It’s Still Just Dirt, January 2014
by Penny Esseltine

Nothing beats winter more than the promise of warm weather ahead and that’s just what Lynn Bisschop brought to the January Tillsonburg Horticultural Society gathering with her presentation on Hostas. Lynn owns Shades of Green Hostas, a garden centre just south of Aylmer.

Lynn tells us that there are 43 species of hostas and from these there are now more than 8,000 different varieties. Hostas are native to Japan, Korea and China. Lynn says they can survive in a variety of habitats including woodlands, marshes, grasslands and near rivers and streams. “Hostas are shade tolerant,” she says, “but that doesn’t mean deep dark back of the garden shade”. Generally full sun to part shade suits them fine.

Hostas can be propagated by division or by tissue culture in a lab. “The odds of mutations are much higher with tissue culture,” Lynn says, but tissue culture provides the means to keep up with gardeners’ increasing demands for hosta plants. Some hostas are more difficult to propagate than others and that’s when the cost goes up. Lynn says she has spent 10 years working at splitting a hosta called Gunther’s Prize. She says it’s a difficult one.

Gardeners use interesting terms to describe hostas. Leaves can be wavy or bumpled, rippled or seer-suckered. Flowers can be tubular or bell-shaped in shades of lavender and white. Stems are called legs. But it’s in naming different varieties that word play really shines.

From the species called Sagae a family has grown to include varieties like Big Hobber, Clifford’s Forest Fire, Fat Cat, Kiwi Skyscraper and Liberty. From Blue Mouse comes Mouse Ears, Itty Bitty, Church Mouse, Mouse Trap, Mighty Mouse, and many, many more.

Blue Angel is a great big blue hosta that can measure seven feet across. Beckoning is like Blue Angel but the centre goes yellow. Earth Angel’s margins are yellow. With Guardian Angel the centre is misted.

The names of hostas that have been derived from Striptease are especially fun. There’s Lady Godiva, Full Monty, Gypsy Rose, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Risky Business and again, a whole lot more.

A hosta called June is one of the most popular hostas year after year, and Empress Wu is touted to be the biggest in size. Both Elvis and Stephen King have hostas named for them. Lynn says one of her favourites is Heavenly Tiara which is green with a wide white margin and it comes from a line that includes Golden Tiara, Diamond Tiara and Diamonds are Forever.

If you would like to see for yourself what any of these hosta look like visit Lynn’s website at www.shadesofgreenhostas.ca. Photos are displayed alphabetically and the chance of you finding the hosta you are looking for is extremely good.

The Hosta of the Year for 2014 is called Abiqua Drinking Gourd. It’s a dark blue-green hosta with seer-suckered leaves that form deeply cupped foliage. It’s medium sized, about 22” high and 46” across. Near white flowers bloom in mid summer.

In other hosta news, the Ontario Hosta Society will be holding its annual one-day Hosta Forum on Sunday, April 6 at the Glencairn Golf Club in Halton Hills. For info about this visit their website at www.ontariohostasociety.com.

And speaking of websites, be sure to check out the totally revamped Tillsonburg Horticultural Society website at tillsonburghorticultural.ca.

Take the Yawn Out of Your Lawn is up next when the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society meets on Tuesday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. Our guest speaker is Jim Galbraith from the University of Western Ontario. An annual society membership costs $15 and it’s just $2 for non-members to attend each meeting. Everyone is welcome.

It’s Still Just Dirt, Tillsonburg News, December 2014
by Penny Esseltine

The Guelph area Christmas Joy Home Tour raises money for Hope House. Supporting 1000 people per month with food provisions for their families is just one piece of what Hope House does. Staff and volunteers also coordinate edu-kitchen classes, operate a clothing bureau, deliver 400 Christmas hampers, and they filled 770 backpacks for children in need at the start of the school year. The home tour gains widespread support from area retailers, designers, decorators, caterers and food businesses, florists and garden centres and it attracted more than 1,200 visitors in 2012.

In this (its ninth year) the Christmas Joy Home Tour was the primary destination for the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society’s festive season coach tour. Christine Nagy coordinates tours for the society and she says she chose this event because it has an excellent reputation and it’s early enough in the season for members to get great ideas for decorating their own homes. The self-guided tour featured eight unique properties and our group had only enough time to visit five of them.

We started at a lovely new home in Salem and the festive decor in the open-concept living area included collections of white birch branches throughout. One large branch suspended between corner windows over a spa bath supported large coloured Christmas balls hanging on satin ribbons over the bath. An unusual bouquet of pussy willows topped the Christmas tree.

In Elora we toured a home with bright green and red floral arrangements outside featuring hydrangeas spray-painted red and hanging baskets covered in deciduous leaves hot glued in layers to create natural rustic looking containers. Inside an amazing collection of books, art and red accents filled every room. Bejewelled, ornate hair clips held cloth napkins in the dining room and the lush fresh floral centrepiece filled the middle of the table almost from one end to the other. Through French doors the second floor balcony overlooking the pool and river was dressed and decorated for the festive season every bit as much as the house.

Many considered an original stone farmhouse built in 1891 the highlight of the home tour. It was lovingly restored and renovated through the past 11 years using period materials like barn board for walls and two inch thick kitchen flooring from an 1800’s granary. With its exposed stone walls, high peaked ceilings, old beams and original plank floors the home really didn’t need to be decorated for Christmas to enthrall visitors. Six urns spaced across the front of the property featured interesting red metal art Christmas tree shapes with mixed greenery and lighted branches.

Two homes on older streets in central Guelph were the last we toured. Copper-coloured ribbons and magnolia leaves in evergreen arrangements decorated the wrap-around porch of a two-storied home built in 1903. In the dining room tall vases with small pinecones in the bottom supported even taller amaryllis stems with pure white blooms. Serene candles perched in long stemmed goblets and the Christmas tree was tastefully loaded with decorative owls, white berries, fur wreaths and Christmas balls formed from the ring cut ends of many, many tree branches. Huge silver candleholders and cedar branches dressed the top of the piano and red cardinals with pine, red berries and white birch decorated the mantle and the stairway bannisters.

The large front porch of the 1872 limestone house known as Rose Bank was absolutely full of urns, wreaths, lanterns and sleighs decorated with cedar, boxwood and magnolia branches, pine cones and both large and small woven grapevine Christmas balls. The Italianate style rear courtyard featured multi-coloured Christmas lights woven through cedar rope, red dogwood stems in crocks and a rather large miniature train festooned for Christmas. The interior designer/home owner here advises that lace, pearls, dried flowers and copper are huge elements in decor this year.

In addition to the Christmas Joy Home Tour our group enjoyed lunch and shopping in Elora, a fine group dinner in Guelph and the great camaraderie that comes with spending an entire day out and about with horticultural friends. We arrived home with decorating ideas to try out for ourselves and we’re fortunate to be able to share them with you here along with all our good wishes for you and yours at Christmastime.

If you’re looking for something new to connect with in 2014, consider the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society. Our January meeting is set for Tuesday, January 7 starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Centre Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Centre. Kicking off the year is guest speaker Lynn Bisschop talking about hostas and lilies. An annual membership in the Society costs $15. Everyone welcome.

For additional information about the Horticultural Society visit our website (currently in the process of being rebuilt) at www.tillsonburghorticultural.ca. If you’re interested in the Christmas Joy Home Tour in 2014 keep an eye on their website at www.christmasjoy.ca.