Hidden
Lake Gardens is a facility operated by
Michigan State
University. It is located in Tipton, Michigan about 80 miles
from the main campus in East Lansing.
In 1989, the Michigan Hosta Society began planting hostas on a former
rock garden site at Hidden Lake Gardens. Since that time, the collection
has grown to over 600 named (and labeled) cultivars and species hostas.
All the plants have been donated by members of the society.
At the autumn work day in 1995, the garden was formally dedicated as the
Ralph H. (Herb) and Dorothy Benedict Hosta Hillside. The Benedicts from
rural Hillsdale County, Michigan were instrumental in establishing
hostas as a landscape genus and were responsible for introduction of
many, many new cultivars. Herb is credited with giving hosta the name of
"The Friendship Plant" which he exemplified by giving away his plants to
many, many friends and fellow hostaphiles.
