President's Message

As our friend Willie sang, “On the road again.....” It seems that only yesterday Mardy and I were walking the absolutely wonderful gardens of Nashville. Convention co-chairs, Cornelia Holland and Virginia Gregory-Kocaj, and the Middle Tennessee Hosta Society really put on a superb display of southern hospitality and tranquility which over 400 attendees enjoyed.

“Out on the road again.....” The Great Lakes Region sponsored a 'Tailgate Convention' near Grand Rapids, Michigan. An auction, garden tours (reached by cars), and a wonderful cookout were all included. Did I mention that you could sell/vend out of your trunk if you were so inclined!? Thanks, GLR, Bob Sinke, and his whole crew! A great time was had by all. I understand that they already have locations lined up for the next three years!!!

“Back on the road again.....” Mardy and I just got back home from the Midwest Regional. We had a wonderful time in Rochester, Minnesota renewing friendships, enjoying gardens, buying a few plants, and taking in an entertaining auction. Cindy Tomashek and her Shades of Green crew headed this one up, and it was nothing short of primo.

On another note, we have two new Vice Presidents at the national level. VP of Publications is Barb Schroeder out there in southern Illinois. VP of Membership Services is Mary Ann Metz - another Illinois gal. Both bring energy, excitement, and enthusiasm to their new roles. Welcome to them and thanks for joining the national level of AHS leadership!

I could write columns about the heat this year. Suffice it to say don't forget to water the hosta… Not for this year - but for next year!

          Later, Doug                                                                         Contact Doug Beilstein

The American Hosta Society (AHS) is a society dedicated to the study, education and development of the Genus Hosta and the dissemination of general and scientific knowledge about them. There are many benefits for our members that result from these efforts, both social and in nursery trade. 

To promote the AHS and your local club, the AHS is doing an inventory reduction of issues of The Hosta Journal. The AHS will send boxes of past journals to interested local societies at no charge. All we ask is that you promote the AHS and your LOCAL by sharing these journals with both new members and non-members. 

If your society is interested in one mixed box (or more) of these great journals to use as publicity for the AHS and your society, please email me with your society name and the name and address where we are to ship the box(es). There is no charge for this promotion.

We plan to be able to ship this fall. There will be approximately 30-36 past issues in each box. We have a limited supply, so send that email early!

We hope you will take advantage of this free offer provided by the AHS for the benefit of all.

      Barb                                                                     Contact Barb Schroeder

It is important to keep the AHS Membership Secretary informed of changes in your contact information. If you do not receive AHS mailings due to an unreported change of address, a $6.00 payment is required to cover the cost of shipping and handling for the replacement issue. Please send address changes to the Membership Secretary as promptly as possible.

Individuals who travel between summer and winter homes should advise the Membership Secretary of their change of address approximately 6 weeks in advance.

All AHS Memberships run from January 1 through December 31 regardless of when an individual joins or renews. The year of your membership expiration immediately follows your name on the mailing sheet which accompanies each mailing you receive from the AHS. The second Journal mailing of each year (due out in late summer/early fall) is always accompanied by a renewal form. It is important to renew in a timely manner in order to avoid the $5.00 late fee which MUST be applied to all renewals mailed or entered online after January 15 of each calendar year. 

AHS Memberships make great gifts for your gardening friends - or great door prizes for your local club events!

The current AHS sponsored Hosta Virus X (HVX) research project with Dr. Ben Lockhart at the University of Minnesota is now in full swing. Another instance of HVX infection via soil transmission has been confirmed this spring.

Please do not plant another hosta in the same spot where an HVX infected plant has been removed.

A number of perennials (including arisaema, cimicifuga, hakonechloa, heuchera, hemerocallis, polygonatum, trillium and tricyrtis) have been inoculated with HVX and will be tested periodically for the presence of HVX. At issue here is whether HVX is truly hosta specific or not.

Thirteen different HVX isolates have now been identified with each producing different types of symptoms on the same cultivar. This helps explain why HVX does not always appear as the classic “ink blot” pattern starting at a leaf vein as seen in this picture of H. 'Sum and Substance'.

     Rob                      Contact Rob Mortko

Judging and Exhibitions

For those of you that missed the convention in Nashville, you missed a great example of Southern hospitality. It only rained at night while we were inside, and we were treated to some very nice gardens. The leaf show had almost 600 entries and the leaf quality was what you would expect from a national show.

We had a lively Clinic III at the show, and I thought I would report on some of the discussion:

First, something that came up in relation to three shows this year. Is it proper or allowed for someone to bring and enter leaves for another person? We had shows where entrants showed up with leaves brought from people who could not come to the show. Since this is not directly addressed in the Judge’s Handbook, I made the decision to leave this up to the show chair. The second item up for discussion was whether or not entries should be entered under two names (i.e., Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Both items led to long discussions, with arguments on both sides of the issue. Ultimately, it was decided that if either circumstance was a problem for societies holding shows that: A) it should be addressed in the show schedule, and B) if not addressed in the show schedule, then it should still be up to the show chair.

Another discussion item was whether or not to do away with the “Best of Show”award. Because smaller leaves seem to win more often than larger leaves, why not call each section winner the “Best of Show” in that size range? We took a straw poll of those judges present, and to my surprise, the overwhelming majority voted to do away with the “Best of Show” award. I would like to hear your feedback on this subject.

At the leaf show, we used the stamp which puts the length and width of the cultivar on the entry tag. Overwhelmingly, the judges thought it helped to speed up the judging process and to help make the entries better. Entrants seemed to pay more attention to the size of the leaves they were entering. Any club wishing to use the stamp should let me know, and I will mail it out for their use.

We seem to be catching up to errors on the classification list. We only found three at the national show. So please keep up the good work. If you find errors, take the time to report them to Judy Burns. She can correct them only if you report them.

Lastly, everyone needs to read their current Judge’s Handbook. Updates were set with the last Judge’s Corner and the handbook on the AHS website has been brought up to date.

Thanks, keep judging!

                Chuck                                                                                  Contact Chuck Zdeb

A website with more information is being created, and exact times and schedules will be posted at a later date.

The registration fee for this convention is only $139 per attendee. All of the activities will take place at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel, 375 S. Moorland Rd., Brookfield, WI 53005. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at (262) 364-1010. The hotel rate is $105 per night which includes a hot buffet breakfast.

Issue 43.2 of The Hosta Journal is in the late stages of preparation, and we hope to have it in the mail in August. This issue contains the 2011 Popularity Poll and the winning photos from our annual photo contest.

It also features some of the current hot items in the Hosta Society - like miniature hostas - in addition to the latest recommendations on how to prevent Hosta Virus X from spreading throughout your garden.

There are more articles on a variety of subjects and from an array of authors. I think you will like it.

It is the mission of The Hosta Journal to present the topics of interest to the membership, but sometimes it is hard to figure out what you would like to read about and discuss. Both Don Dean and I are open to suggestions and welcome questions and criticism. (We like praise, but usually get more useful information from criticism.) So please tell us what you like and what you don’t like in each issue - and what you’d like to see in future edition.

Don Dean,
Editor, The Online Journal

The Online Journal

The Online Journal team is in full swing working to create its third issue of The Online Journal. There have been a few unexpected changes since the last issue, but much of what our members have come to expect from this team - primarily the quality - will remain unchanged.

Three members of the original team have left to pursue other interests and address other needs. An immense expression of gratitude is extended to Carol Brashear, Ken Harris, and Bill Meyer for all of the countless hours devoted toward making the first two issues a great success and helping to develop the format that provides a map for new team members to follow.

Three new members have joined the team. Rick Schroeder has stepped into the role of photo editor with support from Joanna Kovalcsik. Floyd Rogers has accepted the role of page formatting and technology that positions all of the information into the pages that all of our readers enjoy.

Readers will notice a shift to the primary focus of the year’s annual AHS convention with a few select articles from the many categories previously provided. Each issue will begin to look more like the length and breadth of the more familiar print version as number three of each year’s volume. The online format still allows us the ability to handle longer articles and extensive photography along with links to active websites, etc.

Happy gardening on behalf of the OLJ Team,

The American Hosta Society (AHS) is a society dedicated to the study and improvement of the genus Hosta, and the dissemination of general and scientific knowledge about them.  There are many benefits for the members that result from these efforts - both social and in nursery trade.  AHS members receive several publications a year including two colorful issues of The Hosta Journal (mailed), four E-Newsletters (emailed), The Online Journal (posted on the AHS website for AHS members only).  All of these publications offer articles on cultivation tips, propagation techniques, landscape uses, new cultivars and old species, pioneers and personalities, scientific advances, convention awards and gardens, and news about the AHS.

Another benefit of becoming a new member is that you receive a voucher from the AHS Membership Secretary good for $15.00 towards any purchase at sponsoring nurseries.

To learn more, go to  http://www.americanhostasociety.org/ahsvoucherprogram.html.

To join the AHS online, go to http://www.americanhostasociety.org/ZenCart/index.php, or print the membership application and mail to the Membership Secretary listed.