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So many new hostas appear each year that it’s hard to keep up with them all. Some are much the same as existing varieties but a few are both distinctive and useful in the garden. ‘Purple Heart’ (above, click to enlarge) is the culmination of a programme designed to create new hostas with a red leaf stem...
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There’s a whole series of hostas derived from the variety ‘Captain Kirk’, and they all have more or less Star Trek related names. There’s ‘Enterprise’ and ‘Voyager’ and ‘Vulcan’ – and now there’s ‘Captain’s Adventure’. I have to say, the name ‘Captain’s Adventure’ is a bit of a let down… What about ...
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It’s time look ahead to the new year so, as I did last year , I’ve picked out five plants not yet available (as far as I can tell) but which you should look out for next year. All look to be excellent new plants, some truly innovative, and all well worth trying. Hosta ‘Raspberry Sundae’ (left in picture...
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Since its introduction in the USA about ten years ago, Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ has become one of the most popular of small hostas and in the five years its been available in Britain, it’s captured our attention for many reasons. It’s small and neat, not more than 6in/15cm high, so is ideal at the very...
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‘Frances Williams’ is one of our most popular hostas. Basically it’s like Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’ but with a gold edge to the leaf and indeed it is thought to be a sport of ‘Elegans’. ‘Frances Williams’ itself has produced a number of sports and this new introduction, ‘Sara’s Sensation’, looks to...
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Last time I looked at an old American hosta coming to Britain for the first time. Now two brand new hostas from Belgium, both raised by Danny van Eechaute. ‘Color Festival' (left, click to enlarge) is a very dramatic hosta in spite of its medium size. It features rich, deep green foliage, a little...
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Every year new hostas arrive on the scene. You'd think that with so many being grown already - there've been almost two thousand listed in the RHS PlantFinder over the years - that we wouldn't need any more. Well, some perhaps we truly don't need. But as hosta enthusiasts bring together...
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Back in 1999, Kirk Brill, a hosta breeder over in Iowa (most new hostas come from the USA) introduced a sport of the old favourite ‘ Gold Standard'. ‘Gold Standard' is almost completely yellow with a narrow green margin, the new sport has a wider margin and a brilliant yellow centre making a...
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In addition to their exhibit in the Floral Marquee at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show , Mickfield Hostas also had one of the outdoor Plant Plots - and there, on the sales table, they featured their Collectors' Corner with at least four brand new hostas. Hosta ‘Extasy' (below, click to enlarge...
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Goldbrook Plants have staged some of the most impressive Hosta exhibits of recent years. They've won seventeen consecutive Gold Medals at the Chelsea Flower Show and nineteen consecutive Gold Medals the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show including a Gold this week at Hampton . Sandra Bond, who IS Goldbrook...
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There's a huge number of hostas introduced every year, many raised across the Atlantic, and some of the newcomers are to be seen at this week's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show . Mickfield Hostas from Stowmarket in Suffolk, holders of one of the National Hosta Collections , have one much respected...
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Hosta ‘Halcyon' is the most famous British-bred hosta and one of the most popular across the world. Its neat habit and intensely - often slug-resistant - blue leaves have made it a worldwide favourite. ‘Halcyon' has produced a number of variegated sports, shoots which differ from the original...
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A huge number of hostas is introduced every year in North America and, while some never make it across to this side of the Atlantic, of those that do many are introduced to us for the first time by Bali-Hai Nursery in Northern Ireland. In the current RHS PlantFinder they have, by my count, 126 new hostas...
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