Welcome to the 2026 American Hosta Society’s Online Auction. Proceeds from the auction help to support the AHS member publication The Hosta Journal.
After a few speedbumps in the 2025 event, which nevertheless raised over $6,000 for the AHS, the management team decided to look for software that gave buyers more flexibility and features. We are pleased to announce that this year’s event will be hosted on a new platform called Auctria.
There will be some significant changes to the format. Read on for details.
One Auction with Staggered Ending Times and Extended Bidding
All our lots will appear in the same auction with ending times beginning on Saturday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Each lot will end 1 minute after it’s preceding lot. If there are competing bids during the last minute, the lot is extended for 2 more minutes, up to a maximum of 10 minutes past the announced closing time.
Early Preview and Registration
On Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 12:00 noon EST, a link will be added to the AHS website that will lead you to the auction page. You’ll be able to browse through all of the donated lots and do your early registration.
When you first click the link for the auction a Welcome screen will appear. To skip registration and just take a look around, press the Auction Bidding bar. When you are ready to register, follow these steps:
- On the top menu bar press Register. Now fill out the form as completely as possible. Your username will be your email address. Be sure to fill in your cell phone number if you’d like to receive text messages during the bidding. Press Continue to Account.
- Enter a password on this screen and press Continue to Register Card.
- If you plan to pay for your wins with a credit card you may enter it now on this screen or press Skip this Step to continue. No credit card information is required for you to register, and ultimately at check-out time after the auction, you’ll be able to choose whether to pay by credit card or check.
There is an optional box on this form that will increase your payment slightly to cover the charge to AHS for using the card.
- On the final form, review your information, enter an optional comment (like “I’ll pay with a check”) and be sure to check the box “I agree to the standard terms of use”. Then press Complete Registration.
- Two emails will arrive shortly thereafter for you to confirm the registration. Ignore the first one and wait for the second, which can take a couple of minutes. It will have a link that says, “Confirm Your Email Registration”. Press that and you will now be ready to sign in and bid.
Going Live
On Saturday, January 31, 2026 the bidding will begin. Auctria supports proxy bidding, which means you can enter your highest bid initially and only an incremental amount will be submitted. Then if you are outbid by another participant, Auctria will increase the bid up to your maximum. Remember that a proxy bid has priority in the order of entry, so it is often a good strategy.
During the bidding you will be notified by email and/or text confirming your bid, and if someone outbids you there is also a notification. Bear in mind, new lots might be added during the bidding process – be sure to check occasionally.
On Saturday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. EST, the lots will start ending. If there is no activity in the last minute the lot will end at the published time, but if there is activity then the ending time increments by 2 minutes – up to a maximum extension of 10 minutes past the published ending time.
End of Auction and Checkout
As the lots end, your wins will be tallied into one account. When the auction is over, or when you have finished bidding, please go to My Account and complete the credit card transaction. If you plan to send a check, please mail it to:
Barry Ankney
AHS Auction
Po Box 7407
Ville Park, IL 60181-7407
The AHS auction administrator will provide the item donor with the winning bidder’s name and address for shipping. If there are any problems the auction administrator will coordinate the communication between the donor and the winner.
ADDING an item (plant or otherwise) will be done by the Auction Administrator. You will not be able to submit an item yourself due to changes in the software being used. To donate an item, send an email to Barry Ankney at ahsonlineauction@gmail.com. Entitle ALL correspondence “AHS Online Auction” in the subject bar to ensure that your mail does not get lost in the spam! Include a title and brief paragraph describing your donation. Check out this model for ideas.
Plant name (hybridizer, year or NR) description stating general clump shape and size, leaf, and any history or outstanding characteristics making it something to be coveted; amount or size of the division to be sent; when able to send; any terms (if any).
Example:
H. ‘My Prize’ (Dean, NR – pending) This compact, vase shaped mounding plant has both gold and gray-green streaks on an intense blue, round, puckered leaf. This makes a small to medium, vigorous grower. Easily fertile with an incredible pedigree [(Dorset Clown) x Sun Power] x Salute! Imagine the next generation! A mature OS division will be sent. Fall or spring delivery is available.
PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES are crucial for most of this type of plant to gain the attention they warrant. Take one and send it along with your commitment to donate a plant. We can work with digital images, preferably jpg format, sent via Email.
Barry Ankney
AHS On-line Auction Coordinator
ahsonlineauction@gmail.com
All plants you have enjoyed will probably strike a spark of interest in someone else’s mind. Highly coveted, rare, hard to find, good breeding stock, and new breeders from your breeding program are being sought. Originator stock of plants often bring a good bid. Consider collections of plants with a theme: ‘Moon,’ ‘Tiaras,’ gold centered, from a particular hybridizer, plants which you think make a good group planting, etc.
Donor portion of auction rules:
DONATIONS …Donations will be accepted up to 72 hours prior to the close of auction. Donations may be added to the items available list throughout the duration of the auction. Bidders will need to keep visiting the site for the latest listings.
DONORS … Donors are responsible for shipping the plant (contiguous states, USA addresses only) or delivering the plant to the next hosta society event at which both donor and high bidder will be present. This is to be arranged and agreeable by both parties.
Anything other than USA-to-USA delivery must be clearly noted in the item description, and unless clearly stated will be the responsibility of the winning bidder. This includes the cost of phytosanitary certificates for international shipment, as well as higher shipping costs.