Disappointing about Bowdens Nursery. I used to live in a village near Sticklepath and knew the Bowdens well. I would regularly visit the nursery and the Devonshire Inn.
Once you start collecting and get past the variegateds, you will need some green, different sizes and shapes , and perhaps flower colour and scent.
Halycon is a good blue-grey. June is a sport of Halycon, and I have a plant that has reverted to blue-grey.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I grow hostas in pots and never have slug damage. Mine were a job lot from a gardening online offer but they are lovely. Healthy plants requiring little or no care. I particularly love their little leaf spikes poking through the soil in spring unrolling in the sunshine. Proper garden stalwarts coming back bigger and better every year. Vastly underrated in my opinion.
Once you start collecting and get past the variegateds, you will need some green, different sizes and shapes , and perhaps flower colour and scent.
Halycon is a good blue-grey. June is a sport of Halycon, and I have a plant that has reverted to blue-grey.
Thank you for those recommendations @bede. One half of my garden is in shade from midday onwards so I use variegated plants like Phormiums and Hakonechloa to brighten it up, plus I like the surprises that variegated hostas can bring depending on position, climate and time. If the collection expands, you're right, some different colours, heights and leaf shapes will be needed!
Devon Green. Dark glosy green. Very similar size and growth to Halcyon/June.
But then you need bigger pots: Nigresens. Taller and more pointed than Krossa Regal. Grey-green. Very architectural. I have both, Nigrescens at the back in my pic on p1 of this thread. Sieboldiana elegans, of course. Very similar in size and shape to Frances Williams but unvariegated grey-green. Seeds germinate well and some good plants result. Sum and Substance. Very pale green, can be yellow in full sun. Once was the biggest; no longer.
And then you need smaller hostas (but not necessarily smaller pots). But that's another day.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
My mother grows and sells hostas locally, but doesn't have nearly as many varieties as you do, @Hostafan1 ! Two of my favorites that she grows are Humpback Whale (blue) and Rhino Hide (blue w/yellow). She has a few newer varieties that she's waiting to divide that are interesting; Hans, Vulcan, and Wolverine. Striptease has to be one of my favorites. And I love the smaller ones, like Mouse Ears.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
In USA, hostas are very popular and most of the new varieties come from there. In many cases the improvements are marginal. Older plants drop off the lists regularly.
Choose a good grower. Buy their cheapest. Cheapest normally means popular and easy to grow, on this occasion cheapest means good. When you become more knowledgeable you can pick up bargains at places like B&Q.
My smaller choice is: Pearl Lake Blue Pearl Mouse Ears (very small, and in fact is difficult to place with other hostas) Pastures New. Deep green. (my wife chose it for a new garden. It has small leaves, but the plant has expanded and is very dense and now quite large in diameter.)
I have just been looking at Striptease via google. It looks just like mine. The plant I saw in Bowdens Nursery and at their stand at Chelsea had quite wide white stripes. But that was years ago. Mine has a few narrow white stripes but only in the second year after repotting in rich compost.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
@Plantminded wouldn't that be a fun job, being the one to name plants?
It can be fun, but it's hard work if you are serious. In my working life I was involved with company and brand naming. There are a lot of legal hoops to go through if you want to register a trademark a name internationally. The name is also important for marketing. Get it right, Peace, Fragrant Cloud ... , and sales will follow. Pedigree dog and racehorse naming is far less demanding.
I have a Hosta "Honey Bells". It is suppose to be scented, but you have to try very hard to detect it. The species Hosta plantagineana(±) is reputed to have the strongest scent, but is not hardy. If you want to go down that route, I would suggest try before you buy.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Posts
Once you start collecting and get past the variegateds, you will need some green, different sizes and shapes , and perhaps flower colour and scent.
Halycon is a good blue-grey. June is a sport of Halycon, and I have a plant that has reverted to blue-grey.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Devon Green. Dark glosy green. Very similar size and growth to Halcyon/June.
But then you need bigger pots:
Nigresens. Taller and more pointed than Krossa Regal. Grey-green. Very architectural. I have both, Nigrescens at the back in my pic on p1 of this thread.
Sieboldiana elegans, of course. Very similar in size and shape to Frances Williams but unvariegated grey-green. Seeds germinate well and some good plants result.
Sum and Substance. Very pale green, can be yellow in full sun. Once was the biggest; no longer.
And then you need smaller hostas (but not necessarily smaller pots). But that's another day.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Choose a good grower. Buy their cheapest. Cheapest normally means popular and easy to grow, on this occasion cheapest means good. When you become more knowledgeable you can pick up bargains at places like B&Q.
My smaller choice is:
Pearl Lake
Blue Pearl
Mouse Ears (very small, and in fact is difficult to place with other hostas)
Pastures New. Deep green. (my wife chose it for a new garden. It has small leaves, but the plant has expanded and is very dense and now quite large in diameter.)
I have just been looking at Striptease via google. It looks just like mine. The plant I saw in Bowdens Nursery and at their stand at Chelsea had quite wide white stripes. But that was years ago. Mine has a few narrow white stripes but only in the second year after repotting in rich compost.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I've got:
Elvis lives
Christmas Candy ( hostas are dormant at christmas )
Night Before Christmas ... ditto
Bedford Rise and Shine
I'm sure there are plenty of other odd names I've got too.
I have a Hosta "Honey Bells". It is suppose to be scented, but you have to try very hard to detect it. The species Hosta plantagineana(±) is reputed to have the strongest scent, but is not hardy. If you want to go down that route, I would suggest try before you buy.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."