I can't answer your question about posting the names of nurseries.

But here's how I'm handling the HVX issue. I have no choice except to do mail order for hosta, as I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere as far as hosta growers go. So I email the supplier and ask directly what they are doing to protect their customers from hvx. The two I've ordered from were very knowledgeable about the virus. I was satisfied with their answers and decided to take the plunge. Good luck with your choices.

I don't see your email address on your page. Would you please let me know which TC lab that nursery said the infected Striptease came from. I buy a lot of TC's and would like to know. My email address is on my page.
Thanks
Pam

the rules for listing or talking about a business ...

FORBIDDEN >>>>> if you are the biz.. or trying to advertise your biz

if you are a buyer.. and want to discuss the biz.. that is just fine ... as are links.. etc ...

your email address can be listed on your members page .... i would NOT post it here.. for fear that some computer virus would somehow capture it ... but that might be my own paranoia ...

and finally.. what you learned last week can be defined by comparing apples to oranges.. perhaps ....

nurseries who specialize in hosta.. most likely know all about this stuff...

what you called the 'garden center' ... shotguns everything .... may or may not be 'up' on hvx and all the other stuff ...

as for thrush .... i wouldnt go jumping to any TC LAB conclusions.. based on third party claims.. like relying on the claims of a 'garden center' in Canada who claims no responsibility for a virus they know nothing about.. blaming it all on a TC lab ... sounds fishy to me...

a lot of nurseries.. after not selling plants.. will split and repot for next year.. once that happens.. i would be loathe to say it was the labs fault ...

ken

Oh, I agree, Ken. I was just curious. I know mistakes can happen and maybe some plant could have the virus and get past testing, but I just can't see it coming out the two best TC'rs here. lol Blaming them kind of brings out the Irish in me - lol
Pam

oh.. i thought you wanted to crucify them all.. not beat everyone else up.. lol

ken

Point taken Ken I suspected such and that is why I did not post my new potential suppliers names. If anyone from Canada wants to contact me privately, I have added my email to My Page, and let me know who you deal with....and I will research them to determine if I feel safe doing business with them. I know there is NO 100% guarantee....but the least I can do is try to buy the safest route I can. I wouldn't ever not tell someone to go buy hosta's from a place that I have had a diseased plant experience with....thats just me. Learn from my mistake is what I say.

You are right about the apples and oranges comparison and I'm not doubting the quality of plants from their main two suppliers.....so please don't think I am, not even remotely am I....I seriously wish I had an option to buy from these sources directly myself!!!!!!! I cannot stress that enough. Its this centres practices and other unnamed suppliers that likely has put ALL their hostas in high risk. Not a risk I am willing to take from that garden centre anymore.

I whole heartedly agree with your last statement.

Just trying to find some reputable sources is all I'm trying to do and I'm not aware of any Reputable TC'rs in Canada, atleast I have not been able to find any yet, needing a little more help in getting steered in the right direction, heck perhaps I should just move to the U.S. lol

I hope that once I get the test and am able to have it done on their striptease, that they do give this a serious thought and if I've helped to open their eyeballs than that will make me a hapy camper atleast that they now acknowledge and deal with the issue, as of right now they are still in a state of DENIAL!! I've atleast tried to educate them, thats all I can do and I won't hold my breath for a change of attitude but its wishful thinking.

are you aware of the hosta place the margo and udo used to run.. an hour out from windsor.. the name of which is totally escaping me right now..

they both passed.. and there are new owners... who are trying very hard .... i have heard good and bad things about their struggle.. but hope they can pull it all together ...

maybe someone else can recall.. or i will recall later...

the info is buried at the link .. plus a lot of enabling.. lol ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Here is the link to Hosta Choice. I have been nothing but happy with the new owners and plants from this year. The worst that has happened is that they may be overwhelmed because they haven't gotten around to billing me for some additions to my spring order. They also gave me three free plants and you can't beat that.

http://www.hostachoicegardens.com/

Yes I knew of that place prior, before I got bit by the hosta addiction and I never ever went there, I always told myself I would someday. Well my someday came this year when I went for the very first time at the end of June, I stood at the entrance to the display gardens and went WOW and then I was addicted and then I found you guys and you keep enabling me....roflol. I met the new owners and they were very nice to talk to. They are Glen Wilson and Yvon Trepanier. They are working very hard at getting everything up and running again from the year or so when the business was down and gardens unmaintained etc.

Love that place, I've gone back two more times since then, and if I drive fast its only 15 minutes around the corner when I need a fix lol.

I plan to talk to them some more now that I'm a little more educated on hvx and suppliers

Hi,

I live in Port Hope, Ontario. A few of the places I buy from that do mail order are:

Handlebar Hosta Farm - Uxbridge, Ontario
http://www.handlebarhostas.ca/

Goldenbrook Hostas - Blackstock, Ontario
http://www.goldenbrookhostas.com/

Gardens Plus - Peterborough, Ontario
http://www.gardensplus.ca/index.html

The Ontario Hosta Society also has a list on their site of different vendors and their webpages: http://www.ontariohostasociety.com/supplier.htm

Hope that helps!
Vanessa

More than 60% of my hostas have come from Hosta Choice and the new owners are working very hard to re-establish the business and are most enthusiastic.

I purchased some from Fundy Beauties this spring that were not carried by HC - he has an extensive list (31 pages)and I bought some there - they arrived packed in moist seaweed and were very healthy and virus-free. I got a positive reference from another gardener. Pat Vinish is the owner and I discussed with him how he handles his plants before I ordered them.

I also have talked with Pat Vinish, the Hostageek and yes, he does have an extensive list.

He has a big sale on right now, with free shipping across Canada and charges no taxes. It is called the green sale and so he has highlighted many of the solid colored ones in his 35 pages of hostas and has them on for 50% off. For every one you order at 50% off you can order any other one in his listing for 25% off.

When I compared prices last fall before I ordered from him, I found that his hosta were cheaper than any of the Ontario hosta growers and so, with the free shipping and no taxes, large plants and multiple eyes that they came with, it was a win win situation for me to order thru him. None of the Ontario hosta nurseries offered free shipping and all the places I compared prices of, charged GST. This makes a big difference to the cost of the hosta if the shipping and GST are not added on. Pat is very good at checking his emails and also accurate in his shipping.

Pat also knows all about the virus and guarantees that the hosta that he has do not have the virus.

I ordered over 100 different ones from him last fall and about 50 a few weeks ago. They have large root systems, come well packed and the ones I got from him last September all made it thru my Zone 2b winter here in Manitoba and are doing very well.

If anyone wants the sale listing just email him as he was having problems with his website a few weeks ago...or email me and I can forward you his info and sale.

His email address is hostageek@gmail.com

Brenda

HI there,

I wanted to jump in and give a huge vote to Pat Vinnish from Fundy Beauties (hostageek.com). I ordered from him this spring and my order arrived perfectly packaged with the fat roots protected by moist moss. All his hostas have flourished. I am thrilled!

I also ordered from 4 other reputable Canadian hosta sellers. I was happy as well with their hostas, but none of these other sellers could compete in price or size of Pat's hostas.

I just received my second order from Pat. I requested larger clumps of certain hostas which Pat was happy to supply for a very reasonable price (around double the cost of his regular sized plants). I also ordered 30 other plants - a mixture of his 50% off plants and 25% off ones). In the below photos, you'll notice the plants aren't package for shipping as he was able to bring the plants to me (he had business on my end of the province). Now that's service!!

THis guy is tops and can't be beat! HIs prices are just unbelievable.

Here are a few photos of my new plants. Sorry that these photos may be too large...I'm trying to figure this out.

Michelle

Here's a few in their new home:

Michelle, you've convinced me. I've ordered from Pat a couple times and always been happy with his plants too. I wasn't even thinking of getting any more this year. I've been patting myself on the back about getting so many out of pots and into the ground for winter. Well, so much for planning. What is the very tall Green one and the round corrigated one seen from the bottom in the second picture. Was that green one ONE plant?!! Do you mind my asking how much it was? Thanks, Myrle (McTavish)

HI there,

I wanted to jump in and give a huge vote to Pat Vinnish from Fundy Beauties (hostageek.com). I ordered from him this spring and my order arrived perfectly packaged with the fat roots protected by moist moss. All his hostas have flourished. I am thrilled!

I also ordered from 4 other reputable Canadian hosta sellers. I was happy as well with their hostas, but none of these other sellers could compete in price or size of Pat's hostas.

I just received my second order from Pat. I requested larger clumps of certain hostas which Pat was happy to supply for a very reasonable price (around double the cost of his regular sized plants). I also ordered 30 other plants - a mixture of his 50% off plants and 25% off ones). In the below photos, you'll notice the plants aren't package for shipping as he was able to bring the plants to me (he had business on my end of the province). Now that's service!!

THis guy is tops and can't be beat! HIs prices are just unbelievable.

Here are a few photos of my new plants. Sorry that these photos may be too large...I'm trying to figure this out.

Michelle

Here's a few in their new home:

Geez, I should be banned...apparently my last post has appeared twice (not sure how it did that with so much time in between and me at supper.) I blame the computer gremlins or maybe the dog...(obviously I'm in denial)... either way, horrible for those among us with dial-up. Soooo soory.

ALSO, computer just ate my reply to Myrle, so if it shows up again, another thousand apologies.

That huge one is Krossa Regal and it's all one plant! If you think that one is a stunner, you should see the Sum & Substance he brought. He said it was 7 years old and it's a beast! I think both of these guys were right around $20. (Makes me feel like a sucker for the very many scrawny hostas I've been paying so much for all summer!)

I'm so thrilled, I my just post some more photos of my new hostas in another thread ... if I can figure out how to make them smaller ... and not double post. Honestly, I'm menace on my computer.

Michelle

Ugh, geez, sorry everyone, seems the gremlins have posted my photo rich follow-up TWICE! Eeeekk, sorry to all you with dial-up. I don't have a clue how that happened especially with so much time apart!

Oh well...
That tall green one is Krossa Regal and it's all one plant! IF you are impressed with that guy, you should see the Sum and Substance he brought me. He told me it's 7 years old. (Both were around the $22 mark; puts to shame sooo very many of the other scrawny plants I've paid more than that for this summer).

That round corrugated one in the second picture...I"ll have to check it's tag tomorrow and let you know.

All in all I got 15 clump sized plants and they have knocked my socks off! (The 30 or so regular plants have thrilled me, too, actually.)

Michelle

Michelle, I would still be very careful with those plants from HostaGeek. Some of the plants have tags from a Dutch company which here in the states is called Simple Pleasures (not sure if they use the same name in Canada) and they are one of the most notoriously bad companies for supplying HVX and other virus infected hostas. Simple Pleasures and other Dutch suppliers will tell us that their hostas are guaranteed against HVX, but when you pin them down on it, they only guarantee "95%" HVX free, and that is often only by visual inspections of the fields. I've even purchased Simple Pleasures #1 TC plants which were guaranteed to be virus free/virus indexed prior to tissue culture, yet they were still virus infected in low concentrations as detected by electron microscopy. It appears that those Dutch TC plants must be getting infected in the export process. Until the Dutch adopt a ZERO tolerance policy I would avoid all of their hosta plants.

So really, no matter which nursery you purchase your plants, still be cautious and use safe practices when handling them (wash your tools and hands between touching them).

Chris