Last Thursday ViolaAnn and I went galavanting. It was just the perfect day for a couple of hostaholic gals. First we traded some hosta, then ate our lunch among 300 varieties of hosta, then toured a garden with 500 varieties of hosta.....oh yeah, then we went shopping at a nursery with, oh, probably a zillion hosta! Yep....life is good.
Guess who?!
Entrance to the Beechwood Cemetery Hosta Gardens.
My favourite hosta I saw at Beechwood. Lovely shaped leaves and tidy habit.
Hosta 'Heart Song'.
We added ViolaAnn's sneaker for scale. How does she keep them so white I wonder? LOL
Then on to the garden tour where we visited Ghislain and Therese Seguin's beautiful garden, about an hour east of Ottawa. What a treat! A beautiful house, property and miles of hospitality. Ghislain has a collection of over 500 hosta.
Have you ever tried to walk around taking hosta pics while balancing a glass of wine in one hand and taking notes with the other....wait - that's three hands right? Now we're trambidextrous.
This hosta really stood out in a crowd. Band of Gold.
He labels his hostas with plastic knives! (plus a detailed map)
Hosta 'Embroidery'.
A nice clump of 'Fire and Ice'.
This is 'Millennium'. If you look closely you'll see strange overlapping flaps on some of the leaves on this one.
Hosta 'Paradigm'.
A huge 'Sum and Substance'.
The milk cans are painted a copper colour and placed throughout the gardens.
Wow, what a view!
Sandy,
Wow, looks like you and Ann had a Great day. I take it those are yours and Ann's 2 motorized water toys on the beach???? LOL
Beautiful Gardens,,,very well manicured. Strolling gardens with a glass of wine???? Awesome. But, then we'll be doing that pretty soon, won't we???? Hope you have our goodies ordered,,,mwahahaha.
Really like that Band of Gold. I've seen other pics and it looks so, so,,,but your pic is really great. Looks like a very pretty hosta. Any shopping for hostas?
Kelly
What a nice trip....wish I was there. Wine hostas, is there anything else so grand?
Sandy---- I remember you all discussing going on a trip last winter. I figured when ann mentioned something about going to a Garden last week it was that trip. Did you all go to the place that man owns(I cannot rmember the name) up there also. No I have never tried to take pictures take notes and drink wine at the same time unless I was a bit sloshed.
Kelly----- I think Canada is about the best place in the hemisphere to grow hosta.
I am going to Wade and Gattons in Ohio on the 22nd I think then back to the Columbus area to go to a place not widely known called Seely's. They are suppose to be one of the largest hosta retailers in the country.
And here's Sandy with Ghislain at the start of his tour.
Funny thing. When we got there both Sandy and I grabbed our cameras and left every thing else in the car. LOL
This message was edited Jun 27, 2006 7:39 AM
I love Millenium! Embroidery is at the top of my list for next year.
Everything is gorgeous and looks like you had a great time!
Kathy
I just looked up Millenium at the Hosta Library. I like it a lot better as a young plant.
This message was edited Jun 27, 2006 6:59 AM
wow - awesome pics. I like how their hosta are not jam packed - you can actually see the shape of them. I'm putting that on places to visit in my lifetime!!
Sanannie,
What is the hosta just to the left of Fire and Ice with the yellowish spikey leaves? Dragon Tails?
Kathy
ANN---- WOW first she said a glass of wine now I see 2 glasses of wine. And you all drove home?????
I drove home! LOL
Now I've got to see if I have any pics that Sandy didn't already put up.
Ann
How wonderful ya'll got to go play hosta together!!!
And you went to (Papou's) Ghislain's? I had the pleasure of meeting him in person at the convention! Would love to see his gardens!!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful day with us!
Ann - please tell them that my eyes are half closed because of the sun and the other glass of wine is yours! LOL
Kelly - when we returned to Ottawa we stopped and bought one or two hosta, but that's because we only had 15 minutes shopping time! Band of Gold really stood out for me. And about the two motorized water toys being ours, well how else do you think we got there? hee hee
dovebydesign - it certainly was a fun day! Hostas and wine. I saw a T-shirt this weekend that said 'Don't mind me, I wine a lot!'
Oz - You need to get the false teeth thing mastered first before even attempting the 'wine-notes-pics' triple combo.
Here's Ann pretending she's holding my wine ;-)
kd - I don't think the flaps are normal for Millennium, they thought it was just that particular plant that was a mutant, but the plant itself has great substance. The hosta to the left of Fire and Ice is Pineapple Upside Down Cake, I think. But I can't be sure.
sarv - yes, he certainly grows them well.
Oz - we took the sea-doos on the river, remember? LOL
Jody - yes, Papou. Isn't he a sweet man? Always smiling. His wife is a delight too. They are very hospitable and warm people. They were all set to feed us too! He was telling us about the convention and all the wonderful people he met there. He said all hosta people are so wonderful.
Sandy
Looks like you both had a lovely time! One of these days (may be a while) I'm going to make it up that way for a visit to see Papou. In early April he and Therese stopped for a visit here in North Carolina and I got to meet them as well. My hostas were all new last year, so my garden is not nearly as substantial as many of your more well established gardens yet :-) Plus, my hostas were really just starting to come up. We went to Hosta Farm in Pittsboro, NC, which is one of my favorite local nurseries.
What a nice treat for you all to get together for a visit and special hosta time!
~Angie
Oh sandy I am so happy you remined me about the teeth I do not know where they are right now. I need to go check. I know what glass of wine is yours. The one with the lowest level of spirits. A daffy Taffy would'nt you know it.
Really that must have been a nice day.
Here are some of my pics - a general shot from Beechwood Cemetery. Oh yes, Oz, I live only about 3 blocks from the same river but 90 km up stream; so going by boat would be a natural. LOL
This message was edited Jun 27, 2006 11:55 AM
A nice Bob Deane at Beechwood
A lovely clump of Janet at Beechwood. (They seem to plant in groups of three).
A Mikado for those who like large vase-shaped Hostas.
On to Ghislain's garden - I have little space left in mine; so I was taken by some of the smaller varieties.
Fair Maden
High Society
Illicit Affair
Just So
Lakeside Baby Face
Little Sunspot
A lovely Paul's Glory on the other side of the garage.
The afore mentioned Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Wolverine
