Well, we can answer this in one sentence. When you buy from a reputable hosta nursery, you are guaranteed to receive a correctly labelled plant that is not diseased!
This is not to say that we are perfect but we stand behind our plants and will fix any problems you may have with your order! Of course we will go into greater detail with a description of this statement but that is the short of it.
Guaranteed True to Name!
We have seen numerous posts on multiple forums from unaware people posting hostas with the wrong name. This is not the consumers fault as most hosta growers don’t know the difference between all the hosta cultivars. You assume that if the label was in that plant container then that is what it is. The problem with this is that almost no one working in a local nursery or a big box store could identify hostas by name. They are all hostas to them and they all look alike. If a customer takes the label out and does not replace it or puts it back in the wrong container then the chances of this getting fixed are slim to none.
Hostas are notorious for mutating (sporting) as well and we see this happen here often. These plants should never be sold as the plant they are labelled as. An all green ‘Guacamole’ is not ‘Guacamole’. It’s not that anyone is at fault for this but when someone orders a ‘Guacamole’ they should feel comfortable that they received what they bought. Although there are some interesting and new sports to be found the majority of them are less valuable than the actual hosta for sale. If one of these plants are being sold at a garden center or box store it will never be corrected and someone is bound to buy it mistakenly.
New Hampshire Hostas guarantees that you will receive a true to name hosta and will fix any problems you may have with your order.
What’s Wrong With My Hosta?
As we mentioned in the opening statement, we guarantee that our plants are not diseased. There are a few viruses that hostas are susceptible of being infected with.
The most well-known and feared virus is Hosta Virus X (HVX).
This virus affects the appearance of the hosta usually with green blotching and spotting. This virus is transmitted primarily through cutting the plants. Contact of the infected plant’s sap with sap of a healthy plant will infect the new plant. This can happen whenever cuts are made and the instruments or hands are not disinfected afterwards. Dividing hostas, removing bloom scapes, removing leaves, stepping on them, even accidentally running the lawnmower over them can and will spread this virus. It survives only in living plant tissue and dies without a host. Plants in pots may be simply disposed of or burned. Plants in the ground should be dug carefully as to get as many roots as possible, and the spot should not be replanted until any remaining roots have died and rotted away.
We took this photo from a hosta forum in which an aware consumer noticed these affected ‘Sum and Substance’ being sold in a box store.
Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ with HVX
Here lies the biggest problem with this virus. Most nurseries and box stores are not aware of the virus and therefore just sell them. Even worse is their suppliers do know of the virus but making their quota is more important than remedying the issue. Even if the hostas next to an affected hosta don’t show symptoms you can assume that the virus is there and just not showing it yet. If you see affected plants do not buy these hostas and more importantly let someone working there know so we can stop the spread of this virus.
New Hampshire Hostas and other hosta nurseries are very aware of this virus and only buy stock from reputable suppliers that offer clean unaffected stock.
A Healthy Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ Growing in Our Garden.
We soak all propagated divisions in a hydrogen peroxide bath when we do our dividing. This kills any fungus, is a good overall cleanser and stimulates the roots. We clean all of our propagating and pruning tools in a bleach solution after every use. There is very little chance for the spread of diseases with our stock.
So hopefully you can see the importance of supporting the hosta nurseries and the tireless work they do to produce clean, true to name hostas for their customers.
Yes, you can get cheap hostas at other local nurseries and box stores, but do you really know what you’re getting? There is a reason for the low costs of these plants.