Hostas on "bad" list

[bkay2000]

I read the list of hosta you shouldn't buy because of the large percentage of HVX infected plants. However, Hallson's sells some of those varieties, as do other hosta vendors.

I really like So Sweet. It is highly recommended for my area, it's really pretty, but it's on the list. I love Sum and Substance, but it's on the list and I probably have an infected plant that I bought at Lowe's. I would like to replace it, because it does well here. Guacomole is beautiful, but it's on list 2. Gold Standard is on the bad list, but is really easy to grow everywhere.

Where do you draw the line? I've heard one line is the big box store and anything in a box. However, would you really boycott all those listed hosta from all vendors?

When you live in Texas, you have to choose the easy to grow, proven varieties. Most all our trial gardens have tested older varieties, so those are the ones we know do well here.

So, the question is - where do you draw the line?

Bkay

[Tigger]

This isn't as scary as it might be. The lines are easy to draw.

Buy from reputable mail-order vendors like Chris. Their website should have some information about HVX, and what they do to combat it. (Chris has his DVD listed right on the home page of his site.)

Buy from reputable local merchants. This pretty much excludes all the "big box" store nursery departments. (do you really want to buy perennials from a place that sells plumbing and wall paint?) You should be able to ask someone in their perennials area what they know about "the hosta virus." If you don't get a satisfying answer, ask them if their supervisor can help you. If you don't get a satisfying answer, don't buy, or buy with extreme caution. (You can get more granular if you are suspicious about a particular plant, by finding out which plants came from which vendors.)

The reality is that the "bad" list is essentially outdated. Any popular hosta has a chance of being infected, including new hostas just being grown on from tissue culture. Reputable dealers know this, and take precautions.

Happy shopping!

David

[bkay2000]

So the question remains, who is reliable, besides Chris and how do you know?

Actually, very few nurseries here carry hosta. There's one and it's really pricey ($20. to $30 per plant). You see a few potted ones at Home Depot and Lowe's and boxed ones at Sam's, but independent nurseries seldom carrry hosta. The ones at Home Depot usually have names like undulata, albomarginata or aureomarginata, but not usually real named plants. Lowe's has a few, but not many of any sort and then just in the spring. Sam's are mixed in with the boxes of clematis and dalias.

Thanks for your response.

bkay

[Tigger]

I can understand how that would be tough when you're zone pushing on hostas down in TX.

The Garden Watchdog has some ratings of sellers. There used to be more hosta specialists in the top bracket, but Chris is still there! http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/ On that site, you can also look specifically for hosta vendors. I think the only other folks I've bought hostas from by mail was Plant Delights.

David

[Chris_W]

Hi Bkay,

Tigger is right, the "list" is very outdated, and so many hostas were starting to make that list that after a while it would have included so many it would have been impossible to keep up with.

The good news is that many of the plants on that list are being produced by domestic tissue culture after being virus indexed and found free of HVX. The bad news is that the most common plants, like Golden Tiara, Wide Brim, Blue Cadet, Halcyon, Patriot, and Sum and Substance are also being produced cheaply without regard for the plant health.

Here would be my updated bad list of plants I would avoid from just about anyone selling them:

Golden Tiara, Blue Cadet, Wide Brim - I still see these commonly infected in the big chain stores. It is all about selling the cheapest plants for the cheapest price in huge numbers - that translates into no regard for plant health.

I would absolutely avoid buying ANY hosta in a box or bulk bag. These are infected with virus way too often.

I would be cautious about buying Sum and Substance, Halcyon, Patriot, Minuteman, El Nino, Revolution, Gold Standard, without asking the vendor what steps they take to make sure their plants are HVX free, how do they know for certain, etc. Even come right out and ask if they import any of their plants from Dutch growers. If they are getting bare root, common plants from the Dutch still, I would just avoid those sellers. They are easy to find on the net if you sort of analyze their list. Do they offer some plants in pots and then other, common plants cheaply bare root? Those cheap bare root ones are Dutch imports, or field grown domestically from Dutch stock. These are just as bad as the plants being sold at Lowe's, Sam's, Home Depot, etc.

If you aren't sure, just send an email to the nursery you are interested in. You can often tell from their reply if they are serious about viruses, and like I mentioned, don't be afraid to ask if they buy from Dutch growers or not.

Hope that helps.

Chris

[Kas]

I would only buy from Chris or the Naylor boyz. I just don't know enough about other online nurseries and my favorite local nursery has had virused stock. I point it out and they listen to me about them, but I suspect they still buy from the same supplier. They know me as "the hosta lady". LOL. And heck, let's face it...they never have anything I don't already have, anyway!