Those of you who know me from before might be aware that I like Hostas. Hello to the members I haven't met yet! I'm Lise and I'm a Hostaholic. My last count ended with 118 different Hostas. There are now several thousand varieties out there. Many of them look a lot like each other, so I have sort of stopped buying Hostas. They will have to be extra-super-duper-special for me to take them home now. I have somehow accumulated 42 Helleborus, around 20 ferns and I've lost count of everything else. Bar the Cypripedium. There are 10. Or 12. I did get a couple of new ones this autumn. I hope they'll survive winter. Some thumbnail photos: Some of the Helleborus. The "Empress Wu" didn't grow very big this year. It has been too dry for her. Sorry about the angle. It was the only way I could get an overview of this part of the garden.
Are you a recovering hostaholic, or just carrying on with you addiction? Great foto’s. I remember when you got that Empress Wu. She has grown quite a bit from then. You know that last foto taken at a jaunty angle showed some good hosta’s but what caught my eye were the Meconopsis in the background. I LURVE those.
No, I'm still a Hostaholic but I don't buy new ones anymore. I might trade with other Hostaholics, but as I said, they have to be very, very special for me to bother. There's also a Hostavirus X around and I do not want that in my garden. I have to admit, last year I did a stupid thing and bought Hosta Wu-la-la. She's a sport of the Empress Wu and will grow as big as her mother. I really don't know where to put her, so she's in a big container for now. The Meconopsis were very pretty this year. We had a dryish spring but I watered a lot. I also won a purple one at an auction and am really hoping it will show its colour next year.
I'm a hostaholic too, however I only have 67 varieties! 118 varieties, now that is impressive. I tried Empress Wu twice without success. The first one I had to dig out as I suspected it had HVX. The second one just didn't thrive and kind of fizzled out. I won't try another Empress Wu, but I am tempted to try Wu la la. I am currently obsessed with the minis, but they are hard to find around here. Your 'Mouse Cheese' caught my eye and I'm looking for a 'Mighty Mouse' which is the name of my neighbors horse. I just planted my first Hellebore, a volunteer from a clients garden, and I can see how they can become addictive! Great pics Droopy!
Of course I will! Actually I have a photo of it from when I won it at that charity auction. It looks a bit like "Hensol Violet" but it has leaves like x Lingholm or M. grandis. Here you go: Hi Netty! I never meant to have so many but all of a sudden I had. I lost count years ago. Two of them are made in my garden. I have two more in the making. I'm trying to figure out how to register them but that's not easy. I have to talk to someone who's done it before. The HVX is one of the reasons I'm stopping my Hosta collecting. I have a few minis but have given up on the mouse ones. Some of them revert back to Blue Mouse Ears faster than I can say "Look at my new mouse Hosta". The Mouse Cheese comes from Bali Hay nurseries in North-Ireland. We managed to import from there just before Brexit. My friend has Mighty Mouse. It's lovely! Good luck with finding it.
Oh my Droopy— that is quite a looker innit. I gotta say I love the light blue quite a lot, but this.... Well done you at the auction.
Hostas are my addiction too. Along with dahlias, Lily’s, and dwarf acer palmatums. unfortunately deer and gophers do to. It’s a nightmare… I’m collecting plants that are safe from critters. I just planted 12 new peony’s. And 3 tree peony’s.
You have some very nice addictions! A friend of mine also collects dwarf Acers. I don't know how many she has now, but her latest aquisition was brought in the shower cabinet of our autocamper from south Norway to here. Peonies are nice! We have several, also three tree peonies, all yellow for some reason, lol. Hello! Being a Hostaholic is hard on the wallet but good for your health. And if need be you can actually eat your Hostas. That's one of my Hosta buying alibies. Food supply, lol.
We have only crunched on some raw, young leaves of Hostas so far. They taste a bit like cabbage. We plan to cut some shoots and cook them like asparagus come spring and use some young leaves as a wrap. I've seen several recipes out there but haven't gotten round to really cook with them.
