‘Empress Wu’ is Here!

‘Empress Wu’ is here!  Our Starter (TC) have been going fast since they went on our website a few days ago, so hurry to get yours now so you don’t have to wait until next season.  This hosta is very new, extremely popular, and still difficult to get.

Why all the fuss about this particular hosta? It is said to be the biggest hosta ever, over 4 feet tall with leaves over 20 inches long!  It’s so new that only the hybridizer and a couple of others have mature specimens.  The fun will be in watching ‘Empress Wu’ grow to see how big yours will get!

We also changed the Free Hosta list, which now includes some miniature hostas for you to choose.  For each $50 you spend (before tax and shipping),  add one Starter (TC) of any of these hostas to your cart, and it will be deducted from your total.

‘Bitsy Gold’

‘Chartreuse Wiggles’

‘So Sweet’

‘Sunshine Glory’

‘Teeny-weeny Bikini’

American Hosta Society Convention

In the midst of our busy season this year, we had the privilege to experience the 2010 American Hosta Society Convention.  It hasn’t come to the Twin Cities since 2000, so we were thrilled to be a part of it.  One of my favorite moments was meeting the lovely In Sook, the name behind the hosta ‘My Child Insook.’ If the convention comes to your area, it is definitely something you don’t want to miss.  You can learn more about hostas by listening to guest speakers, bid on the hottest varieties in an auction, admire the Cut Leaf Show, and embark on tours of the most gorgeous hosta gardens around.  In a nationwide gathering of hostaholics, you might make some new friends, or even meet your favorite hybridizer!

We also displayed our new IDeal Garden Markers, which received rave reviews.  Our webmaster, Joe Husby, created a new, easy-to-use website at http://www.IDealGardenMarkers.com, where you can order samples of these durable (stainless steel!), attractive markers.

Winter Gardening and Planning to Plant

Well, here I am snug and comfy and trying to remember to write 2010 on my checks. Yes, some people still write checks! The point is, it is below zero here in Minnesota and my mantra is “Why do I live here?” Actually, that is the state motto in January of any year. But I digress.

It’s not easy to write for a hosta blog when you can’t see the hostas. They are hibernating with the bears and the chipmunks. And me. So while I am hibernating, I am looking at hosta web sites like HostasDirect.com and cruising the Hosta Library and dreaming.

Our fearless leader, Tom, has already ordered the newest and most spectacular varieties of hostas and heucheras for Spring shipping. And he’s done more with his down time than that. (Actually, Tom doesn’t have any down time. I got 5 emails from him on New Year’s Day.) He’s been busy inventing a brand new stainless steel garden marker ( see IDeal Garden Markers) that I know you’ll be crazy about. The new product has it’s own web site so drop in and look around. And let me know how you’re greeting the new decade.

Waiting for spring

New website coming soon!

Hello everyone and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HostasDirect will soon have a brand new website, running on a brand new server!  This new website will boast many new features, including the ability to directly compare hosta attributes side-by-side and making it even easier to search our database of 7000+ hostas using our HostaSearch(TM) technology.  Placing orders will be simplified into one screen, instead of having to go through 5 different pages to finish placing your order for hostas!  Additionally, we will begin accepting PayPal as well as all the major Credit Card providers for placing an order.

We have some great deals up our sleeves for helping you save money this coming season, so as always, stay tuned!  Our Hosta Queen, Marcia Fluer, will be keeping you up to date on the daily activities here at HostasDirect – the #1 place to buy hostas for your garden!

This post was written by Joseph Husby, “the tech guy” here at HostasDirect.  A little about myself:  I am a junior at the University of Minnesota in the honors computer science program.  I also plan to minor in business management.  In one of my management classes, we are having a competition as to who can rank highest on Google for the search term Zompire Dracularius.  I have included a link to my Zompire Dracularius website.  There isn’t much there, but it has been a fun project so far!  Oh, and FYI, I’m currently creaming the competition!  🙂

More About Fall Showoffs

Hi fellow hosta lovers,

I patrol my yard every day and every day I see something that either wasn’t there before or I didn’t notice it.

Fall is the best time to see new stuff because as certain plants die the remaining plants leap at you. For instance, I have a mini (or is it a small?) in the backyard that is ordinary all year unless you happen to be a chipmunk who notices the red petioles of ‘Katsuragawa Beni’. Not being a chipmunk I don’t get eye level with the ground that often. But when this shy guy sent up its scapes  in mid-September, I gasped. And I didn’t need to be a chipmunk to appreciate its color and drama.

September Showoff

A wallflower is suddenly in the spotlight.

When I looked further, I noticed that other red-petioled hosta were doing the same dance. They were flowering way beyond expections into late September. Take ‘Marilyn Monroe’, for instance. She’s gorgeous all year, but right now, a day before we flip the calendar to October, she’s really ready for her close-up. Not only is her petiole redder and her flower scapes awesome, her ‘petticoat’ (that’s what I call her white backside) is even more prominent. You go girl!

Look around your yard to see what changes you haven’t noticed and let me know. I love to talk Hostas. What other “reds” are still doing their thing? I plan to group some reds next year around  H. ‘Red October’. What are you planning for next spring?

More about H. ‘Raspberry Sorbet’

My H. ‘Raspberry Sorbet’. It’s a real early fall showoff.

Its buds are nearly red and match the scapes.

Edible

Fall color happens even in hostas. Anybody have a H. ‘Raspberry Sorbet’? Its flowers are amazing and I plan to upload a pic to www.hostasdirect.com in the next few days. Right now I’m busy admiring it and watching as a few others begin some serious pre-fall fading. My H. ‘Blond Elf’ is a mess (no pic forthcoming) and a few others are looking ‘peakid’ as my grandma used to say. How about yours? What’s happening in your part of the country?

Photo Contest

Be sure to check the www.HostasDirect.com newletter later this week for a special offer guaranteed to save you money AND a contest. I love winning stuff almost as much as I love snapping pictures of my hostas.

My Current Favorite

I love my H. ‘Stained Glass’. What’s not to love? It has color, crinkle, a gorgeous flower that emerges when many flowering plants have given up, and it smells like a gardenia.

What I learned on the job with HostasDirect.com

I’ve been ‘on the job’ for about two weeks and logged three days at our retail site. WOW!! Several customers came from many hours away to take advantage of our big sale and they love hostas almost as much as I do. Like me, they saw themselves happy and content selling, talking, watering and loving hostas all day long. Hostas are a numbers game and they knew their numbers: how many hostas they have, what their names are, and how to use them. They also knew how to pump me for information. “What is your favorite? Why? Any tricks about getting rid of slugs? Deer?” It was exhausting and fun.  If hostas are your passion, I’d be happy to hear from you. So long for now. Back to work.