Growing Quality Hostas Since 1979

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The Big Move
In 2003 we moved our nursery from Maryland to Virginia.  It seems funnier now than it did then.


Plantain Lily and the
Great Slug Bait Episode

A cautionary tale about using slug bait and other chemicals in the garden.


Green Hostas

Our list of hostas changes frequently, so some of the varieties mentioned here may not always be available.  We realize it would be better if everything was always up to date, but it doesn't work that way around here.

You can probably just skip over this part quickly and move on, cause nobody gives a hoot about green hostas.  I can here you all now, "Oh, that's not true..."   Well, I've been selling hostas for 25 years and I know what you guys buy, and you don't buy many green hostas. And that's too bad, because not only are there some great green hostas out there, but you need green hostas in your garden.  

The best garden is not the one with the most flowers and the brightest colors.  A hosta garden with nothing but variegated plants is just too busy.  It's like painting each window frame on your house a different color.  You need green hostas as a foil to show off the variegated plants. To add some subtlety to the garden.  You need green hostas. 

The green giants are not too hard to sell.  Everyone likes the big hostas and some of the largest are green.  'Komodo Dragon', 'Vim and Vigor', and the other huge plants are always popular.  Green hostas  with piecrust edges are semi-popular too, like 'Niagara Falls' at left, mostly because there aren't too many variegated plants with true piecrust edges. 

And lastly, Hosta plantaginea, the August Lily, is fairly popular because it has immense fragrant flowers, unlike those on any other hosta. Unfortunately, it is best grown in warmer climates and we don't think they are the best choice for Northern gardens.  They emerge early in the spring and in areas where late frosts are common, they can suffer leaf damage and a late hard freeze can lead to crown rot and kill them.  They also need a long growing season to bloom and after all the trouble of growing them, gardeners in the North may not see the flowers. On the other hand, since these problems are due mainly to the fact that plantaginea is native to Southeastern China, a warmer climate than other native hosta habitats, it is probably the best hosta for growing in the warmers areas of the U.S.

We would grow a lot more interesting green hostas if you guys would only start buying them.