Pic of the Day--Aqua Velva

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--Since being purchased in 2000 Aqua Velva has become a very solid performer. It may have trouble passing the 10 foot rule but it's still a welcome addition to our garden. It grows in a spot that gets 2-3 hours of mid-day sun. In the first five years its measurements were 36x17, 44x21, 45x27, 50x25, and 52x22. Zilis lists it at 60x26 and Lemke has 36x28. Slugs have not been a problem. The photo is from 2004.

Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.ph ... ua%20Velva
MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Aqua+Velva
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/a/aquavelva.html

[zil1]

*drool* beauty Hank! I love seeing your pictures and especially seeing the measurements from year to year.

Thanks!

[newtohosta-no more]

Yours is a beauty ,Hank. I guess mine is sort of young in the whole scheme of things, but here's a nice pic of it anyway.

[FreakyCola]

Dear Hank, I would like to know a few things about you.

First, does your wife participate in the gardening or just tolerate your obsession?

I'm pretty sure you have a job, so when do you find the time to a. Care for all your hostas
b. measure them
c. take all those gorgeous pictures

I'm really curious as to how you measure them. I spent so much time one year trying to measure them all by myself that it really cut into the care I gave the entire garden that year. And added to that, I also tried counting all the eyes that year, not once, but twice in the spring for each of the 200 or so I had at that time.

One year I printed up a list of each hosta by bed, with a column for last years size, the size Zilis says it can achieve and then this years measurement. That seemed to work out pretty well and increased the ones I got counted. I also had a helper which is the main reason it took less time.

So what are your secrets and don't tell me the gnomes do it!