Newsletter

of the

Ontario Hosta Society

Volume 7 Issue # 2

Summer 2001

OHS President's Greetings

Driest summer in sixty or seventy years and the hostas are lying on the ground saying “show me the water”. If you are on a well, like I am, you have to do some selective watering or be prepared to lose some. Anybody want to adopt a few of mine until the next rain? Maybe I should practice population control.

There are some great new cultivars out there and some fantastic companion plants from the breeders. Look for lots more heucheras, tiarellas, and exotics to hit the market next spring. One grower has even put his catalog on CD with great pix.

It’s time to think auction again and we should have a great variety for you to choose from if you can attend. Note the change of venue for this year.

I’ve enjoyed all the bus trips this year and all my garden visitors. Every garden inspires in one way or another so don’t be modest. Welcome your Hosta friends to share your treasures.

Membership has its advantages and we certainly share in this society by giving back to all members in the form of special deals and freebies. From the comments I’ve heard, we are one of only a few societies where membership pays such great dividends. Thanks to your hardworking directors for their initiatives.

Looking forward to seeing you at the meetings or in a garden!           Bob

Upcoming Events

Sunday, September 23, 2001 12:30 – 4:00 pm

Civic Garden Centre

Corner of Lawrence Ave. E. and Leslie St., Toronto

(From outside Toronto the easiest route is by the 401, then 
South on Leslie)

1:30 pm – start live auction

4:00 pm – load ‘em up and take ‘em home

Our timelines are slightly different (and tighter) this year because of the room availability. If you have plants to donate and live close to John Kee, Bob Murphy, Bob Leask, or another director, and would like to drop them off ahead of time, please do so. This will assist in preparing the items and producing a list so we can use our time more efficiently in the room.

Remember to identify the variety, and yourself, as the donor.

Refreshments will be served.

Good plants!

             Good bargains!

                           Good people!

                                        Good fun!

                                                  Good cause!

Mark the date! See you there! Guests welcome.

by

Bob Leask/Georgetown

Now is the time to think about gathering seed for our January offerings. With so many varieties flowering early this year because of the heat and drought (what do they know that we don’t?), now is the time to watch for the ripening on those favourites and rarer varieties. Just pull off the dead flower part and leave the seed pods to ripen. They are interesting in their own way.

When the pods turn brown and just before they open is the best time to pick. Discard as much of the junk from the pod as possible, put seed in any paper envelope or bag (marked with the pod parent name), and save for Bob Murphy to sort and catalog. He and his helpers do a monumental job on this task.

Bob is still getting orders from lists posted by someone on the internet from past years and for seed we ran out of long ago This makes it difficult from Bob’s point and is not great publicity for our society. We aim to please, so if you have friends who wish seed, encourage them to join and buy during the regular period.

Once again at our auction we will have a few plants available for adoption. The auction will have some items in the silent auction part and some in the live auction part. No contribution is too small and, as you know, all proceeds go to plant research, public garden projects and furthering appreciation of the genus Hosta.

Please make sure your contributions are marked correctly with the plant name and the donor’s name.

Hosta CD

We have acquired a CD containing the latest registrations from the AHS and if you are curious as to whether a plant has been officially recognized, this is the latest authority. If you are a member of the Hosta-open internet round robin, you are probably aware of the CD offered gratis which contains the Hosta Library reference material, thousands of pictures and tons of links. They found it cheaper to burn and send out a CD than to pay additional ISP costs.

On a beautiful day in May (the 12^th), a group of ardent Ontario Hosta Nuts (certified) spent a morning assisting the RBG staff to plant 60 new varieties in their Hosta Glade. The area was expanded and prepared before our arrival and the new cultivars awaited eager diggers and planters.

As this was being done, RBG staff mapped the new additions. This is something we should all probably do in our own gardens so that if tags get lost, the plant can still be identified. The area is actually about 3 to 4 times the previous size and will allow for some further additions as they are acquired. This should be the start of a beautiful display area for our friendly, favourite plant.

The work party then retired to Donna Russell’s back yard for a BBQ feast and lots more Hosta talk.

Thanks go to all the volunteers and to Donna for a most enjoyable outing. We should enjoy our follow-up visit when we hold our picnic there.

Note: Dale Murphy’s experience at Hosta College, Part 2, will continue in the next issue of the newsletter.

Available through Mail Order!

THE HOSTA HANDBOOK

by Mark Zilis (Published Summer 2000)

This is the most up-to-date Hosta reference book on the market: 600 pages; 300 colour photos; comprehensive review of 278 horticulturally significant hostas, 1300 more hostas are briefly described; landscaping & culture tips; problem identification, etc.

To mail-order this indispensable Hosta book, please send a cheque/money order/Visa or MasterCard # (& Expiry Date)

for $70.00 to:

Hosta Choice Nursery & Gardens
4897 Irish Drive, R.R. # 4 Appin, Ontario N0L 1A0
Phone: (519) 289 – 5471

( $70 includes Book, GST, Handling & Postage charges)

American Hosta Society Convention Report

by

Bob Leask/Georgetown

I took in my first national AHS convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, and came away with mixed feelings. It was very interesting to meet a lot of the “names” that are associated with the history of hostas on this continent.

Love of this plant is sure a great equalizer as far as people go, as every occupation in the book was represented: airline personnel, hospital maintenance, chiropractors, dentists, and mailmen (even a few of us retired old phartes)!

The disappointing part was the quality of the gardens. While each one had some aspect worth noting, the overall consensus was that they did not come up to previous tour standards. The weather was great – a bit warm but not as hot as Toronto that week – and rain held off until the right time.

The auction was also a disappointment from the standpoint of the number and variety of plants donated and the total dollars raised. Since this is the major fundraiser for the publication of the Hosta Journal, executive decisions will have to be made to maintain its quality.

Top bid was for H. ‘Retread’ for about $320 US and H. ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ around $230 U.S. Interesting sports and plants with breeding potential were in minimal quantity while very generous bids were made for some of the more available ones so the totals would be better.

The vending area was full of nice surprises, albeit in US dollars. Many of the same plants are selling on this side of the border for comparable Canadian dollars. A quick check of the catalogs confirmed this, so we do have some advantages, living north of the border.

Both of the guest speakers, Barry Yinger and Dan Hinkley , are renowned plant and seed explorers who have traveled the world looking for new introductions for the North American market. Both had excellent slide shows and anecdotes from their travels, and we should all look forward to results of their plant trials.

The top leaf at the show was from H. ‘Stirfry’ and some of the more interesting winners included a ‘Let’s Streak‘, which I am suspicious originated from our own Bill Nash at one point. Another was ‘Fire Island’ which is a small gold with red petiole and some red reaching up into the veins.

The arrangements were very creative as usual, but one particular favourite of mine was a display of miniature hostas in tiny bonsai pots in a fairy theme, mounted on a cedar branch display. Educational, entertaining, and creative!

As I mentioned above, people are the most interesting part of any gathering. The time spent just lounging, on the busses, over dinner, while exploring garden centres, and in the gardens on the tours gave the opportunity to exchange much information about our favourite plant.

Canadians Attending the
American Hosta Society Convention!

This year a record-setting number of Canadians from across our nation travelled to Raleigh, North Carolina to attend the AHS convention in June.

The convention – goers were:

From Prince Edward Island:

Ken & Elaine MacDonald (Charlottetown);

From Quebec:

Claudette Ladouceur & Reggie Millette (Roxbury); Barbara Morzajew (Frelighsburg); Marie Josee Van Strathern ( Beaconsfield);

Bob Leask (Georgetown); John Kee (Erin);

Bill & Rose Nash (Guelph); Dale Murphy (Mississauga)

Alex & Rosemary Waterhouse-Hayward (Vancouver)

They grow amazing hostas and you will visit wonderful gardens. Plan your vacation early and experience a huge Hosta high

HOSTA BUS TOUR 2001

Hosta Choice Nursery & Gardens

Hosts: Margot and Udo Dargatz

by Heather Somers

On June 24^th I had the good fortune to be invited by John Kee to join the Ontario Hosta Society’s annual bus tour. The itinerary seemed interesting and I was looking forward to visiting the nurseries and gardens in the London/Strathroy area.

Working as the senior horticulture technician at the Humber Arboretum means being a generalist with the ability to know a little bit about everything. But after meeting John in his teaching capacity at Humber College I was aware of just what little I did know about hostas. None-the-less, I set off, notebook in hand.

People crowded on the bus, many greeting each other like old friends and settled in with their catalogs, their wish lists and their treats! I listened to the banter and discussions of hostas great and small, names that sounded exotic, as well as quixotic. There were even a few hostas being passed around!

A few hours into the trip we passed the sign for Hosta Choice Nursery & Gardens and a feeling of anticipation rippled through the bus. Driving up the narrow, shady lane through a woodlot that blocked our view of the nursery, just seemed to heighten the mood and as the lane opened up we were greeted by huge hostas of varying hues and shapes! Margot met us with offers of coffee, cookies, cold drinks and even prizes. We couldn’t wait to get off that bus!

This was no ordinary nursery! Hostas, interplanted with companion plants, lined shady paths and were grouped in themes such as Girls and Boys names, or Romance. The gardens were alive with bird song and croaking frogs and it was obvious that whimsy was alive and well here!

Hostas several feet across and some as high, were on display and I saw tiny hostas smaller than my palm clustered together in a stone trough. Every combination of variegation, colour or shape found in hostas seemed to be represented and availability signs placed at the display plant showed you which ones could be yours! Members wandered from plant to plant, comparing and asking for, or offering, valuable technical advice. As choices were made and the quantity of purchases grew, we gratefully sprawled in the shade of some huge maples to enjoy our lunch. The added treat of pie and ice cream topped the visit.

With the luggage compartment stuffed with boxes of hostas, ferns, and other shade-tolerant plants, we climbed back aboard the bus, ready to continue the tour, perhaps to find that next coveted plant!

Hosts: Janet Anderson and Kees Govers

by Bob Leask

The bus took us from Hosta Choice Nursery & Gardens down a few country roads to the home and business of Janet Anderson and her husband, Kees Govers, long time members of the society. After filling up with pie at Margot and Udo’s, we were invited to dip into the ice cream and fruit bars while we walked around the hoop houses and field areas of Janet’s nursery.

Janet is one of the major growers and suppliers of perennials to the retail trade around Ontario, so we were able to get a first hand look at her growing operation and had the opportunity to select from a wide variety of both hostas and companion plants.

Fifty people seemed to head out in fifty directions and soon were filling trays with their new “finds”. The growing areas were very neat and tidy, affording us the opportunity to get a good look at the vast offerings in a relatively short period of time. Obviously Janet played slave driver all week to get everything so ship-shape for our visit – and we appreciate that after a very busy spring season.

Once we had made our purchases, we had the opportunity to see some of Janet’s own garden and the selections she has chosen for herself. While the growing area is in full sun (and some shade cloth), the yard has many trees and shrubs to provide shade for those plants which prefer it. A wide and varied selection indeed was evident. Janet also trials some perennials to check for hardiness in our area.

There are some neat new items in the pipe for the next few years and we may be able to say we saw them at JEA first.

Thanks Janet and Kees for giving us the chance!

Hosts: Marlit and Doug Young
by
Elizabeth Ingolfsrud/Port Burwell

Our third and final visit on the tour was to the home and garden of Doug and Marlit Young. By the time the bus chugged up a country road and stopped beside a woodlot, most of us were somewhat weary. We had seen wonderful new hostas and perennials and had shopped till we dropped. What more could be offered? Once we got off the bus and started up the meandering drive I knew we were in for something very special. Giant trees on either side made me feel as if I were walking up the aisle of a great cathedral. Then the woods opened out to a beautiful clearing, exposing the house, a long, low structure enhanced by a spacious patio and an octagonal-shaped enclosed gazebo that our hostess acknowledged was larger than her living room.

Before starting on a tour of the gardens we posed for pictures in front of the garage doors and the garden shed. Both facades were decorated with scenes of nature and flowers painted by the Young’s son. With all the cameras flashing, I had the heady feeling that I was somewhere between a class picture and a Hollywood movie set

The “Hosta Corral” (our hosts’ name for it) was spectacular, like everything else the Young’s turn their attention to. Generously-scaled

raised beds were centred by towering cherry trees. The hostas were so mature and healthy-looking that it was hard to believe that this garden was started only three years ago. Inspired by the Young’s, I can hardly wait to follow their example in my own grove of cherry trees.

Attractive birdbaths, shaped and patterned like large leaves and Ttufa troughs, decorated with mica, attracted a lot of attention. Marlit was only too happy to explain how she designed and made them. Her enthusiasm is so contagious that I suspect several people will be trying to follow her excellent instructions.

And last, but not least, who could resist “the cat” ? The sweet and lovable “Calico” who arrived one day at the Youngs’ doorstep has taken over the gazebo as well as their hearts. The sofa is her bed. All she requires is that the door be closed at night so the raccoons will not invade her privacy. Next year her view will be enhanced by a waterfall that Doug is constructing from an ample pile of stone, already assembled near the site..

All this and hostas too!

Ontario Hosta Society Members in the Spotlight

This season Jack Kent from “The Potting Shed”/Cayuga was a knowledgeable guest on several gardening shows hosted by Kathy Renwald. In March he was a studio guest on Kathy’s show “Calling All Gardeners” and he contributed his expertise on the topic of hostas. Then, in July, he was invited for a repeat appearance, but this time the topic was daylilies. There was also a segment filmed for Kathy Renwald’s other gardening television show, “The Gardener’s Journal”, and this segment was shot on-site at Jack’s own nursery.

Also, making her debut on television, Margot Dargatz from “Hosta Choice Nursery & Gardens”/Appin was featured on the New PL London & Sarnia-based morning show, “It’s a New Day” hosted by Cheryl Weedmark. The TV crew broadcast the interviews and demonstrations in four segments, live and on-site from the nursery hosta display gardens.

Congratulations to John Goodger and Dr. Phillip Little – both are listed under the photo credits as contributing their photographic talent to the new AHS publication “The Hosta Adventure – A Grower’s Guide”.

Congratulations to all!

Little did we know when we brought our new puppy home that she would become so fascinated with all the aspects of gardening. After 14 years of our previous standard poodle, we thought another one would be as mindful of the ins and outs and routines that make raising hostas such a pleasure.

Since the breeder had named her Ally (short for allysum – all the other pups were named after flowers too) we felt that we didn’t want to offend a niece with the same name, so we changed it to Kali. After a while we discovered that this is also the name of the Indian goddess of death and destruction. Coincidence?

So let’s look at the positive side of how Kali’s behaviour benefits a hosta garden.

Compost preparation – she loves to dig in the leaves in the compost pile while trying to get at those cheeky chipmunks and malevolent moles, thus saving many hours of turning the contents of the pile and speeding the decomposition process.

Pest control – even in the winter she is capable of directing our attention to the activities of those creatures who live under the snow cover that protects some of the more tender perennials. Where she digs is also a good indicator of where to look for damage after the snow melts. Often she shows off her hunting prowess by presenting her latest conquest on the back step. Is she part terrier or part cat?

Pot sorting – often she can be seen marching around the yard with a pot in her mouth, possibly indicating the suitability of different sizes for different cultivars. She also brings forth pots which contain the remains of plants long dead so you can refill them with healthier ones.

Hosta propagation – if she accidentally chooses a pot containing a live specimen, she will gently shake out the plant and dirt and march off with the pot to the sorting area. On the return trip she picks up the plant, and, if it was pot-bound, she shakes the dirt off to determine the best place to divide. Other methods she used were to leap onto the crown of a newly emerging plant and dislodge enough pips to force production of side shoots. Since most plants are reaching mature size and she has learned to walk the path rather than take shortcuts, her accidents are limited to the times when squirrels, chippys, or neighbouring dogs garner some attention.

Weed control – an off-shoot of pest control and limited to the areas of the beds where food is being stored by the above mentioned varmints. Should be fewer acorns popping next year. Now if I could only get her to work on the maple keys and crabgrass!

New beds – makes sure that the dirt and compost are well mixed both in the pile and in the bed – loves to lie in both to test them.

Garden greeter – I refuse to have a doorbell, so Kali is our official noise maker and garden guide. Since she is so aware of the paths now, she is quite the hostess – if you don’t mind the occasional lick, or her signature paw print on your pant leg.

It has been quite an experience training this one after having such a good garden dog before. Of course she grew along with the beds and always had the other acreage to play and hunt in. This one is controlled by an invisible fence and aside from ringing all the beds with wire I’d prefer to teach her all the necessary garden etiquette.

Any suggestions?

Margot Dargatz/Appin

Dr. Jim Wilkins, who has just completed his term as president of the American Hosta Society has promptly accepted another demanding task – he is now the official registrar for the society.

Recently I e-mailed him to ask what the current total count of registered hosta varieties would be now. His reply was 1434 registered varieties and there are probably that many (or more) unregistered varieties. He added that there were 394 registrations in 1999 and 284 in 2000. Amazing!

At this rate, we will never run out of new hostas to discover and fall for but finding all that gardening space is another matter!

by

Elizabeth Ingolfsrud/Port Burwell

Distance makes it hard for Hosta collectors living in southwestern
Ontario to attend many of the events of the Ontario Hosta Society since most of the gatherings are held where the majority of the members live, in central Ontario. Consequently there has been very little communication among the Hostaphiles from the western region of the province. Some of us decided that there are now enough "western" members to make it feasible to have regional get-togethers. Of course, everybody who is a member of the Ontario Hosta Society is welcome!

The first of such gatherings took place at the home and nursery of
Margot and Udo Dargatz, on Sunday, July 29th from 2 to 5 p.m. At least it was supposed to be from 2 to 5 p.m! Dale Murphy arrived three hours late, so she and a few others, including yours truly, hung around long past the deadline getting to know one another and discussing our favourite topic!

Although chairs and tables were set out in the shade and delicious pies, tarts and ice cream were offered, it was hard to get everybody together during much of the afternoon. The Hosta display gardens and assorted books and magazines were far too tempting!
After finishing looking and shopping, some worked their way through a Hosta test called "The Sporting Life". Fifteen hosta sports were set out. After naming them (their names were on the back of the pot) the challenge was to name the Hosta parent. It was noted that some Hosta parents were used more than once. There was another notation reassuring us that the results would not be marked – the object of this quiz was fun. It was so much fun that it should be shared by all. So get your pencils and reference books and get started. The sports are: ‘Second Wind', ‘Richland Gold', ‘Tattoo', ‘Fire and Ice', ‘Striptease', ‘Summer Breeze', ‘Aristocrat ', ‘Paradigm', ‘Moonlight', ‘Gold Standard', ‘Dust Devil', ‘June', ‘Patriot', ‘Canadian Shield', and ‘Crowned Imperial'. In case you can't find the answers, perhaps we should include them in the next newsletter).

Next we gathered around a table to discuss our Hosta successes, problems and future plans. We also defended our “current” favourite hostas that we had been requested to add at the bottom of our name tags. H. ‘Sagae' was a clear winner but H. hypoleuca got 2 votes and Dale came up with a new one named ‘Blue Mouse Ears'.

Bill Centen showed us how to make the durable and attractive plant tags that he designed for his own beautiful garden in London. Then Margot demonstrated three techniques of Hosta propagation; late July shield-bud cuttage, Ross-izing, and Zumbar-izing. Free to use any of the methods, all opted for the shield-bud cuttage. There is something quite irresistible about peeling off leaves to reveal all those large bud eyes. Last, but not least, we were encouraged to try our hands at floral arrangements. Hosta leaves and flowers need little if any additional plant material to create stunning results.

So lets hear it for the western end of our province. We had a good time, we plan to do have more events in our region and all are invited!

by

Ken Marek, Adrian, Michigan, U.S.A.

“When you move a hosta, including a root ball and soil, take a clothes line rope, tie up the whole plant, then use masking tape to bind them all together. Then dig. The tape and rope will give you the ability to use the petioles to pull the plant out.

Then move the plant, remove the rope, leave the tape. In a couple of days or weeks, depending on rain or heat, the tape will fall off, or you can tear it off to release the plant.

Using this method, you may break a few of the outer leaves, although you will do that anyway when you dig if you don’t bind them; but, by holding them rigid until the roots start feeding them water again, you avoid the leaves going limp and lying on the ground – they seem to rarely recover from that stage.”

by

Bob Solberg, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A.

With the all the cool wet weather we’ve had this summer, (if it was so hot and dry in the plains it had to be cool and wet somewhere), I fear we will have an early winter. As the hostas in the garden are already looking forward to their long winter’s nap, my mind drifts off to winter cleanup.

Here’s a checklist:

1. Label, label, label. Don’t wait until those plastic tags have faded or been scattered by the leaf blower, re-label all your new hostas now. I like to bury a plastic label with the hosta name written in pencil at the same position for each hosta clump in the bed, say 3 o’clock as you view it from the path. They will last for years underground.

2. Make one last check for pest problems, especially voles and foliar nematodes. In the latter case, remove badly damaged plants from the garden.

3. Leaf removal, both tree and hosta. If it is not an overwhelming task, try to remove the dry hosta foliage from the garden, (do not compost), after a couple of nights of hard freezing weather. This will help decrease next year such pest problems as slugs, fungal infections, and foliar nematodes. Also, cutting scapes will prevent unwanted hosta “weed” seedlings from appearing in the spring. Piling the fallen tree leaves will provide a good winter mulch for the garden but will also make excellent winter housing for voles. It is probably best to remove those leaves from the beds by gently raking or blowing with a leaf blower. Then a thin layer of mulch, (pine bark is my favorite), can be applied to prevent heaving and protect the hosta crowns.

4. Stop watering the garden. Sounds silly but hostas would rather be dry in the winter than wet. Also the lack of water will encourage newly planted hostas to go dormant and not keep throwing up new leaves.

5. Plant early spring bulbs for early color in the garden. Crocus and tulip foliage will be out of the way by the time the hostas start to spread.

6. Finally, or maybe this should have come first, plant all the hostas you bought this summer in the ground. Hostas over-winter much better in the ground than they do in pots and if they are not in quite the right spot when they come up next spring, they can be easily moved. This also removes any lingering guilt that you may have next spring when it comes time to buy more hostas.

Hopefully, it will be a long warm autumn so that we can get all our gardening chores finished before the snow flies.

Ontario Hosta Society Membership can be obtained by writing to:

Ontario Hosta Society

Box 731, Erin,

Ontario, Canada N0B 1T0

Annual Dues: $15.00

American: $16.00 Foreign: $17.00

Your membership year runs from January 1st to December 31st. Members joining after October 1st in any year are deemed to be paid-up until December 31st of the following year.

Memberships can be obtained by writing to:

Lu Treadway

AHS Membership Secretary

246 Etheridge Road

Auburn, Georgia 30011 U.S.A.

Membership, for Canadians, is $39.00 US per year or $107.00 US for 3 years. Money order or cheque drawn on a US bank.

Secretary Required

Taking minutes at executive meetings and handling general correspondence. Assisting directors in distribution of newsletters and other mailings.

Same as all the other board members ($ 0.00)

A.S.A.P.

Getting in on all the fun and inside stories of the hosta world

Exclusive visits to the gardens of other executive members even with two feet of snow on them.

Please call Bob Leask – (905) 873 – 7545