Customer Reviews

The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book for Hosta lovers. I like the way it is organized by color. It also has great info on their growth habit (ie, whether they get to their ultimate size quickly or slowly) and how to site the yellows for maximum color by telling how they form the yellow pigmentation, which is how much chlorophyll they inhibit. I also like how they tell you what hostas are similar. As any hosta afficionado knows,there are many hostas that are similar, so if you can't get the one you want you can try to find a similar one. The pictures are good, but as with any hosta photos it is hard to tell size from a photo alone, so you will have to read the narrative. If there is one hosta book you need, I think this is the best.

This is really an amazing book--the best of the hosta books I've seen. The copyright date is more recent than some other books, so it includes newer cultivars. The photos are wonderful, too--they capture the beauty, variety and, most importantly, the colors of the plants very well; photos are even provided for some of the more distinctive blooms.

The text at the beginning of the book is also a super resource. In-depth explanations of how hostas are classified/grouped, and defintions of the parts of a hosta plant are provided. For each photo, there is a nice write-up giving all the specifics about the plant.

I would highly recommend this book--well worth the money!

Wow what a book, lots of information on every hosta! Very current names of what is available. Describes growth habit, size of mound, size, shape, color of each adult leaf, size and color of each flower. And lots more. Includes hosta care, planting, dividing, disease and prevention. This will be a valuable guide for years to come. If you are planing on planting hosta's get this encyclopedia first and make the righ choice for your planting site!

I was pleasantly surprised when this book arrived. It was one book I did not have, and based on the write ups, it looked "ok". I have just about every Hosta book that is available; this one is one of the best. It is different in that it organizes its chapters on Hosta according to color (blue, green, gold, variegated, etc.). This is particularly useful when comparing Hosta to each other, or trying to identify Hosta. The photography is top notch being accurate and well laid out. Definitely a must for anyone serious about Hosta.

Beautiful, informational book! Chapters are sorted by hosta color, with a nice picture and description of each, also listing substitutes if you can't get that particular one, and even has special notes about each one. The index is very helpful, too. While there were a few of my hostas that weren't listed in the book, there are still hundreds and hundreds of others to learn about and drool over!

The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas is wonderful. A must for every Hosta lover.
GREAT photos and full of information!
I Love it!

I have just gotten familiar with the wide variety of hostas when we recently did some landscaping. This is an excellent, outstanding, fantastic book to use. And at a great price through Amazon.

This book is well presented in its format. Hostas are introduced by the color of their leaves, guiding the reader from green to blue to yellow and so on with pictures of each example. Information for each hosta is given according to its size, form, and special needs. There is even a section for the unusual hosta that a collector might want to own. Overall, an excellent book to own.

My husband and I love to collect hostas and although we have numerous varities, over the years we have failed to keep a record of the name and genus of the individual hosta. We decided to purchase this colorful book as a reference to help us know just what we have and the location where it is located. We plan to do a better job labeling our purchases and this book has already proved to be extremely helpful giving us the necessary info to identify our hosta. The book also contains information regarting growing requirements.

We feel it was a great purchase at a great low Amazon price! We highly recommend it.

Very informative, wonderful pictures, very useful when planning for the purchase or layout of a hosta garden! I'm very fortunate that there is a botannical garden/large hosta collection in my area that sells hundreds of different hosta varieties. With their price lists and this delightful book, I've been able to do my homework first, then go shopping and have created quite the diverse hosta/shade garden, with unique specimins not found at most run of the mill retailers. Again, this is a great book!