Our next speaker was Darren Heimbecker, the creator of Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, Ontario. I had been out to Whistling Gardens in 2011, prior to its official opening in May 2012, and I have to tell you I was impressed back then and can’t wait to go back this summer to see what has evolved since on the 56 acres. 

There are nearly 18 acres that have been cultivated and sculpted into 6 major gardens and collections. All the gardens have been seamlessly connected with nearly 4 km/2.5 miles of walking paths. It is home to the largest public collection of conifers in the world, with over 2,350 species, hybrids, and cultivars on site. Darren zeroed in on trees that would compliment our hosta gardens and would be easy to plant beneath. 

There are over 300 different smaller species of ornamental trees, with interesting bark and foliage colours to have a continuous outdoor focal point in any season. There were spectacular looking slides and a brand new “wish list” for me. We learned that some, such as Golden Hedge Maple are “tough as nails.” Others, like Redbuds, have beautiful leaf colour, and you can plant lots of hosta under them.  

Chinese dogwood also caught my eye. They are 15 to 18 feet tall at maturity and Darren has 43 different cultivars of them, with many different colours. European beeches are particularly slow growers, which appealed to me for a couple of applications in the garden. 

Darren also touched on a variety of shrubs to consider, like Gold Scotch Pine, which are golden yellow six months of the year – good to zone 4B. 

Listening to Darren speak, you just knew that Whistling Gardens is a true labour of love for him.  It showed in his presentation and certainly in his gardens. I can think of no one who knows more about trees or carries more interesting and unusual varieties than he does. 

After a lunch of amazing varieties of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and veggie platters, along with Kevin & Olga Elchuk’s fantastic trays of home baked goods, we heard from Rob Mortko on “Tissue Culture for Dummies – Like Me.” (Yes, like me - but that is also in the title). Rob also serves the American Hosta Society as Vice President Genus Hosta. 

Rob is a retired chemical engineer, who has really put his discipline into his hosta work at his “Shades of Green” in Kansas. There was quite a bit of back and forth going on between our own Dave Barham and Rob during this presentation.  (Two peas-in-a-pod or a birds-of-a-feather thing?) 

I had no idea that orchids were the first TCs done in the 60s. (I’m sure a lot of us didn’t).  

Rob went over the multiplier “factor of 4”, which really blew our minds.  i.e.: Initiation 1 to 2 and then  8, then x 4 = 32 plants.  32 x 4 = 128 plants.  If you root out 120 plants to grow on and get to market you still have 8 plants, which will then equal 32, and so on!!!!! AWESOME!  In 12 months it’s feasible to have 100,000 to a half million plants! WOW! My head was spinning! 

Looking at slides of Rob’s “work space”, you could certainly see a “working lab” in reality. Weigh scales, an autoclave, stirring plate, tubes – it had it all! Very impressive, sterile, and a little bit of a daunting environment, I think, for the neophyte I am. (Forget the auto clave – I’d have to start with the pressure cooker – a little less scary for me). 

Hans Hansen was Rob’s mentor, and I certainly think justice has been done.  In 2000, Rob registered and introduced his first hosta cultivar Hosta ‘Heart and Soul’. There is an amazing line-up in Rob’s creations, including ‘Stitch in Time’. 

Rob’s talk had us all looking at the possibilities of creating and hoping for an early retirement to get it all happening. TC work was clear as a bell now! 

Next, in our very full day, was our panel of experts, which included Wild Thang (Rob Mortko), Johnny "Bee" Goode (Don Dean), and South Western Ontario Hosta Society President, Lynn Bischopp. 

The panel question and answer period was very lively and a lot of fun, as were our silent and live auctions. Mike Shadrack did the honours for the live auction and was a master at it, as usual. We are really looking forward to seeing Mike and Kathy when we visit them this summer on our annual OHS Bus Tour, along with two other special gardens in Western New York.