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| English Rose - Rosa 'Darcey Bussell' & Hosta ' First Blush' 16 August 2022 |
This blog which I published on 16 August 2022 is now placed on 4 July 2022 to fill some missing holes,
Hosta guru Bob Solberg has been determined to develop a hosta with red in the leaf and he succeeded with this hosta. Hosta 'First Blush' not only has green leaves with red petioles that extend into the leaf blade but also a thin red margin around the leaf.
The above is from an identified hosta nursery. Solberg's hosta was introduced in 2016. My specimen was brought by some friends from the Vancouver Rose Society this year when they came to my open garden in the beginning of June. I have yet to see the flowers and I will have to wait until next year for a scape (hosta nomenclature for the flower stalk) to see how red it might be and the stalk of the leaf (petiole), too.
But today I noticed that one of my Rosa ‘Darcey Bussell’ flowers was past its peak and I thought the combination in a scan would be lovely.
Bob Solberg is from Franklinton, North Carolina where he has a nursery called Green Hill Hostas. Solberg is one of the most active hosta hybridizers in the US.
I have met him many times and I last saw him this year at
the National Convention of the American Hosta Society this past June in
Minneapolis. He gave a most interesting le
Many years ago (1992) he knocked on my door in my hotel in Columbus, Ohio (it was the National Convention) and when I opened the door I face a man who looked like an officer from the Confederate Army. He whispered and placed in my hand Hosta ‘Patriot’ which was the hot new hosta that had been introduced the year before. I felt like perhaps I was buying drugs. But I was wrong about the man who has an easy smile.
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| Bob Solberg |
He is obsessed with the idea of bringing red into hosta leaves, petioles and scapes. I wonder if these hostas will not come to resemble rhubarb! Are red hosta flowers next in his agenda?
