I love Lakeside Cha Cha! And Lakeside Beach Captain! Of my smaller ones, Lakeside Kaliedoscope is really nice, and Lakeside Ninita, and Lakeside Babyface are my favorite of the really small ones. I got Lakeside Roy El this summer and I can't wait to see what it looks like next year. Lakeside Surf Rider will be my next purchase.

none of them ...

too expensive...

all wrapped in great marketing ....

there are so many great older ones you can buy for the price of one of those ...

and by the time you get around to needing those.. the price will have fallen 500% ...

ken

I agree with Ken for the reasons he stated and I will add one of my own. They don't survive in my area. I have tried about 15 different one's and only one Black Satin still lives and is about the size it was when planted, some 8 years ago. Don't have an explanation. Don't have that problem with the other 400+ different cultivars that I grow, some that are now 15 years old and HUGE!
I second the recommendation that some of the oldies are just as attractive and in most cases, proven winners and best of all, cheap!
Check around for end of season sales at your local nurseries. I found a local outlet that just purchased 3 tractor trailer loads of plants that were cancelled by a local nursery chain. I purchased about 50, one gal. Hostas for a total cost of less than $75. (Guacamole, Patriot, Liberty, Carousel, Abiqua Drinking Gourd, Twilight, Queen Josephine, Fire&Ice, June, Blue Angel, S&S). Already had all but 2 of the cultivars, but I'm a sucker for a bargain!

OT, but they also had 1000's of Pitcher Plants(Sarracenia), another one of my soft spots! Couldn't resist buying as many as I could load. Thought I was in Heaven, when I saw the Double-flowered, White-topped. S. leucophylla 'Tarnock' and the complex hybrid, S. x 'Dana's Delight', for $1 each!
Another sunny bog, coming up!
:-)

All of the plants mentioned by yardmom are all available through hosta vendors and been through TC. The exception may be L. Beach Captain because I don't have that one.

L. Roy El is an outstanding clump and fast increaser. L. Surf Rider is a little slow in the beginning because it went from one eye to two the next year but is seven eyes the third year. L. Shore Master is another that is gorgeous and a fast increaser. L. Kaliedoscope multiplies like a weed but slugs can be a problem because of the thin substance. L. Black Satin is a favorite - beautiful dark color, shiny foliage and slug resistant. L. Cupcake makes a nice small clump, slug resistant. I have others but those are my favorites.

L. Black Satin in my garden {{gwi:977194}}

thumbnail is clickable

Ken,
I payed 20 for ONE of mine and all of the rest were under $12. I don't know where you shop, but there are lots of reputable dealers who sell Lakesides at normal market prices. I checked Naylors, and of the 15 Lakesides they carry, not one was over $18. Most were in the $10 to $14 range. Yes there are lots of good oldies out there, but don't put down Lakesides. Mary Chastain has come up with some real beauties! Try them!

Georgia Rose, it would be nice if we all could find such bargains, but the chance of running across a deal like that for most of us is nill. Consider yourself very lucky!
I can't imagine why you have had such problems with some of your hostas. Mine thrive, even in dry shade!

My Lakeside Coal Miner has done a lot more than Lakeside Black Satin. Neither is bad, but Lakeside Coal Miner is outstanding. Much bigger and darker for me. Lakeside Beach Captain has grown considerably. I got it in spring 2006 and now it has 6 eyes and is about 24 inches across.

yardmom....
We can't determine the reason for the lack of success with the Lakeside cultivars, but everyone I know in this area has had the same experience. Haven't tried any from TC clones. All of the one's I've had were OS from Mary.
I may try one from TC to see if it would be successful.

My absolute favorite is Lakeside Surf Rider...grows strong and vigorous...slug-free, last nice and beautiful late into the Fall.
Other Lakeside favorites: L. Cupcake, L.Coal Miner, L.Party Dress, L.Shore Master.
Lakeside Spellbinder is very attractive but it also attracts slugs...it's a slug-magnet.
As for Lakeside Looking Glass, it is OK at the beginning of each year but then decays on its own...I would stay away from this one.

Papou

I have a few LS hosta, most of them were free gifts from large orders, I wouldn't call the ones I have expensive.

Lakeside Babyface and Lakeside Love Affair are very nice plants, and LS Babyface is definately different from all other minis (seems a mini sagae)

Next year, there is one more LS I'll be adding to my garden : LS Lollipop

sugar

Heres two I am fond of, 'Lakeside Sparkle Plenty' & 'Lakeside Beach Bum' not many "oldies" like 'em and they stand out in the garden!

On the thread the "one that makes your heart sing" I think a few of us said we liked L. Cha Cha and posted pix.
Another Lakeside favorite of mine is L. Symphony, which has subtle margins, really nice coloring.
I also like L. Looking Glass, leaves just like a mirror!

This is very interesting to read, since I had made the obsevation that most of the Lakesides I ever bought have not done well. But I never thought much of it, just blamed myself and pure chance. L. Cha Cha is doing pretty well, but all the others I have ever bought have been disappointing. I bought Swan Pon from her two years ago, and I'll give it a couple more years, but so far it is just sitting there. It is growing in the same area and conditions as others who are growing like crazy. Others that are doing OK but not great are Waterfall and Lollipop. I've probably bought all the Lakesides I ever will. But I also agree with the statement that Mrs Chastain has done a lot of work for the hosta community and deserves praise (and income)!

The only Lakeside I have is 'Dragonfly' and it has done very well for me. Definately different than any other I have and it was $12.00.
{{gwi:909576}}

Another I have on my want list is 'Legal Tender'.

Janet

I have a few Lakesides. Like Janet, I love my 'Dragonfly' but don't have a decent photo this time of year.

'Kaleidoscope' has done really well for me in what I thought was going to be a bad location under a weigelia.

'Party Dress' was miserable over there, so got moved this July and is still so miserable I fear it may not be back in the spring.

'Black Satin' was unhappy in a pot too big for it for two years. This July, it also got into the ground for the first time ever and we'll see what happens next year.

'Neat Petite' was not pleased with its pot, either, but also got into the ground at long last.

There was a full year (no, more!) of delay in getting my terraces and fence finished, so too much of my hosta gardening has been in pots or holding beds while I waited.

I've had wonderful luck with Lakeside Cha Cha and Lakeside Shore Master, two real beauties, I think. Here in Minneapolis this year, they both held their color and form until this last week when they started to fade.

I have visited the Lakeside Hosta website repeatedly and looked at the exceptional hostas available. I plan to visit Mary's nursery in the spring and purchase a few. To be sure there are some that are the most expensive hostas I have seen. Example is Lakeside Paisley Print for sale at $200. But it is a new introduction and a beautiful hosta. She has many that are reasonably priced. Check out her website at http://www.gardensights.com/lakeside/index.html

I have several Lakesides and never paid more than $20 for any of them. My favorite is LS Dragonfly!

I agree that many can be quite slow-growing, however. The exception is Dragonfly which did quite well considering I just bought it last year.

Char

L. Shoremaster and probably L. Beach Captain, once it matures, which is similar to LSM
but with a narrower chartreuse stripe in the center!

I posted in this thread earlier, and I'm smacking myself for not remembering to mention 'Lakeside San Kao', which has done extremely well for me; huge, huge leaves, and lighter than the big golds or chartreuse varieties like 'Fried Bananas.' It is chartreuse early in the season, but whitens up as time goes by... I was going to post that one leaf up front of this on Halloween here and tell you all it was Hosta 'White Pumpkin' !! But I ran out of time for my trick, so here's my treat, a photo taken October 18, 2007, click for larger:

You know what, I'm going to pull the trick anyway, in case people don't see this post as this thread is getting older.

Here is a link that might be useful: