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Jon Soucek’s love of
hostas was extremely strong,
but that wasn’t always the case. Around 1994, Jon and his
daughter,
Rachel, began collecting hostas. They were introduced to the
well-known
daylily and hosta hybridizer, Steve Moldovan, through a local garden
center,
and the rest was history. Rachel began hybridizing hostas,
while Jon
hybridized daylilies. In 1996, he moved to Avon, Ohio, and his first
thought upon
viewing the property was to name it Angelica Gardens. Then commenced
the
establishment of an extensive garden, filled with daylilies and hostas.
Jon
first became acquainted with hosta through Peter Ruh, Van Wade, Bob
Kuk, and
Moldovan, with whom he had many long discussions concerning the
friendship
plant. He soon abandoned hybridizing daylilies and began hybridizing
hosta with
Rachel. A widely varied planting of hostas was initiated.
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One of
the first
hosta developed by Jon and Rachel
was named Hosta ‘Steve Moldovan’,
in
honor of their longtime friend. It is a large blue plant, with large
oval
crinkled leaves.
Jon was
instrumental in founding, forming, and being president of North Coast
Hosta
Society of Ohio, but his love for hosta didn’t stop there. He was a
certified
judge, and he would travel on weekends to Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio,
to judge
at various hosta shows. Jon was past president of the Great Lakes
Region of the
American Hosta Society and was heavily involved with Hosta College. He
was also
instrumental in helping to form the newly developed Hosta Tailgate
event in
this region.
In 2005, Jon was
instrumental in bringing three
local hosta societies together for a single purpose. As a result of
Jon’s
efforts, the North Coast Hosta Society, the Midland Hosta Society, and
the
Central Ohio Hosta Society formed a group that was able to organize the
highly
successful American Hosta Society National Convention, “Hosta
Heartland,” in
Cleveland, Ohio. Angelica Gardens was one of the featured gardens on
the
convention tours.
Jon was also a
member of the American Conifer
Association and his gardens contained a vast array of unusual conifers
among
the hostas and statuary in the beautiful Angelica Gardens.
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