Don't know about Aquamarine miles but Lemon Kiss is a temptation for me. Already $30, hmm.

I like Lakeside Grumpy Green, Aquamarine and Lemon Kiss. I have Frisian Waving Steel and it is a very nice quick growing hosta. Worldcup is on my list for next year.

I saw that Lemon Kiss is $35 online so would you get a larger plant from the auction or the same that you would get if you ordered it online? I know the auction includes shipping but the online price is something to keep in mind.

I would guess that the Auction one would be similar, but there is no $100 minimum per order. Sometimes the auction plants are larger than the normal online purchased plant, but this one is new so I don't think it can happen. I can wait a few years and Bob Solberg would probably bring some to the convention where I can buy just one plant- but what fun is that?

Now you have me thinking about Lemon Kiss too. It looks so cute! So much fun to plan ahead since it's about 20 degrees outside today and there's ice in the parking lot outside my office. Just hope that all of my hostas are tucked away under the soil and all the subzero temperatures that we've had at night won't affect them.

I picked up a baby Aquamarine at a local greenhouse last spring, doesn't look like anything yet, but, hoping it turns into something. Lemon Kiss does look cute. There's another similar one that looks like it could be from the same cross, on Solberg's Green Hill website, called Lemon Snap, with up-cupped leaves. Happy bidding!

Miles, just curious where you call home. ?

I live in a western Cleveland suburb, North Olmsted. I also saw Lemon Snap and really like that one. I think that I like it better than Lemon Kiss. I like a pop of color in the garden that a yellow/gold or chartreuse plant provides. It will be interesting to see what Aquamarine does in your garden. What nursery did you find it at?

miles, I'm with you on Lemon Snap, my only concern is how fast it might go green. Looks like it would have that tendency. I prefer lutescent vs. viridescent.

I prefer lutescent as well. That electric yellow first thing in the spring is a bit much for me. I like the hosta to yellow up in June July ... and fall. I suppose you can email Solberg and ask which are lutescent.

For an easy way to see the auction...goto to the AHS Website then select AHS Auction then hit your space bar twice to get to see it. They want to know that you read all the regs before you peek.

-Babka

Prices are escalating ever higher on the AHS auction. Wish I had seen some of the higher priced items in person since I hate to spend so much on a plant that I've never seen.

Question. I had (or hopefully still have in my pot ghetto) Aquamarine. It is clearly not the beauty up for auction. The patent was applied for on 11/10/2010. Does the original no longer exist?

peren, could your hosta be Ultramarine? I kept confusing myself with the two, last year.

miles, sorry, I just noticed I didn't answer your question about where I acquired Aquamarine. It's from Black Creek Greenhouses, East Earl, PA. They're not mail-order, just a local place for me to check in a few times in spring for some gems. They have a good selection of hosta they get as liners, and some, maybe a years growth. A lot of tried and true stuff, but they don't shy away from a bunch of new ones either. Great selection of perennials and annuals at really good prices. The catch is, if you don't get there early in the season, most of the good stuff gets snatched up, and they don't restock.

Well that would be a big, fat duh!!! If I had a brain I would be dangerous. Too many names in my head right now. Thank you Steve.

Black Creek Gardens looks great but that's quite a ride for me. Pittsburgh isn't that far but Lancaster county is across the state. Are you located nearby? Plants on the auction are interesting but I really like to see plants in person and I am really wondering if I want to spend that much and "take a chance?"

It's quite obvious on the bidding that some people just take over the bidding on certain plants. They make bids that will simply knock out any competition which is good for fund raising for the auction but it takes the fun out of it for most bidders. Apple Pucker went from $135 to $250--guess that bidder won't be denied!

Ah, you ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait until the last seconds before the bidding closes. Each one is different, and seconds count. Make sure your clock is exactly the same time as the one on the Auction. The rarity of some of the offerings raises their value, and if you want to be one of only a few people in the whole wide world who have a certain hosta, be prepared to pay. It's not just the money, it is the bragging rights. ;-) I think it is exciting to watch and hope prices go thru the roof for the AHS. There are auctions that are not fundraisers and those are a lot more stable pricewise.

-Babka

Yes, this is a fund raising auction, so bidders view it as a donation to the AHS, as well as getting some choice plants.

I understand that the auction is a fund raiser but from what I can see on the bidding, there is a very, very small group of individuals who are driving the bidding up until only they can participate. That's fine for the fund raising and rare plants, I get all of that but it doesn't make any sense to pay 2 or 3 times what a plant costs online to participate in the auction. This actually makes my purchase of new daylily introductions seem rational.

I here what you are saying miles. It seems like they could use a few more donations so that there would be some left over for those that want to participate but not at the rare hosta level. I think I will consider a donation next year.

Yowee! Who is Perennialdaddy. He has a BIG checkbook!

Edit: Thought I had it figured out...NOT. Oops.

-Babka

I don't know how you used that list to figure it out.

I missed the first half of the auction. Did any pass $1000. I saw Apple Pucker went for $625

I think that was the highest

I snagged Jet Black with a last minute bid. I love my Jetstream, Jet Black may be even nicer.

Steve- Congrats!

-Babka

I tried!!!

I got some seed no one else seemed interested in. I think the other seed bidders were more interested in giants where as I am growing small/mediums.

I waited too long to register, but those seed lots certainly got my interest - congrats Beverly! I probably would have been competing with you, lol.

Steve, I hope you're right about Jet Black. I had already ordered one and have high hopes for it. May have to play around with lighting exposure to get the best effect. Keep us posted on what you do with yours.

Steve D., I have been sooo impressed with Jetstream. It has doubled in size every year (3 yrs) even in a tough situation with roots, and an overhanging maple branch limiting the rainfall it gets. Jet Black has different parentage, but I'm a fan of Doug Beilstein's plants. They all seem to be very vigorous in my garden. Here's hoping ours are winners.

I saw you trying, Donna. Wasn't hard to figure out your alias, hehe.

That was, by far, the craziest Hosta auction I've ever witnessed. Entertaining, but crazy.

Where is the list of winners?

Results are in! http://americanhostasociety.org/Activities/ahsresults18.htm

$1,000 for a single plant seems insane!

anyone have pics of H. 'Entranced' OS must not have been up last time I looked.

I got one, Embroidery, but the had some issues with the website which gave me various error messages about my password and how much the bids had to be increased, it wouldn't take some bids even though no other bids were ever entered for the amounts that the site rejected from me--must have been a glitch in the system. The bidding on some plants showed multiple bids by the same person increasing by a $100 per bid and no other bids recorded. Sure would have liked Apple Pucker but I wasn't ready to spend that much!

Miles, those plants showing multiple bids by the same person increasing by $100 per bid was not a glitch. That person really was outbidding themselves repeatedly, and they even bid on announcements and information pages.

Like I said earlier - craziest auction I've ever witnessed.

Congratulations on nabbing Embroidery!

Instead of bidding on announcements, why not just donate money directly instead?

I'd rather see this run where you buy tickets to plants you are interested in and then they pull a ticket at random. If you want to increase your chances, you just buy more tickets. That would give at least a small chance for everyone to win. The current format favors a few people with big pocketbooks. I'd buy a few tickets but see no purpose in bidding on the vast majority of plants since I don't have hundreds (or thousands) of dollars to spare.

Yes, a strange auction with one buyer spending over $4200. I should have taken a screenshot of that 'Entranced'; it was GORGEOUS. I know where it's going, though, so I hope to get to see it in person. SMH

Whitewater, I'd like to see that too--that way a lot of different people could participate. It's very important to get as many people as possible to join in the fun, since that's what keeps people interested. Over the years I've found that organizations that don't keep people personally involved tend to become less and less popular and people move on to the next thing. It would be nice to see at least some plants offered that would follow your idea of tickets sold for a nominal price. So many hosta people that I know don't even bother looking since they know that they are never going to be able to afford a plant.

I did a little sleuthing... Now we all know where it is going:

Entranced

-Babka

Wow! That's quite a trippy write-up about Entranced, in that link.

Nice sleuthing, Babka!

Agreed, Steve.

I think I won some huecheras. Haven’t received an emil about it yet.

Interesting that Alan (Russell) has that listed "for sale" (wholesale) when the auction agreement for that plant was that it not be sold without the donor's permission.

Alan's regular emails are just as "trippy." He's a really nice guy who has been very good to our local society (and to the AHS in these auctions), but sometimes I think we don't speak the same language. Check out his description for his auction acquisition 'First Blush' (which I doubt is really an OS, even as it is coming from Bob Solberg directly).

So the auction website says it was offered as not to be resold without the donor's permission, but he's going to sell it? Is there a disconnect here? I am bidding for my own plant collection but he is going to sell it on the commercial garden? I wonder if he contacted the donor during the auction? No wonder the sky wasn't a limit!

"God is great, beer is good, people are crazy..." -Billy Currington

I jumped on the bandwagon and purchased First Blush when it was first offered in 2016. So I'm thinking that mine was OS. Here's what it looked like at the end of the season last year.

Donna - it's a pretty hosta whether red-ish or green!

I don't think he intends to sell these, really. He has set prices at 4x what he paid at auction. He paid $1000 for 'Entranced'! But to buy a streaker, he may be hoping that something settles out into a stable variegation pattern, which would be his to deal with as he wishes.