away and I don't want a pig in a poke.

-Babka the snob

It's not snobbery to pay a little more to buy a plant that you're sure won't be capable of infecting the rest of the hostas in your garden. It's foolhardy to do otherwise. There may be some Walmarts out there with knowledgeable garden staff, and higher quality stock than in other Walmarts and budget retailers, but the stock is still coming through the mother ship, and is only meeting the barest USDA requirements for imported plants (requirements which let a LOT of HVX-infected stock into the country).

And even if meant in jest, your comment about global warming is reprehensible. Or should I say deplorable?

Meyabug, There is a nice (not large but various and well-kept) hosta collection at McCrory Garden in Brookings, a botanical garden operated by South Dakota State University. You might give them a call or send an email to inquire about commercial sources for buying hostas in your state. McCrory Garden, SDSU

it is the very definition of snobbery to call the majority of hosta buyers 'foolhardy'. It follows that your so taken by the global warming scam that disagreement is verboten.

Gardencool- You are posting on a website that probably isn't visited to the "majority of hosta buyers". Here, we really do care about growing them and don't wish to contaminate our gardens with HIV. You may purchase your hostas wherever you please. But I think your calling some of us Snobs, for protecting our gardens, is well, um.... kind of dopey.

-Babka The Snob

I guess it is sad that so many gardens do have hvx. And the gardeners aren't even aware of it. Or choose not to educate themselves. Or do once it's too late. I suppose it really matters how much you care. I do.

I'm a breeder and have many unique plants. Some are coming to market. Hopefully to be enjoyed by others. One I donated for free so that others may enjoy it. It's not about money for me. Considering the hundreds of hours crossing and growing seedlings I would have made more working at McDonald's

I have an isolated bed that I've been watching for over 5 years. They were some early plants where I bought from anywhere that sold Hosta. Before hvx was understood.

it started as one and moved on to half the bed. The plants were alive and mature but we're looking nastier year after year. Not what they were supposed to look like. I've been destroying the worst ones. I will rescue a couple that are immune. Put in pots and isolate. But alas that soil will be burned by a brush pile and planted with grass never to have hosta there again.

i do buy a few plants for breeding these days. They are not cheap. But they are from hosta businesses who can't afford to sell hvx plants. They would quickly go out of business if they did.

No hostas are truly immune from HVX, but some are challenging to infect (the early-blooming Sieboldiana types, perhaps). Note that they may not show symptoms and yet can be infectious to other hostas.

To gardencool, there is a difference between ignorant and foolhardy when it comes to HVX. Many gardeners, who might or might not shop at Walmart and places like that, simply don't know about HVX, and the sellers there are not about to educate themselves or their customers. You, however, know about HVX. So which camp does that put you in?

I did meet with dr Lockhart in his lab last summer. I was concerned that one of my breeders was infected. He tested it and it was not. That plant just had a mottled misted rasha look. There is only one plant in that bed that is worth saving.

I was curious whether the disease can continue thru seed.

he is a really nice guy. Very much a scientist. Living that life for us.

Ken,

That Hosta Trade/Exchange forum here is sort of hidden. I didn't even know it existed. Thx.