Something for the Winter!

Hosta Quiz 2015!

Each photo represents a name for a hosta!

Can you figure out all 12?

Happy Hosta name hunting this winter!

Hot Chocolate and Hostas!

(click on the photo to see it enlarged)

A great group of volunteers and a beautiful Autumn day! What could be better!

After a full day of raking and wheelbarrowing,

we even enjoyed our coffee/hot chocolate break outside,

The Gazebo in Diepenheim is ready for the Winter!

The next Hosta activity here is the third Wednesday in February!

Then it's time to cover the Hosta beds with compost!

That's February 17th 2016...weather permitting!

See you there!

Autunm in a Hosta garden!

Thanks to Ton, Jos, Hans and Jacqueline, a few members of The Dutch Hosta Society, for sharing their photo's! The Hostas are turning shades of gold! Beautiful plant pot combination ! Snails are being gathered and marked in a "catch and release" test....more about that next year! Hostas are the inspiration for kaleidoscope art and even the snails are being brought into the home in the form of glass!
There's still great Autumnal gardening weather here! See you on the 25th of November at Het Gazebo!

The Gazebo in Diepenheim!

It's our third visit!

 A group of volunteers from The Dutch Hosta Society together with new friends at The Gazebo spent the day in Diepenheim doing the last inventory check and weeding!

 We couldn't have had a better Autumn day! A bit of sunshine, great gardening weather and super hospitality kept us going! Thanks for the hot chocolate !

What a difference a day makes!

We'll be back on Wednesday the 25th of November!

Time to do a final clean up before winter!

See you then!

Hosta Leaf Color Wheel

Designed by Bill Meyer 1999

The Hosta Journal, Spring 2000, Vol.31 No.1 pg 55

Thanks Bill! Looks great!

It's fun looking through old AHS The Hosta Journals!

When Internet was definitely not as we know , and use it today!

We're off to a great Autumn start here in The Netherlands!

Wednesday, the 7th we're back at Het gazebo

Warm and Sunny!

We enjoyed a great warm summer weekend at Krijn Spaan Nurserey for their Garden and Art Fair! The Dutch Hosta Society volunteers chatted about slugs and snails and Hostas! There's always something worth talking about when it comes to that Friendship plant known as the Hosta! Some visitors at our stand were glad to share their 'one Hosta in pot that is slug free' stories! Others were glad to hear any advice to do with keeping slugs away!  The Hosta 'Wheee' show plant attracted lots of attention as well as Hosta 'Fire place' and the Mouse Ears examples!  It was soon 5 pm and time to pack it all up! There's time enough to get ready for the next Hosta activity next weekend!
On the 5th of September The Dutch Hosta Society hosts their  September Garden Tour! This time in West Brabant! That should be a lot of fun!
  

Get busy at the Gazebo!

Yesterday, Wednesday the 26th of August, a group of  Dutch Hosta Society members joined along side by a few local volunteers in Diepenheim for the second round of Hosta inventory! And more weeding! 

 Thanks to the organised paperwork preparations by Frans, the job was quickly picked up by teams of two's! With a list of Hostas and a map for each section, the teams were able to get through quite a few sections of the garden! After yesterday, it looks like there's just one more third still to do! Great work!

 Part of volunteering is also chatting and coffee! 

What better way to spend a day!

 Hostas, coffee, Hostas!

The Gazebo is looking great! We will try and get together one more time, round about early Fall, to finish the last round of Hosta inventory! Before the Hostas disappear for the winter! Hope you can join us then! Fall can be lovely in The Netherlands!

Garden Fair!

Are you in The Netherlands and visiting the area around Hilversum at the end of August? Then why not drop by and spend time at Krijn Spaan Nursery for their Garden and Art Fair! It's a great local activity with art, plants, flowers, food, drink, and Hostas! You will find the Dutch Hosta Society, at one of the many market stalls, with a few show plants and information ! Looking forward to seeing you there!

The next volunteer Hosta Activity!

The gazebo in Diepenheim

Wednesday 26 August

9:00 am is the next

volunteer day !

Shovel, hoe and rake,

bucket and tub

Bring them along!

Coffee, tea and lunch are provided!

Please register by email!

Summer Garden Tour!

 Saturday the 13 of June! Almost 100 members of The Dutch Hosta Society took part and enjoyed a great day out! It was time for the Summer garden tour in the "Achterhoek" in The Netherlands! There were three gardens, all with Hostas as the stars of the garden!

 We started at The Botter Hutte in Halle!

 The Hosta Leaf Show, Best Hosta in pot and Newest Hosta were part of the programme and there were quite a few participants!

 There was serious consideration while looking for the "Wow factor" for the People's Choice award!

50 shades of green!

 Kees Hensen gave a great presentation about his three year trial with Hosta 'Kees'! There were beauties such as Upper Case, Lower Case and Beauty Case! Let's see what the future holds with Hosta 'Kees'!

 Then we headed off through the lovely country side to the private garden of our member in Winterswijk! Then the rain came! After four weeks of dry weather, and at the moment that we arrived, it rained!

 But that didn't put us off! The party tent was already set up and the home made hot soup was ready! We had time to wander along garden paths and through different garden areas where more than 200 different kinds of Hostas were looking beautiful in the rain!

 And here's a bit of creative garden art!

Just as the blue sky returned it was time to head off to the next address!

 Tea Garden Rensink in Aalten!

There's around 350 kinds of Hostas here! 

 "Hello! Welcome!

 Come inside!

 All is well? 

Great that you're here!

 Coffee's ready! 

Cookie as well?"

 The planting ideas are great!

And maybe a project for "the weekend" ?!

If you are in the neighbourhood, do stop by!

What a day! But it's not over yet! Then we went back to Halle! Time to round off the day with a drink and a bite to eat and to hear who all won!  A great time was had by all! Slowly the guests headed home with new Hostas, photo's, idea's and friendship's, old and new ! Hosta! The Friendship plant!

 The next activity The Dutch Hosta Society will be taking part in is at the Garden Fair  at Krijn Spaan on Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of August! See you there!

The Gazebo in Diepenheim!

 The Dutch Hosta Society spent a warm sunny day in Diepenheim

taking stock of a Hosta collection in a exceptional garden !

A double row of 136 Copper Beeches surrounds

 and gives shadow to the 1393 strong Hosta collection!

 Designed by the Belgian artist Urbain Mulkers  (1945-2002).

 "The copper beeches form a solid frame for the painting. The painting is built up from 1000 green tints. All thinkable tints of green,dark green, light green, blue green, chartreuse, yellow green, gold green, dull, shiny and frosted form the painter's pallet!"

  The original pattern!

 Hosta beds and paths of bark mulch form an abstract image of the veins of a Hosta leaf. Visitors see an impressionistish painting!

There was very little, I should say no real slug damage!

When we did find one, we recorded it too!

 We enjoyed coffee, lunch, an afternoon break and had a chance to search through a few forgotten, weed filled and left behind Hostas! We were like kids in a candy store! Today's group of volunteers had a huge wealth of Hosta knowledge !

 There's still a lot to do! We're all eager to go back in August to continue the inventory and get weeding! Extra hands are always welcome! See you in Diepenheim!

Back at the Fairs and more!

 The Dutch Hosta Society volunteers were active this weekend! Two fairs on the same day! Two very different locations in The Netherlands! What a great day to promote The Dutch Hosta Society and Hostas! It's great to see so many people interested in gardening and Hostas!

 One team was enjoying the sunshine in Oostvoorne

 at the Bos and Burcht Fair! They had great show plants!

Slugs and Garlic extract were on topic!

 Team two was busy in "Strong in the Shade", Hilversum!

A fair especially for plants that do well in the shade!

 We also did well in the shade! 

Slugs and Garlic extract were also on topic here! 

 Great locations, atmosphere and the public made for a great day for both teams!

Maybe we'll see you at the next Fair!

 How are your Hostas growing?

Here are a few "earlier" and "now" photo's form a garden

from one of our members of The Dutch Hosta Society!

3 months later and they're  looking great! 

 Notice the watering system?

 No slugs here!

 The marking/name tags work well!

Thanks for sharing a fine Hosta mix! 

The "Nederlandse Hosta Vereniging" is on Facebook!

Maybe you'd like to share your Hostas there?

See you at the next Dutch Hosta Society event!

At the Fair!

 The Dutch Hosta Society volunteers enjoyed an active weekend at Krijn Spaan nursery! We were located by the entrance/exit! A great location to "meet and greet" and to chat with the "I'll pick one up on the way out" visitors!

Hosta displays are always fun to set up!

Do you know which Hosta this is?

 The sunny weather Saturday brought out a lot of visitors! The 10 - 17;00 day was a constant buzz of gardeners, questions, comments and laughter!

 Sundays rain and wind didn't stop the real garden enthusiasts either! Those that came by bike were really out to look for something new for their garden! That's dedication! And the Dutch cycling way! We also enjoyed seeing all the different umbrellas that passed us by, twice!

 Yes, slugs and the latest, Garlic Extract are always on topic!

A great weekend! We're here again, end of August! 

But first....

Time to dry off and get ready for the next Hosta Activities! There are 2 Garden Fairs happening on May 30th! The Bos and Burcht Fair  and "Stoer in de Schaduw" . See you there!