Probably
the first "Series" of hostas was created by hosta pioneer
Mildred
Seaver. She named 66 of her introductions with the first
name "Sea" as in 'Sea Lotus Leaf'.
Many originators
have followed suit in using a key identifying word or phrase
i.e. moniker, for
their hosta introductions. Some series have only a few cultivars while
others such as the 'Lakeside' series of
Mary Chastain
or the "Valley's"
series by
Jeroen Linneman of the Netherlands include
over 200 hostas.
While
most series
are unique to a single originator, a few
series names may be used for the occasional cultivar
from another hybridizer/originator. For example, the
American
Series from
Van
Wade includes a large number of hostas but there are several
other plants with "American" in their name
which originated elsewhere. In our series lists, we have tried to include only the names from a single originator who
started the series. At times, we have two options, one for the series and one for all
other hostas that contain that particular word in the
name.
A few series are defined by a
particular topic. For instance, the
Dinosaur Series is from one
originator who named the hostas after specific dinosaurs. The
Gunsmoke Series
includes names from that long-running television show.
As of early 2023, we have 144 hosta
series listed ranging from 2 cultivars to 252. |