DVHS and TriState joint gathering - my new goodies!

[caliloo]

Hey all

I had a fantastic time at the joint meeting of Del Val Hosta Society and Tri-State Hosta Society yesterday. Yes, it was REALLY hot but the lovely shade at the Cullerton's made the whole afternoon very enjoyable.

There were a few familiar faces from the Hallson's family (Tigger, Bengal), several people that I had not seen in a while, and I met some really great people for the very first time.

The auction was great and lots of people went home with new plants.

I am THRILLED with my purchases, not just because they ARE great plants, but I had a chance to meet Art Wrede who is the hybridizer and learned some great info from him and from Warren Pollack. What a treat is it to be able to talk to the legends of the hosta world!

Anyway - here are the ones I came home with -

Miss Linda Smith - Art spent considerable time talking this one up. In his opinion it is one of the best he has ever hybridized. The petioles and scape are so dark and purple, they almost look black.



Candy Dish - THis one is OS from the original plant that is growing at Alex Summers garden. I didn't realize Mr Summers is still alive (in his mid-90's) and is still involved with hybridizing and evaluation of plants that he and Art Wrede are developing.


My NOID from the auction. It was mismarked, so I got it at the end of the day as a last minute bargain. If anyone has any guesses (Wide Brim and Brim Cup were guesses from some of the people I talked to) I am open to suggestions!


THanks for looking

Alexa

[Spider]

Love the ripples!

[Chris_W]

I'm not sure about your NoID, but Wide Brim doesn't really come to mind when I see it. Give it a season in the ground and revisit it next year and maybe we'll be able to help with it.

Your Candy Dish is looking good. Picked that one up at Hosta College in March and it is starting to bloom now, so I'm happy that it is growing. Usually I kill plants that I buy at Hosta College

Enjoy your new babies

Chris

[fenceberry]

Candy Dish looks yummy!

[LucyGoose]

Oh yes...love that Candy Dish also!!!

Glad you had fun.....and meet some people...I love doing that!!

[DBoweMD]

I'm pretty sure your NOID is Brim Cup.
Wish I could have been there!
I got Miss Ruby this year, but do not have Miss Linda Smith yet. I'm interested to see that Bengal made the decision to go for the Hostas this weekend.

[Tigger]

Good to see you and Bengal there.

We came home with a Miss Ruby (also an Art Wrede plant) and Ocean Isle (a Dave Chopko plant; Dave was one of the auctioneers). Yeah, I could have bought it from Chris...

Always some nice plants to see at the Cullerton garden. Interesting to see it now, two years after the convention.

[bengal]

Yes, indeed, I was there....and a great time was had by all. I missed the Russell's thing cause I got lost. Which is pretty sad, seeing as how I've lived in this county since the late '80s.

The rest of the day was fabulous. I saw only a fraction of the Cullerton's garden. First off, I am a gawker, and I have to look at everything. Second, there was all the chit chat....exchanging pleasantries with people one has just met. Or even better, having interesting discussions with people one doesn't know....like my little "lecture" on growing minis directly in the ground. I thought it was most informative. Of course, what I didn't know was that the person I was talking with was Warren Pollock.



Then there was all the tasty food. A really wonderful spread, under the trees, with a nice breeze and a beautiful shade garden all around. There was so much delicious stuff to try that I never got around to eating my actual lunch.

And the auction! I did have time to eyeball a few things before it started. I was totally smitten with the Wrede plants, and I dearly wanted at least three of them. That was not to be, alas, as I'd managed to absent-mindedly leave my checkbook on the kitchen table.

I had enough money in my wallet to maybe (huge maybe) win one of the Wrede plants I wanted. It was quite the toss-up....Smokey or Mr Blue? Candy Dish had to be out of the running, seeing as how Alexa told me she wanted that one. D...n it!

It became a game theory thing....I had so little cash that I figured I'd better bid on the first one that came up that I really liked. Otherwise, if I lost out on the second one, that'd be it....no more chances.

So I bid on and won Smokey OS. It's a lovely hosta IMO. I'm so sorry I couldn't get Mr. Blue as well. Maybe next time!

Oh and the Cullertons were wonderful hosts.

BTW, Dave, I made up for it the next day....went back to the same AHS display garden I'd visited the week before, to see what new daylilies were in bloom. Despite the fact that I'd just been there, it still took me five and a half hours to look around.