Product Description

Hostas have come a long way since Thomas Hogg Junior sent his first shipment from Japan to his family’s Manhattan nursery in 1862. They are now consistently voted the gardener’s favorite perennial and it takes merely a glance to understand why. Their clean lines, sumptuous leaves and elegant flowers offer great potential for striking specimen plantings and also make them the most accommodating of companion plants.

With the advent of tissue culture and the rise of specialist nurseries, the range of hostas available has increased rapidly, and now gardeners are faced with a bewildering choice of over 4000 species and cultivars. The core of this encyclopedia is a fully illustrated collection of the world’s finest hostas handpicked by leading specialist Diana Grenfell. This valuable resource provides a full description and color photograph for more than 750 plants, equipping hosta lovers to judge esthetic merit and to choose the right plant for a particular situation. Organized by color, the encyclopedia is tailor-made to satisfy quests for the perfect glaucous blue or a cheerful yellow to light up a dark corner. Mike Shadrack’s enticing photographs capture the qualities of each hosta that make it distinctive and uniquely desirable.

Since hostas vary greatly in their individual requirements, the fine-tuned advice in the cultivation chapter will enable growers to raise their plants to a very high standard. Readers will be fascinated as Grenfell vividly recounts expeditions by collectors, breeders and nursery owners to study hostas in the wild, and charts their introduction to the West. Informative sections on hosta classification and botany, gardening ideas, advice on pests and diseases and a quick-reference list of the best hostas for different purposes add depth to this comprehensive review of the present-day hosta. This book will delight all gardeners and find a treasured place on the bookshelves of hosta enthusiasts everywhere.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #323243 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 408 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This illustrated collection features 750 varieties of hostas: those "exotic, luxuriant-leafed perennials," as HRH The Prince of Wales describes in his preface, that have spread their way into gardens and greenhouses everywhere. Originally cultivated in Japan, the hardy plants form a protruding lily-like bloom among clumps of heart-shaped leaves in a rainbow of hues—from the "Blue Clown" to the "Gold Regal" to the slightly variegated sage and white "Abba Irresistible." In entries organized by color, hosta specialist Grenfell reviews the special needs and features of each, also offering advice on designing beds and containers and combating pests and diseases. Appendices include hardiness zone maps for Europe and North America, suggestions for how to use and where to see hostas, and a glossary. Shadrack’s sumptuous photographs form a bright centerpiece for this comprehensive guide.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Grenfell ... has produced a worthy reference for readers on both continents."—Carol Bishop Miller, Horticulture, December 2005 (Carol Bishop Miller Horticulture )

"They [the authors] have produced an authoritative guide to the hardy, sturdy plant that nearly everybody seems to have at least a few of (some have hundreds)."—Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, December 19, 2004 (Beth Botts Chicago Tribune )

"This well-illustrated encyclopedia contains color photographs of over 750 of the finest hosta varieties. Grenfell's hostas knowledge and Shadrack's striking photographs combine to make this the definitive volume."—M.S. Muskiewicz, Choice, September 2004 (M.S. Muskiewicz Choice )

Grenfell ... has produced a worthy reference for readers on both continents.Carol Bishop Miller, Horticulture, December 2005 (Horticulture )

They [the authors] have produced an authoritative guide to the hardy, sturdy plant that nearly everybody seems to have at least a few of (some have hundreds).Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, December 19, 2004 (Chicago Tribune )

This well-illustrated encyclopedia contains color photographs of over 750 of the finest hosta varieties. Grenfell's hostas knowledge and Shadrack's striking photographs combine to make this the definitive volume.M.S. Muskiewicz, Choice, September 2004 (Choice )

About the Author
Diana Grenfell, a co-founder of the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society, is the author of The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas, The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hostas and The Gardener's Guide to Growing Daylilies. She operates the well-known nursery, Apple Court, at Lymington in Hampshire with her husband, Roger Grounds, author of The Plantfinder’s Guide to Ornamental Grasses.

Michael Shadrack has been a member of the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society for twelve years and is currently their Chairman and Bulletin Editor. He is also a member of the American Hosta Society. His interest in photography has led to a library of nearly 3200 hosta images, many of which have been published in books, magazines and catalogues. He regularly gives talks and lectures on hostas in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Customer Reviews

The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas
This is a great book for Hosta lovers. I like the way it is organized by color. It also has great info on their growth habit (ie, whether they get to their ultimate size quickly or slowly) and how to site the yellows for maximum color by telling how they form the yellow pigmentation, which is how much chlorophyll they inhibit. I also like how they tell you what hostas are similar. As any hosta afficionado knows,there are many hostas that are similar, so if you can't get the one you want you can try to find a similar one. The pictures are good, but as with any hosta photos it is hard to tell size from a photo alone, so you will have to read the narrative. If there is one hosta book you need, I think this is the best.

Best hosta book around
This is really an amazing book--the best of the hosta books I've seen. The copyright date is more recent than some other books, so it includes newer cultivars. The photos are wonderful, too--they capture the beauty, variety and, most importantly, the colors of the plants very well; photos are even provided for some of the more distinctive blooms.

The text at the beginning of the book is also a super resource. In-depth explanations of how hostas are classified/grouped, and defintions of the parts of a hosta plant are provided. For each photo, there is a nice write-up giving all the specifics about the plant.

I would highly recommend this book--well worth the money!

Hosta's knowing your
Wow what a book, lots of information on every hosta! Very current names of what is available. Describes growth habit, size of mound, size, shape, color of each adult leaf, size and color of each flower. And lots more. Includes hosta care, planting, dividing, disease and prevention. This will be a valuable guide for years to come. If you are planing on planting hosta's get this encyclopedia first and make the righ choice for your planting site!