Newsletter 12/1999

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

December 1999

Hosta & Ornamental Grass Enthusiasts Newsletter
AAA Ornamentals @ http://www.hostas.com
Vol. 2, No. 6, December, 1999

What's New on our Web-Site?

Have a very blessed Merry Christmas!

Don't forget to take advantage of our hosta and grass sales by the FLAT!

ONElist is GONE!!!!!! Hurrah!!!! I am now back to fully maintaining my own newsletter list under my own control. What a dreadful experience. Now, just have a subject of 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' and send to newsletter-request@hostas.com. What I thought was a great idea turned out to be a bad idea! Please continue to enjoy my newsletters. 

2000 Spring Price-list and Catalog now available on the web in Adobe-format. The catalog version contains all of the descriptions as found on the web-site. Hostas are now categorized by size (Tiny, Dwarf, Small, Medium, Large, Giant). Grasses are now categorized by foliage and inflorescence form.

New Page: Making your own shade structure.

New Page: Grass foliage and plume forms. 

New Page: Grass-like Ornamentals (Beginnings of future articles)

New Product: Professional fertilizer Nutriculture by Plant Marvel.

What's Been Growing

Well, if your living in zone 5A, nothing! Now is the time to catch-up, dream, and eagerly wait for the new life of spring. Without the sources or environment to raise hostas, the new influx of cash enables us hosta and grass enthusiasts to buy a few presents. Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year!! 

Hostas

Newly added to our spring 2000 hosta price list! 'Great Expectations', 'Dorset Blue', 'Frosted Jade', 'Pizzazz', plantaginea 'Aphrodite', sieboldiana 'Northern Halo', 'Tiny Tears', and 'St. Elmo's Fire'. In fact, they are so new you won't even find them listed yet! 

How about a few hosta botany facts to wow your friends?? Lets look more closely at the hosta leaf.
bullet The leaf is called the lamina.
bullet The leaf steam is called a petiole.
bullet Hosta leaves are called basal because they are attached directly to the base or crown of the plant.
bullet Like us, the skin of the leaf is called the epidermis.
bullet The outer layer of the epidermis which is exposed to the environment is called the cuticle.
bullet The cuticle is a waxy layer, varying between cultivars which can give rise to the blue color of hostas.
bullet The sought after colorful spikes in the spring of an emerging hosta are made of bud scales, which overlap to protect the emerging leaves.

The American Hosta Society Popularity Poll for 1998 revealed the following winners:
bullet 'Sum and Substance'
bullet 'Great Expectations'
bullet 'Patriot'
bullet 'Paul's Glory'
bullet 'Gold Standard'
bullet 'Sagae'
bullet 'Blue Angel'
bullet montana 'Aureomarginata'
bullet 'Fragrant Bouquet'
bullet 'Krossa Regal'
bullet 'Halcyon'
bullet 'Frances Williams'
bullet 'Love Pat'
bullet 'Whirlwind'
bullet 'On Stage'
bullet sieboldiana 'Elegans'
bullet 'Sun Power'
bullet 'Francee'
bullet 'Guacamole'

Grasses

My interest of grasses also has swollen to include other grass-like plants.  Other grass-like plants include sedges, rushes, restios, cat-tails, and bamboos. Although common, I have always loved cat-tails, perhaps because of the 'swamp' behind my childhood house. The cat-tail family (Typhaceae) is composed of only one genus Typha with fewer than 15 species growing worldwide in marshes in temperate and tropical wetlands (northern boundary zone 3 to 5). Their strong growing rhizomes form dense colonies. 

Cat-tails also illustrate the same versatility that grasses proclaim. Leaves: nesting materials for birds, matting, thatching, caning. Rhizomes: edible, high in starch, potential food source. Seeds: substitute for down. Ecological: filtering agents in polluted wetlands. 

Male and female flowers form separate sections on each inflorescence producing innumerable seeds (100,000+). Cat-tails although vigorous growers, can be managed by growing in tubs or containers. Typha minima is a good choice for smaller pools, ponds, and containers (zone 5).

Hosta Pick of the Month

(Pardon me, I don't have it's pictures out on the web yet, will update you with link information next month, sorry!)
bullet Formal Name: Hosta plantaginea 'Aphrodite'
bullet Pronounced:
bullet Picture (flower):
bullet Incorrect Names: N/A
bullet Description: The Japanese name means "double-flowered, round-leaved leaf jewel of the ornamental hairpiece". This plant is a naturally occurring mutation which is rare and seldom cultivated. Besides the extremely fragrant flower, the plant looks identical to Hosta plantaginea.
bullet Width/Height: 24x18 (Medium <22)
bullet Color of Flowers: Large, Funnel-shaped, White, August 1 to Oct 15

Ornamental Grass Pick of the Month
bullet Formal Name: Chasmanthium latifollium
bullet Family: Poaceae
bullet Common Name: Northern Sea Oats, Wild-oats, Wood-oats.
bullet Name Meaning: N/A
bullet Description: Grows in loose, upright clumps. The deciduous foliage is light green in sun, but will be deep green in shade. In the fall, the leaves change to a copper color. The showy inflorescence is a drooping, flat spike of oat-like seed heads appearing in late July. Like the foliage, they mature to a copper color. The bamboo-like appearance creates a very interesting, somewhat tropical effect. This grass can be started easily from seeds.
bullet Native: Southern, central, and eastern North America
bullet Zone: 5
bullet Sun: Best in partial, water well in full sun.
bullet Size: Leaf Blade (wxl): 3/4 x 6, Foliage (wxh): 18 x 48, Plume (hxlxw): 48 x 3.50 x 1.00
bullet Propagation: Seeds or division

Wisdom from the Garden

Grasses are the bread of the world.

 

Free Catalog ~ Hostas ~ Grasses ~ Perennials ~ Hanging Baskets ~ Succulents
AAA Ornamentals, 8S953 Jericho Road, P.O. Box 277 ~ Big Rock ~ Illinois
WeBLOG ~ Send Us an Email ~ Retail Office: 630-556-4507 Jesus Believer