Mark Zilis is an internationally known expert on plants in the genus, Hosta. He was a pioneer in the process of tissue culture propagation of hostas at his former nursery (Q&Z Nursery) in Illinois. Mark received an MS in horticulture from the University of Illinois and has travelled extensively in Japan in search of new hostas. For nearly 40 years, he has been involved in all aspects of hosta culture, propagation and science.

In 2009, Zilis published what is still the most extensive tome about hostas. It is 1,125 pages in length and contains descriptions of over 7,400 species and cultivars. In almost all cases, Mark has personally observed and taken notes on each hosta over the decades in many gardens in many countries.

This highly detailed reference includes cultivar names, hybridizers and originators names, history, status of availability and descriptions of the individual plant's size, color, growth habit, etc. It also contains plenty of first hand observations and opinions by the author.

This book is a must for the library of any serious hostaphile!