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Although
there are many design criteria that are used
in the development of a landscape plans,
hostas commonly contribute in about three
ways. The primary design criteria would be
clump size followed by leaf color traits
with clump texture being another
consideration. |
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For many, but
not all,
National Conventions of
The American Hosta Society, the host
organization commissioned the development of
a new cultivar to commemorate the event. A
specimen of this hosta was presented to
every attendee at the convention. |
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In 1996, the
American Hosta
Growers Association initiated the Hosta
of the Year promotion. Each year, an
outstanding hosta cultivar is named and
promoted by the members of the group.
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Each year
since 2006, a group of trained judges within
The American Hosta Society have selected
certain cultivars of hosta to be honored
with The Benedict Garden Performance Award
of Merit. These judges from across the
country choose outstanding hostas that are
known to do well in home gardens in their
region. They place the top plants in two
categories as either an Honorable Mention or
an Award of Merit.
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In 2009,
Mark Zilis published the most
comprehensive book on the genus to date
titled, The Hostapedia.
We have sifted through the pages and pulled
out many of the most highly praised,
outstanding hostas according to Mark Zilis'
opinion. We call each plant a "Mark
Zilis All-Star". |
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In 2009,
Mark Zilis published the most
comprehensive book on the genus to date
titled, The Hostapedia. Mark
occasionally found some problems with
certain hostas which warranted a negative
review. We have called these losers a "Mark
Zilis NO-Star".
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This is the
situation where the same plant has
been known by the different names.
Sometimes a plant has been renamed by the
originator or mistakenly listed in
references or catalogs.
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In this case,
different plants have the same
name. This usually occurs because two or
more originators are unaware that the
other(s) have given the same name to their
cultivar(s). If one of the plants is
registered with The American Hosta Society,
it becomes the "official" plant of that name
and the others should be renamed to avoid
confusion. |
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In the early
days of interest in hostas, certain
"pioneers" received divisions of new plants
directly from Japan or from hybridizers in
the U.S. or Europe. In several cases, these
as yet unnamed plants were given
identification numbers by the recipients.
Some of these plants were given to others
under those numbered names. Eventually,
these plants were given actual cultivar
names which caused some confusion. We have
lists of these numbered names along with the
currently correct cultivar name for that
plant. |
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Certain
hostas have been around for a long time and
were significant in establishing the genus
as the outstanding landscape plant it is
today. Some of them have been parent plants
to many top cultivars while others represent
significant breakthroughs in leaf colors,
flowers, size or other characteristics. |
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Many
originators have chosen to use a certain
word or phrase in the name of all of their
introductions as a type of "brandname". We
call them a Name Series and they range in
size from several hundred as in the
"Lakeside" series to others that contain
only a few cultivars. |
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