If you could only bring 10

[thy]

... hostas with you. Wich ones would you pick ?

We haven't played this game for years and there a lot of new members who may have fun and can use the lists

I would bring
June.. Easy to grow and lovely specially in the shade
Kiwi Full Monthy, just love this blue Striptease - easy
Blue Mouse Ears, easy and just too cute
Regal Splendor or, new this year so can't say yet- Regal Supreme, love the case shape - easy
Spilt Milk
Dancing Queen... love those ripples
Deep Blue sea.. an other darker blue and cupped
Queen of the Seas
Sagae or maybe liberty
Plus the private
A very nive yellow streaker, grown from Hallson auktion seeds

Pia... who would try to sneak in a tiny bit of Emerald Ruff Cut and

[kaylyred]

Oh, boy. Well...I have less than 50 varieties, so you may have to take my list with a grain of salt since I don't have experience growing a huge variety of hostas and many of them have only grown a year or two. Maybe I'll just pick 5 for now and say that the jury is still out on the rest.

Regal Splendor - Gorgeous vase shape, strong grower, one of my favorites.
Twilight - I think this hosta is underrated. Love the spring colors in shade--contrasting deep green and lemony yellow.
Krossa Regal - It's an "oldie but goodie" for a reason. Love the shape, the blue-green coloring, and how well it grows.
June - One of the prettiest hostas, bar none.
Wolverine - Of the more unusual hosta varieties, I love the coloring of Wolverine and mine grows well. Pips are coming up as I write this!

[ViolaAnn]

'Allegan Fog' - love the misty leaves
'Alligator Shoes' - growing like gangbusters and turning into a magnificent plant
'Blue Wedgwood' - my favourite blue
'Fortunei Aureomarginata' - and old variety. Lovely in maturity.
'Jewel of the Nile' - no leaf the same. Lovely.
'June' - a real favourite. Looks different in different lights.
'Kifukurin Ko Mame' - a favourite mini - a fast growing, wonderful edger.
'Liberty' - had the potential to be a magnificent centrepoint in the garden.
'Regal Splendor' - another lovely vase-shaped plant.
'Summer Breeze' - a real bright light in the garden with the wide yellow margins.

Here are pics of the first 5.

'Allegan Fog'

'Alligator Shoes'

'Blue Wedgwood'

'Fortunei Aureomarginata'

'Jewel of the Nile'

[ViolaAnn]

The next 5 - 'June' , 'Kifukurin Ko Mame', 'Liberty', 'Regal Splendor', 'Summer Breeze'

If you asked me tomorrow, or more specifically, after they unfurl this year, I might have a different answer.

'June'

'Kifukurin Ko Mame'

'Liberty' - 2nd year in my garden. Flower scapes were so long I had to stake them.

'Regal Splendor'

'Summer Breeze'

[vawildflower]

I would have to agree with a few

June
Alligator shoes
Brother Stephan
Jack of Diamonds
Holy mole
Jewel of the Nile
Squash Casserole
Phantom
Key Lime Pie
Tutu

Wild

[largosmom]

I'll play!

Sagae
June
Nigrescens
Blue Mouse Ears
Spilt Milk
Plantaginea
Red Cadet
Niagara Falls
Sum and Substance
Lemon Lime

[party_music50]

For planning purposes, eh?... the 10 in my small gardens that come to mind first are:

Elegans
Plantagenia
Montana aureomarginata
Regal Splendor
Sun Power
June
Lakeside Dragonfly
Ginko Craig
Blue Mouse Ears (It FINALLY looked great last year!)
and the 10th will be a last-minute decision. lol!

[Schattenfreude]

Hi all,

Here's my top-10 list:

• June
• Halcyon
• montana Aureomarginata
• Sum and Substance
• Polar Moon
• Sagae or Liberty
• Hoosier Dome
• Wolverine
• Earth Angel
• tokudama Aueronebulosa

Golly, that wasn't very easy. Can't we take 20, Pia???

Kevin

[isadora]

Well now.

If I were compiling a list for a first garden, It would have to be:
Halcyon
Groundmaster
Liberty
Regal Splendor
Sun Power
Fujibotan
Montana Aureomarginata
Plantaganea
Blue Angel
Kabitan

But I have grown those for years. Today, if I had to choose, my favorite 10 might look like this:
Journey's End
War Paint
Funky Monkey'
Dancing Queen
Queen of the Seas
Fujibotan (not giving up those double flowers!)
Plantaganea (or those white fragrant ones either)
June
Blue Hawaii
Earth Angel

And if everything grows well, in 5 years my must have list might include these:

Astral Bliss
Witch's Brew
Grey Ghost
Childhood Fantasy
Clovelly
Devil's Advocate
Empress Wu
Dragon Fire
Tobacco Road
Gilt By Association

Of course, who am I kidding.......I could never pare down my list to 10. Maybe if I had to move to some distant planet and I could only take ten on the spaceship with me, then. But it would have to be ten carefully selected breeders, lol!

[Linda P]

Pia, it must be true that great minds think alike. I was just thinking a few days ago that we hadn't done this in a while!
I will have to think some more about my list. It's been such a long winter that I barely remember what they look like....
Isadora, what a sneaky way to list more than ten!

Linda P

[largosmom]

Isadora, your "future 10" list has a couple that are impressing me as well and may move up.

Dragon Fire
Gilt by Association
Clovely are all doing very well for me and were new to me last year.

Dragon Fire is really looking good this year.

Laura

[viktoria]

For someone starting from scratch:

Sagae
June
Niagara Falls
montana Aureomarginata
Patriot
Blue Mouse Ears
Striptease
Blue Angel
Moonlight Sonata
Maui Buttercups

In other words: include small, medium, large and giganteous (); edge-variegated, center-variegated; green, blue, yellow; and fragrant-flowered.

For myself, in random order:

Sagae
Pandora's Box
Tom Schmid
June
Striptease
Moonlight Sonata
Niagara Falls
Blue Mouse Ears
Glen Eyeful Tower
Blaze of Glory

That's today. Tomorrow is another day.

Happy Easter!

Viktoria

[ViolaAnn]

Was I out of line posting pics of all mine? I'd LOVE to see pics from some of YOUR lists. But if you'd rather not have the pics, I'll go back and remove mine.

Interesting lists above and I love how some of you have gotten around the number 10!

Ann

[viktoria]

It is great that you posted pics! I cannot (temporarily, I hope) because of computer problems.

Viktoria

[Marlys]

Viola Ann - pictures are wonderful! I just can't quite figure out how to post then here lately.

Viktoria - I was reviewing the list and I thought how could any hosta garden be complete without H 'Blue Angel' and then it was on your list.

There are so many great hostas these days, it is difficult to choose favorites:

Pandora's Box
Halcyon
June
Elegans
Blue Angel
Ann Kulpa
Kiwi Full Monty
Jimmy Mac Black
Fair Maiden
Simply Sharon
________________

Gaurdian Angel
Northern Exposure
Great Expectation
Golden Meadows
Golden Teacup
Gold Standard
Lakeside Shoremaster (St. Paul)
Warwick Comet
Clifford's Polar Moon
Clifford's Stingray
___________________

Rascal
Savannah Supreme
Brother Stefan
Blue Umbrella
Big Daddy
Leading Lady
Golden Sculpture
Sally & Bob
Laura & Darrell
Old Glory
__________________

I'll stop!
Oh, I forgot my other favoirte:
Yellow Boa!!!
Elvis Lives
Little Wonder
Mini Haha
Cherish, Hope
Royal Tiara
Fragrant Bouquet (Fragrant Dream)
Francee
Norwalk Chartreuse
Gold Standard
________________________________

[Pieter]

How many lists of 10 favourites from one person are you looking for, Pia?

Mine are:

'June'
'Fortunei Hyacinthina'
'Blue Mouse Ears'
'Guacamole'
'Ray of Hope'
'Sea Octopus'
'Liberty'
'Striptease'
'Fire Island'
'Dawn's Early Light'

[gesila9]

Oh, how much fun, this is my first time playing. Here's my list:

Blue Hawaii - I call this one my hosta on steroids. Big, beautiful blue, vase-like shape, I could go on forever.
Key West - The bright gold color and the vase-like shape meets the 10 ft rule. It stands out in the garden when I look out the window.
Fried Bananas - great color and I can grow it in the sun
Empress Wu - anticipation of seeing how large it will get
Striptease - It's the one my DH picked out (have to keep my enabler happy).
Teaspoon - The cupped leaves and texture keep this one on my list.
Sagae or Liberty - had to have because of everyone's pictures. I hope mine looks as beautiful in my garden as it does in everyone's pictures
Blueberry Muffin - I'm a red petiole collector, but finding one with blue leaves is an extra bonus.
First Frost - because when there aren't many hostas left standing, this one still looks great
Marilyn Monroe - Well, if you can only have 10, you need to have at least one ruffled edged hosta. The white backs and red petioles make this the perfect hosta to put in a pot.

[thy]

Soneone once told us to pick 5. It was not only difficult- it was impossible.

ViolaAnn… how great with the pics, wish I had more pics

Tutu, didn’t know it- but it is very nice indeed

Isadora, very elegant way to cheat, but you have to give a reason for choosing Groundmaster and Kabitan for a first time garden.
Tobacco Road ? Please tell

LindaP We may have to do it one day without the oldies are goodies. Like the spaceship thing. They have h. June ect and you can get them if you take good care of your hostas and share them with others

Marlys Not even a reason for cheating Not even a very lousy excuse ´. You have to do better and you can start with telling us about Jimmy Mac Black if it is a hosta

H.Blueberry Muffin is lovely, thanks for tempting me

[Mark_IL]

Pia, What a great thread! Thanks for posting. I've stopped at 10, but going through my list alphabetically, I ran out at the letter L.
Brother Stephan
Cathedral Windows
Cherish
Dawn's Early Light
Deep Blue Sea
Earth Angel
First Frost
Great Expectations
Journey's End
Liberty

I'll have a great time checking out photos of everyone's listed 10 while impatiently waiting for real Spring to finally arrive.

Mark

[isadora]

I love Groundmaster for the bright white, wide edges in the summer. Better than Albomarginata. It's an old hosta but an attention getter, everybody says "Wow, what hosta is THAT?" http://www.hostaparadise.com/ground-mas ... tails.aspx

Kabitan for a ground cover under some of the bigger hostas, and it increases well so I can spread it around. I"d want it for my first hosta garden so I will have it for the future. Its bright gold is a great contrast to the blues. Right now I have it under Abiqua Drinking Gourd.

As for Tobacco Road, it's new.......http://www.shadyoaks.com/GeneratedItems ... osta8.html The only picture I could find. What can I say...it inspired plant lust in me and I ordered it from Jim's Hostas this spring.