A Good Hosta Day

14 years ago

Two new plants and a surprise make for a very good Hosta day. That was what was waiting for me when I returned home this afternoon after some volunteer gardening work.

I first saw two boxes on the front steps. First up was a plant I ordered from Land of the Giants. I wanted a very large blue to be put in a shady spot in my front yard that would provide a backdrop for H. Liberty. I chose Sea Blue Monster. But I didn't want to wait 6 years to get something decent sized so I emailed Jeff Miller at LOTG and asked if he would sell me a double sized plant from a mature division. I paid double for it, but like Bernd I don't buy green bananas. Here's what I got.

That should work well behind Liberty. It's a somewhat rare Hosta. Is anyone growing it?

Along side the big box for Sea Blue Monster was a smaller box from Reldon Ramsey. Reldon is a well known hybridizer and member of the Seed Grower's forum. He had put H. Miss Linda Smith up for auction on the HSG auction a few weeks ago and it was one that I had been looking for. Here's what he sent me.

That's about a 16 inch long root system with 3 eyes on this plant and one more bud on the crown. This one is going in a pot on my deck where I can keep a close eye on it. It may go into the garden in the Fall.

Then while I was getting the two new plants into water to soak overnight (separate water vessels, remember), I noticed this flower.

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Sorry for the blurriness, I got too close with the cell phone camera. But I think you can see the purple and white on the flower. This is one of my seedlings William Lachman x OP. Here's the whole plant.

{{gwi:1009909}}

It's a nice little streaker that is busting out of it's cup literally. It needs to get into the ground where it will go tomorrow. All in all a good Hosta day. I hope your day went as well and that you all have a great weekend filled with friends, family and beautiful plants.

Steve

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Comments (11)

Gesila
14 years ago
Steve,

Great definition of a "Good Hosta Day".

Love the purple flower on your seedling. How old is your seelding?

Gesila
leafwatcher
14 years ago
Amazing color on that flower.. sounds like everything went well for a great start of the weekend !
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bkay2000
14 years ago
Thanks, Steve,

bkay
hostaLes
14 years ago
WOW - WOW- and WOW. I'll say it was a good hosta day. Those roots look like they could eat starfish. (thats what octopi eat, right?)

But don't try to con us about the close-up Steve. Admit it, you were so excited you couldn't stop shaking.

It's ok! Thats why ALL of my hosta photos are blurred.lol

Les
User
14 years ago
A Good Hosta Day, alright.

I bet up in the sky at that moment, you'd find a silver lined cloud, and one sliver of sunshine streaking earthward to illumine your corner of the universe--your "15 minutes of hosta heavenly fame!"

An all time high of perfect circumstances.
Steve Massachusetts
Original Author
14 years ago
Gesilla,

That seedling germinated just after the first of the year, so it's almost 6 months old. I have several that are quite larger than first year TC plants. Once I get them planted I'll post the pictures of these.

Steve
in ny zone5
14 years ago
Steve, very nice! That large blue, that's the way to go. My large ones from Land of the Giants are in the ground, Lakeside Shore Master, Dick Ward and Ryan's Big One, are spreading their leaves, do not seem to miss a beat, instant gratification.
That Lachman seedling is a beauty, nice blue flowers!
My streaked seedlings are also outside, they germinated around the end of January, no flowers yet, will also make some pictures. This year I will sow them much earlier.
Advice for seed growers. When keeping the data on a computer, do backups of the file on another memory device every 2 weeks or so. I lost all my data since January because data had to be erased due to malware. And that was inspite of having McAfee Security, Spysweeper and Window Wash.
Bernd
Jon 6a SE MA
14 years ago
Really nice, Steve.

Jon
User
14 years ago
Bernd, so sorry to hear of the malware invasion. What a bummer to lose all that information about your seedling cultures.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
Very very nice! Those roots are amazing! All in all, I would actually say it may have been a great hosta day.
User
14 years ago
Steve, what do you do to accommodate roots that long? Would one of the chimney pot liners be the only way to plant it?
I've seen long roots, but nothing like THAT.

And Bernd, can you please post a thread with your Dick Ward?
I have one, and want to see what yours is doing.