08/12/05
Hosta domain names for Sale!
Cleaning up my Favorites today, I found this old link to Afternic.com.
On their site you can buy or sell domain names. Couldn't resist to check what domain names containing the word hosta are for sale. Leaving out non-hosta related ones like hostage and Idaho, I got:
| Domain name | Asking($) |
|---|---|
| BlueHostA.com | 600.00 |
| GrowingHosta.com | 600.00 |
| GrowingHostas.com | 600.00 |
| HostaBulbs.com | 600.00 |
| HostaCatalogs.com | 600.00 |
| HostaDisease.com | 850.00 |
| HostaFerns.com | 600.00 |
| HostaFortunei.com | 600.00 |
| HostaPests.com | 600.00 |
| HostaRetail.com | 600.00 |
| HostaSeeds.com | 600.00 |
| HostasSeeds.com | 600.00 |
| PlantingHosta.com | 600.00 |
| HostaPlantaginea.com | 600.00 |
| HostaWholesale.com | 600.00 |
| PlantingHostas.com | 600.00 |
| TransplantingHostAs.com | 600.00 |
| WholesaleHostas.com | 600.00 |
| HostaDiseases.com | 600.00 |
| HostaFlower.com | 600.00 |
| HostaPictures.com | 600.00 |
| HostaFlowers.com | 600.00 |
| HostaPlanting.com | 600.00 |
| HostaVarieties.com | 600.00 |
| HostaSuppliers.com | 600.00 |
Some probably not so hosta related:
| Domain name | Asking($) |
|---|---|
| hostabusiness.com | 999.00 |
| HostaHelp.com | 125,000.00 |
| HostaKing.com | 125,000.00 |
I wonder who wants to pay for a name like HostaDisease.com or HostaPests.com?
24/07/05
Suspect in hosta heists free from jail
When I first saw this title from The Ann Arbor News I thought this must be a typo! Reading the whole story proved me wrong! Couldn't resist to give a resume of the story:
A homeless guy suspected of stealing plants in Ypsilanti got caught "green-handed" when a police officer saw him carrying two plants and sweating profusely. He told the police that he was selling the plants for money. The guy was released because the jail is overcrowded!
The first reports of missing plants came in June, nearly 13 people reported missing plants from the area.
What baffled the police was that the thief grabbed plants right out of the ground without disturbing the rest of the landscape.
To read the whole story click the link above.
Have fun!
Love for hostas
The Leaf-Chronicle has an article under the title:
which makes an interesting read about a woman's love and passion for hostas. Only one quote:
"If you do not like the bloom, you can cut it off whenever you want, but it's really best for the plant to let it bloom and set seeds, then it knows it's done what it's supposed to do."
You can read the whole article (while it is available) by clicking on the link above.
Enjoy!
21/07/05
White Triumphator
This one has been on my want list for a very long time, however it is easy to miss when not in flower. This time it was flowering and quite impressive.
H. 'White Triumphator' has pure white flowers that are held horizontally on very long scapes. Although my plant is still young, it's scape already reaches 100 cm. What I find special & quite attractive are the white flowering bracts that are covered with green veins. It reminds me of a Freesia, without the smell of course!
The plant isn't that spectacular, with upright leaves that have very glaucous backs. The scape is also very glaucous. Here is a picture of my new plant:
Hosta 'White Triumphator' is listed as an introduction from the famous Dutch garden designer and nursery man Piet Oudolf. Piet has also written a number of garden books. It is described as a selection of rectifolia with very tall scapes of pure white flowers. The rectifolia background clearly shows in the upright habit and the long scape.
There is also a hosta 'White Tachi' in cultivation, Tachi Giboushi being the Japanese name of rectifolia. As I don't have it, it remains to be seen if it's the same plant as 'White Triumphator' or a different one.
13/07/05
Essence of Summer - a Fragrant Tetraploid Hosta
These are the fragrant flowers of 'Essence of Summer' (Jan van den Top & Marco Fransen 2004). It is a tetraploid conversion of 'Warwick Essence' (Gil Jones 1993).
At the start of the nineties 'Warwick Essence' was a hybridizing breakthrough, being the cross of 'Northern Halo' (a sieboldiana 'Elegans' type) and plantaginea. It isn't the easiest cross to make because of the different flowering periods. Gil succeeded, the result being a hosta with substance and fragrance, a "fragrant sieboldiana".
To even further improve it's substance and maybe it's fragrance, 'Warwick Essence' was artificially converted to the tetraploid 'Essence of Summer'. It has very thick leaves on strong petioles. Best of all, the flowers are still fragrant, a bit larger and have more substance. This is the first fragrant tetraploid I've seen, although I've heard some rumors about a tetraploid 'Fragrant Bouquet'.
We'll have to see if it's pod and/or pollen fertile, I tried some tetraploid pollen on it. In the morning the anthers were still closed, so I had to come back in the afternoon to collect the pollen.
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