Playday!

Xanadu

And a final view of another part of his gardens.

What great shots! ViolaAnn, I believe that Fair Maiden is one I sent home with Ghislain when he stopped by here for a visit. He managed to get several plants home across the border :-)

~Angie

Angie - he mentioned meeting two lovely ladies on his way back from Florida. I know one of them was Wholyhosta - I didn't realize you were the other 'lovely lady'!

Yes, I guess that was me :-) Brenda (wholyhosta) came here and stayed for the weekend, and we had a BLAST!

Ahhh....So you can relate to our little playday, I bet!

Sandy

I'll join Sandy in that bet.

Keep in mind Ghislain and Therese had spent quite a bit of time (several months) in Florida. They had the car pretty much packed full, and also if I recall there were at least a couple of pieces of garden art type things in the car that might draw attention to the possibility that they might actually have a few plants as well :-) I am really happy he was able to get across the border with no issues. I sent a few small plants home with him and so did Brenda. Additionally, he had ordered a couple of hostas from Naylor Creek that weren't cheap to say the least! I'm sure they did a fantastic job of hiding the hostas prior to arriving at the border crossing.

And, yes, I can totally relate to you little play date! It's so much fun to get together with others who also suffer from this hostaholic condition! You can talk about hostas for hours on end, and not once have them say anything like "that picture looks exactly like the last 10 you've shown me".

LOL. You don't actually know anyone who would say that do you? (You don't have to answer).

Sandy didn't mention when she started this thread that we did a small Hosta exchange of our own. About 5 each. Sandy was at my house by about 10:30 - she lives about 1 hour west of me. She had a tour of my garden before we took off, though I've now planted about 10 more Hostas; so the garden already looks different. I had several waiting until I got the ones in the exchange before I made the final decision on where to plant them. I'll find a time later this summer and drive up the valley to see Sandy's lovely garden again.

Ann

It is nice you have someone close by Ann even if it is Sandy. I got several DGer's near here but they are all farm people and not much on Hosta. Did see a post by someone on the hosta forum from Kingsville. That is about 1 1/2 hrs away. Had about 75 to 85 peole here for our garden tour some from Jeff city anfd some from Springfield was surprised they came from 90 miles away.

Aw, he just thinks I live in an igloo, that's all ! LOL

Slap me, I forgot to mention Ann's garden tour. I sure saw lots of treasures there too! Many small and mini hostas. And her new garden with the stone-wall edging. She doesn't have too much lawn left in the front yard, but she said "I think I made a mistake putting stone edging around that new bed......it'll be difficult when I want to make it bigger". Always thinking ahead.

Sandy

Great segue, Sandy. Just last night I finished updating the pictures of my hostas (74 varieties) on my family web site. The memento from last week's outing is Peppermint Ice.

http://www.magma.ca/~fredrkng/Ann/Ann_hostas06.html

Ann

She picks on me Ann. It is nice you have someone close like that. In truth I have a lot of respect for her. Looks like your collection has about caught up with mine Ann, at least until I go to Ohio in a couple of weeks. But I never intend to go over 100. I got about 80 different ones right now and about 100 plants total. I eliminate the dups(except the Blue angels) when I buy more. We were going to go to Wade and Gatton but I am not sure of that now. There is a place close in to my daughter that carries 500 species of hosta. suppose to be a lot cheaper than wade and Gatton and they come potted. I was told Wade and Gatton sell by the eye and it is not cheap.

I take it that Papou has milk cans place in various parts of his gardens for watering? It's a lovely idea to paint them copper colored. Adds a nice touch. The pictures and gardens are all fantastic. Looks like you ladies had a wonderful time, good for you! :) I do like that Peppermint Ice...:)

Diann

I may be wrong, but I think the milk cans are just decorative. They look nice and we did have a good time. I like the Peppermint Ice too. It was actually way down my wish list - I wanted Lakeside Mom, but it didn't come in. When I saw Peppermint Ice, I bought it instead. LOL

Ann

Sanannie - you mentioned he used plastic knives to mark his plants
great idea
do you know what he writes on the knives with ?
does the writing seem to last ?
judy

I suspect that he uses a Sharpie marker, but I don't think he really said. Some of them were hard to read and others weren't actually marked. He identified most of the Hostas from his color coded computer generated maps.

I think if you are to use the plastic knives, you definitely need a map back-up because any plastic will eventually get brittle and break. Heck, you probably should have that back-up any way. But how many of us do?

Ann

judy - Ghislain has named and numbered his hosta beds. As Ann said, he makes diagrams of each bed on the computer and very detailed lists with purchase info and number of eyes each year, etc. With over 500 varieties to keep straight, a map would help I'm sure. Though, it'd be a pain to keep the maps updated if you moved them around a lot!

So, I'm sure the knives are only a back-up system. Not only would they break but the writing would fade eventually, of course. Even a Rub-a-Dub Sharpie or Laundry/Freezer marker would probably only last a couple of seasons.

Sandy

Sandy,

Oh, did you have to mention number of eyes per year,,,I think that's the Only thing I hadn't thought of putting on my info Spreadsheet. Will have to add that now. Will pay you back for that one when we (the BSS) come *visit* you,,,,lol

I think Ghislain indicated that he won't move them more often than every three years.
I'm afraid mine get moved more often than that - at least until I decide where I REALLY want them.

Sandy, do you think I should post a pic of the special "Hosta" that Ghislain had surrounded by THREE knives? The one we saw in both my garden and Beechwood as well?

edited because I can't spell

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 4:54 PM

Great photos and memories to share!

We also had a wonderful time with Ghislain in April and helped along his life of crime! lol!

And ya did okey in the hosta department, too!

Thanks for sharing all of the above with us/me!!

Brenda

*** Papou is a retired successful businessman and he's running that hosta garden like a well-oiled business!! LOL!

I think if i had 500 hosta I would have diagrams and maps of the yard. I forget now and it is kind of hard when you walk out in the yard as I did this evening at twilight and there were 8 people roaming around. this happens every now and then because I have let it be known anyone is welcome to walk in and visit the garden. They had questions and at times I forget the name of the hosta they want to know about. Could not see the name plate on some of them.

I sure agree with that Ghislain about not moving them very often I had all the plants i bought from Naylor in pots and moved them around till I decided where they best fit in with the light and such.

Ann---- If your yard is that small and you got all these hosta they are going to grow together pretty fast. God help you if you get any virus in there.

Wow you guys got to visit with GHISLAIN? How cool is that? I got Ghislain on my desktop, when I want to see what a certain Hosta really look like, I open up his website. Where did the name Papou come from? Is he French Canadian?
Sylvia
... and at the cemetary, were there Hostas around the graves?

oz,

Did you lose your glasses again???? Along with your teeth??? Ya gotta stop sitting on those,,,LOL

It's nice to have people stop by that are genuinly interested in the gardens. I had a customer this morning. His wife picked him up from here cause his van was in the garage being fixed. Anyway, his wife (also a customer of mine) popped in and said, "I have a couple lady friends out here that I'm showing your gardens to, is that o.k.?" Yep, no problem.

Kelly you got a Unisex shop going there? Kelly do you think I am too old for long hair?
Oz ... I dont repot either untill they get really huge... I got three or four I am going divde and share ... maybe five...

Yep, I sure do. No, I don't, as long as it looks good and isn't too long. When it's too long it drags a persons face down. I Still like your hair short like in that one pic you posted.

I have an appointment sat morning... but I like it, but I dont know how to use that curlling iron. Also Fil and I are doing our debut sat night....lol

Sylvia,

Papou means grandpa in French. His wife is Mamou. Yes, he is French Canadian.

He does have a lot of hostas, huh?!

~Angie

Sylvia - As Angie said, Papou means grandpa in French. They both had licence plates with Papou and Mamou on them, just like ViolaAnn does. We all laughed about that on the way out.

We talked briefly about all the work it is to keep the beds weeded, etc. and Ghislain said "Well, it's better to die used up rather than rusted out." Guess it's their motto. Had to write that one down!

Sandy

I don't know that I have ever seen any more gorgeous Hostas - or heard about a more fun time! I just recently divided an ancient old Hosta that my grandmother planted probably in the late 60's. My parents still live in that house. I got at least a dozen plants out of it and, although most of them look a little sad at the moment, I suspect they'll come back fine next year. I don't have any idea what variety it is - any thoughts?

Thanks.

Kelly the writing on my tags is black on white. I use plastic label strips for it. I am looking for something to make them larger. I might convert back to the first way I labeled. I used to use baseball sized interesting rocks with labels glued to them. It looks nice and is different from what you see normally. I buy the steel rods for my labels in 20 ft lengths, and they chop them un into 2 ft lengths. The price of that type of steel has about doubled in the past couple of months.

Sandy---- I am wondering if you had and conversations with him about Hosta Virus X. I would be interested in knowing his views on this. As I understand it the family of virus that X comes from are all incurable. I have allready been experimening a little with bleach and water mix.

Oz,
Maybe you could print them out in a larger font on paper from your computer and use weather resistant clear tape over the whole piece of paper the name is on to stick them to whatever you want to use as markers? Or, would some kind of heavy duty clear glue or contact cement work to adhere the paper to the markers and then a coat or 4 of outdoor varnish over the name to keep it from fading work? Can't believe steel is going up,,,any reason?

Sandy,
I'd be as interested as oz to know about any talk of the virus. I just about had my Striptease dead and then decided to pot it up and see what happens over the next fe years. The leaves are looking terrible, but they have perked up, so I know it's alive. I may just go out there and chop all the leaves off, it'll get new ones. I Will be putting a sign on it that says "Contaminated, Your hand Will fall off if you touch this plant." I'll put it it in an out of the way place, but sometimes customers' little kids can be nightmares and I don't want them touching it and then touching something else.

Murmer - I think you have a type of Undulata.

I don't recall any discussion of HVX with Ghislain, but maybe Sandy's memory is better than mine.

Kelly, I think it's an interesting experiment to put your hosta in a corner well away from others and watch it.

Ann

Ann,

Figured why waste a perfectly good virused hosta when I could get some info out of what it does. LOL Will be potting it in a larger port this weekend. Just wanted to get it back in a pot when it was just about dead. Maybe will try bleach and water soak.

Murmer - I think it's an Undulata too.

No you guys, we didn't get talking about HVX but since he's not in the nursery business and is a consumer like us, plus the fact that he's only been collecting since 2000; makes me think we are probably all learning together as we go along, since the virus is so new. All this experiementing you guys are doing is great and will help us all learn more about it.

Oz and Kelly - What is your experiment with bleach and water? You soak the roots?

Sandy

Sandy,
Well, the first part of my experiment was the intent to kill my Striptease. No the secon d experiment is to see how long it takes to revive, and the last part yes, will be replanting it and watching it for a few years. Before putting it in a bigger pot, I'm going to soak it in bleach water. I Know they say nothing gets rid of it, but I'm going to try it anyway.

I am the one doing it but have not started as we are going to have a gang thru herev this weekend and DW does not want anything to interfer with the peoples looking at the plants. I explain everytime what I think is on the plant and tell people not to touch it. The plant itself looks pretty nice except for those leaves that have some blotches. It is also pretty large for a Striptease. So I will hold off till next week. But what I am going to do it spray some of the plant with a 1-10 ratio of bleach late some evening after the sun is off for the day. If you can use that stuff on the roots and around them at that rate it should not really wipe the plant out to spray in on some leaves. Bleach is suppose to kill some things and maybe it just might kill the bug spreading the virusX. I do not think it will effect it myself but well I like to play you know ms eskimo. On another note I seen my cat Gilly hiding under the grouping that contains the infected plant, laying in wait for birds. Now if she has been there hiding I wonder where else she has been hiding she may have spread it all over the garden. I know she hides under the Blue Angels and Sagae. I do not see how it will ever be controlled. I really don't. A rabbit are something can come thru your garden and make a few stops and you got a total mess. I am not going to let it bother me. I am going to wait and see with this plant. If it gets out of control my hosta days will be over I will go to other plants.

Many thanks for the name info on my Hosta - it's funny, back when my grandma brought that people didn't seem to hang on to name tags. Whether they remembered everything without them, or didn't worry about such things, I don't know. But I'm delighted to hear what it probably is!!!! I'll be sharing these with relatives and am excited to give everyone a label of some kind.

I got out my A-Z Plant Encyclopedia to see what I could find about the Undalata and found several others that I really, really, really want!!! Guardian Angel looks wonderful, as does Patriot, Abiqua Drinking Gourd, Earth Angel, Dream Weaver, Touch of Class, Stained Glass . . . about a dozen others . . . uh oh, too many!!!!!!!!

Is there a book or a source where I could find out when this particular Hosta was developed?

Again, thank you.