Paula thank you for today's jokes, I enjoyed them, especially the car seat.

Hadspen Blue - Doing well with afternoon sun

Halcyon

Happy Dayz

Harpoon

Heat Wave

High Society - a very slow grower for me, purchased in 2017

Holy Mole

Hudson Bay

Hadspen Blue first year. I like this hosta

Halcyon

Hanky Panky

Hawkeye

Hertha

Holy Mouse Ears

Hot Kiss

Several of my H's have been dug up and cleaned of tree roots last year. They should come back in a couple years and for a couple years.

Hadspen Blue

Halcyon

Happy Daze - new

Holy Mole

Honeybells

Hudson Bay

High Society

Humpback Whale

Hudson Bay- needs to find a new home as Luna Moth is growing like crazy

Halcyon

Happy Dayz

My Halcyon has been in ground one season. It came from the June I have had in ground for at least 5 years & which was sprouting reversions around the outside edges. I dug them out & since they had roots, I stuck them into a bare & very shaded spot on north side of my house. I think it adds nice color contrast to its new spot & I expect will increase in size quite a bit. Pics are the close up & long view of the bed where you can see it by the tiny bird bath. BTW - that upside down tomato cage supports a hardy fuchsia which entirely covers the cage by midsummer. I cut the legs off & stake it topside down - makes a great plant support!

I am one of stormy areas and being very heavily forested rural I may lose power. It depends whether we just get snow or the freezing rain/snow combo.

I got a kick out of the police record.

Fabulous H's!

Kathy your Halcyon should do very well. At least you got a beauty reversion. It is a classic for good reason.

Halcyon

Hands Up. This pic is from last year just after planting. I was sure I had taken one this year. This is my 2nd HU as a squirrel just would not leave the first one alone and eventually just took it. Nasty thing.

Hanky Panky

Her Eyes Were Blue pic taken in Sept.

Holy Mouse Ears again one I did not get a pic of this year.

Hot Kiss on planting day in late Sept. I hope it grows up to look like yours Saija!

I want to share this info on how important Halcyon is to the world of hostas. Ken originally send this to me in response to a Halcyon lineage post I made back in 2022.

”The “Longiana” Story (Solberg 2009)

Way back in the fall of 1961 Eric Smith took some pollen from a late, reblooming plant of H. sieboldiana and crossed it on to the first flowers of a H. ‘Tardiflora’ scape. He had to finish ripening the seeds inside in a solution of sugar and water. He was able to germinate about 30 seeds of which 14 were blue. The result was his famous group of “Tardianas”, of which ‘Halcyon’ was the first introduced from this historic cross in 1974. He was never able to set seed on ‘Tardiflora’ again. (The Hosta JournalVol. 13, page 18.)

He was able to cross this first generation (F1) with itself and produce a second generation (F2) of very blue hostas with variable leaf shapes. ‘Blue Wedgwood’, ‘Blue Dimples’, ‘Hadspen Blue’ and ‘Blue Moon’ are some of the most widely grown. Eric Smith was able to achieve his goal of producing small, heavily substanced, blue hostas for the very small garden.

As a group of maybe 30 in number or more, (they have become collector’s items now and many have been named after the fact), “Tardianas” are all small to medium size plants with at least some white wax so that they appear blue in color. They have good substance and a sort of stiffness and sturdiness to their personality. Their clumps are usually pretty tight with dense foliage. They are almost the perfect hostas, (you certainly could argue that ‘Halcyon’ is), although some of the second generation seedlings are very slow growing, like ‘Blue Moon’.

Being a student of hosta history and a great admirer of the insight of Eric Smith, when the rare opportunity of a reblooming H. sieboldianapresented itself to me in 1997, instead of repeating Eric Smith’s cross, I decided to use ‘One Man’s Treasure’ as the second parent. ‘One Man’s Treasure’ is a seedling of H. longipes hypoglauca and for all intents and purposes a form of the species, H. longipes. My new hostas were to be “Longianas”. I expected them to be blue, larger and more vigorous than the “Tardianas”, and well suited to all growing conditions.

I recovered 15 seeds from that cross and five seedlings made it to maturity. There was not a ‘Halcyon’ in that group, all were mediocre plants brimming with genetic potential. In 2001, hundreds of second generation seeds were taken from the F1 seedlings and germinated. Several hundred seedlings were then culled, first for the best blue color, and second for interesting leaf shapes, and soon there were only 25.

In 2010, 13 years later, I am introducing four of my second generation “Longiana” seedlings. They are a very special group of hostas, a new genetic combination, not of the historic proportions of the “Tardianas” by far, but a new line of breeding for all hosta hybridizers to incorporate into their seedling programs. All four are vigorous growing medium to large hostas with good color and distinct leaf shapes. They have good substance but lack the stiffness of the “Tardianas” and are more interesting to the eye. While none may ever rival ‘Halcyon’, ‘Summer Squall’ and ‘Sun Shower’ are great hostas.”

debra

Now here are my Hs:

As Solberg says, Halcyon the perfect hosta! So many hostas come from this one.

hmmmmm, having trouble posting……

Try again. My Hs:

The perfect one

This spreads like a ground cover

debra

A couple more:

A Hornbakers plant, good sized always

I think this was a new hosta last year (Zilis?)

with its flowers

debra

great H hostas everyone!..

Paula..I’ve seen Titanic..I like your joke more than the movie!..
I lost track of Halcyon and Hadspen Blue..I think they’re here somewhere?..

the work on this path is overdue..I’m hoping this summer is the summer I do it..

Honeybells deserves a stand alone photo but 🤦‍♀️..

it’s near the top of the photo left of the tree..

Ann - love the yellows in deep shade! It’s like a ray of sun! All of you with the wide swaths of Hosta - I’m envious of the space to create that.

Good jokes today! Paula, you’ve never watched Titanic?!? So many people thought there’s room for Jack! Pull him up! But plants come first. 😊

Beth, I like the setting for your Halcyon with the big rock behind it. Your entire property looks beautiful!

Laurie, I hope you don’t lose power! I lost my Hands Up, too. Glad to see you’re trying it again.

Hope Springs Eternal, brand new this year! I hesitate to post this because I couldn't get it clean. I tried hosing it down, wiping the leaves off, and still the Illinois soil from Hornbakers would not come off! Made me glad for my sandy soil. I'm not knocking my hosta order from them. All very good hostas. But I've never encountered such stubborn soil before!

nw, I think that first picture of yours is my favorite of all you’ve ever posted. Wow! Everything is looking so good and FULL! Gorgeous!

oursteelers..thank you!..that picture makes me tired!..I see a lot of work to do..
I‘d love to be out working today..but it’s winter..35..and the plants are dormant..
will be single digits in a few days..ugh..
good luck in the playoffs!..

Sandyslopes, interesting that you had that dirt problem. I ordered from them too and mine came without any problems. Although I am in Milwaukee only a few hours away and may have similar soil? I bet it will be beautiful this year!

debra

Thanks debra! It was the strangest thing the way it was stuck to the leaves. I have to deal with hard water spots, so that's what I'm used to. It does have the potential to be a very pretty hosta.

Hoosier Dome

Hope Springs Eternal looks like a promising new hosta!

Would you believe I only purchased Halycon last year? Looking forward to seeing it this year.

Hans. Unfortunately garden is too full! I don't really dare to move Hans as I think it is a slow growing hosta that won't quite forgive me if I move it.

High Society. Another slow grower. It's growing right by the birch tree so it suffers from root competition. I think it is time to dig it up and remove the roots. It is such a pretty hosta.

Halcyon in front, Honeybells in back

found a Honeybells picture looking for I’s..

sandyslopes, I received a mail order last year with a stubborn orange coating on the leaves, and I think it may have been from that same place. I never considered it might just be their dirt, I thought they had sprayed the plants with something. (Either way, I wasn't particularly concerned about it.)

Ben, hmm, interesting thought. The other plants I got from them didn't have that stubborn soil, or whatever it may have been. But the plants looked healthy, so I also think ours should come back looking good this year!

Hudson Bay

Oops, I forgot Happy Dayz!

Debra - your Hanky Panky may be the best one I've seen. Such clean crisp colors and perky, folded leaves for August. peren - yours is massive and really showcases how pretty the variation in colors can be. And it has such a variation in appearance through the year. Mine inevitably gets some weird combination of leaf colors . . . Here's mine in May before the colors get confused

High Voltage - one where the color changes from very subtle variegation to not-so-subtle. Here it is in the middle of the transition.

This just keeps getting better. One I always look forward to just beginning to put on some of that Sum and Substance Size - How About That!

Thanks Steve! I had it in shade in the front yard and it looked crappy and was stunted. I moved it to more sun and was rewarded.

debra

Hanky Panky 5-2-23

Holar Purple Flash 5-27-23

Honey Pie 6-14-23

Hot Shot 5-28-23

Hovercraft 6-22-23

Hovercraft is a favorite!