That’s what I thought!

Yes, looks like HVX. But if the owners aren't hosta nerds, they may just think it's a lovely and unusual hosta.

We're heading to Mackinac Island in a couple weeks. Any suggestions? We'll only be there one night. I'm kind of worried about leaving a car full of luggage sitting in a parking lot.

I would have seriously considered leaving a note in their mailbox regarding that hosta!

that is horrifying..surprised that it hasn't been removed..

True- I think most people are unaware of hosta diseases. I certainly was, before I started following here. I honestly didn’t even think of leaving a note.

Madplanter- there are a couple different parking lots to use before taking the ferry over: a free one (which we used) and the one managed by the ferry company (which costs money). We had a rental car, and took all our luggage with us to the island, because we were going for 4 days/nights to DH’s meeting. We had the rental because we flew into Detroit. So we (sorry to say this) really didn’t care if it got stolen or not. But it was fine. If I were leaving valuables, I might use the managed lot.

We took one day to walk around and see the sights... there’s more of historical interest there than I realized. Another day we rented bikes and rode around the island- 8 miles- which took about 3 hours, going at a very leisurely pace and stopping to see points of interest and to have lunch.

If I only had one day, I’d spend it walking around town. Go up to see the Fort - which has a great tearoom for lunch overlooking the lake. I liked the art museum too- all of local artists and subjects. The town and houses are lovely. The Grand Hotel - oohlala, it was grand indeed.

I had a great time... it’s not big tho, so I think we pretty much saw all there was to see. I had always wanted to go there, so willingly tagged along on that trip!

There was a recent garden show on Makinac Island. There are some nice videos tours of the gardens at the Grand Hotel and a few of the cottages on the Garden Answer youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/gardenanswer/videos

I saw some huge hostas in some of the tour videos and was in awe that they were only a few years old. That's what you get in perfect growing conditions.

Thanks, guys! Mackinac Island has been on my bucket list for years. We're spending most of our time in Door County, but since the island and Pictured Rocks are close, thought we'd stop by.

Off to watch the video tours...

popmama - great to see those videos, she named some things I'd wondered about.... I wasn't aware of that video series.... I'll have to watch some more of them when I have a little time. Thanks!

MadPlanter - Have a great time on your trip!

A note in the mailbox: compliment their gardens but suggest that they Google Hosta Virus X and deal accordingly with their diseased plants.

Yes, if I'd thought of that at the time it would have been the nice thing to do.

popmama,

Thanks for the video link, it was a good way to see the lay of the land. RE the big hostas - With the amount of money they spent on renovating the house and garden, I bet they just went to a nursery and bought big fully mature hostas. They can cost over $100. and are commoner varieties, but if you're already shelling out hundreds of thousands, a few thousand for hostas is a minor item.

Fabulous landscaping, but I like my own garden where I can plant whatever I want without having a committee decide if it's historically correct. I'm pretty sure one each of hundreds of varieties of hosta and daylily would get a big thumbs down. I did covet those wonderful stone walls and the gigantic pots, though.