Customer Reviews

The New Encyclopedia of Hostas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been collecting hostas for about 3 years and have about 260 different varieties and over 300 hostas total. I'm a relatively new collector, but I do love my hosta books!
I looked thru this book over the weekend.... I'll admit, it was more pic viewing than reading, but here are my opinions:

Since this is a updated release of her old book, I will compare it to the previous book.
The pics of newer cultivars are indeed nice. Yes, there are lots of repeats from the old Grenfell encyclopedia, but I didn't seem to mind.

One thing that did bother me is that if she was referencing a sport of a plant, she'd put the pic with the parent's listing, even if it didn't fall into the heading of the chapter. I found this to be distracting.

She and Shadrack (the co-author/photographer, who will be speaking at the 2010 National Convention) have clearly done a lot of their research in the states this round.... I think that's great! There was even a pic of Rhino Hide.... and that was just registered in what, 2007?

Is it crucial to your hosta book library? Well, for me, yes! I really like the newer cultivars and would like to have pics at my fingertips without having to have the internet. I often have at least one reference book in the car or my bag when I go hosta shopping. This one, I feel, is the best choice between the old Grenfell, the small Grenfell and the Zilis Hostapedia. I believe this is a good value at Amazon's price with free shipping. I do not think it is worth listed retail price.

If you are just getting into hosta collecting, I'd choose this book before Zilis since it does have a pic of each plant profiled, though all plants are not profiled. With Zilis, it's the opposite.... most all hostas are profiled, but only about 30% (my estimate) have a photo. But Zilis weighs 12 lbs!

Bottom line.... Great book, but is is CERTAINLY not an all encompassing reference, but it does have great photos and general information!

This book seems to be missing some fairly common types of hostas and there aren't pictures for each cultivar mentioned. It's disappointing, frankly. Granted, there is a reason it is much cheaper than the Hostapedia (which lists for about $80), but still....if it lists a particular plant, it would be nice to have a picture to go along with it. Also, if you have a picture of the plant, an explanation would be appreciated. The sport "Orange Marmalade" is a case of picture with no information.

The hostas it does include have a fairly complete explanation of them. I think the website [...] and some other resources will be more useful for identification purposes. This is a nice coffee table book with a good bit of information.

A great book to all who feel overwhelmed by the vast selection of hostas on the market today.
The book has individual, detailed descriptions and high quality color photos of many many hostas.

The hostas are grouped by leaf color: green hostas, blue hostas, gold hostas,
variegated-margin hostas and medio-variegated hostas.
Each color-group makes a chapter in the book, and is of great help in organizing ones hosta-dreams.

The text is superb, covering specific information for each cultivar: color and shape of its leaves and flowers,
its growth-rate: slow or fast. The plant shape: open habit or a dense mound, its natural disease resistance,
the hosta's origin and more.

This is the best reference I have found on hostas - the varieties, planting information, updated with HVX information. Recommended for any gardener who intends to grow a large variety of hostas.

Another outstanding book from Grenfell and Shadrack. Beautiful photography and informative text. A must for hosta enthusiasts and gardeners alike. A. Blake, Tasmania, Australia.

Great book. A very complete listing of hosta plus lots of good information on raising and caring for hostas.
As a beginner with hosta it is very easy to understand the info and has great pictures on nice glossy paper.

This is a superb, comprehensive volume covering all aspects of hosta cultivation. It starts with an informative section on hostas in their native Far Eastern habitat, and how they were originally introduced into the West in the mid 1800s. There is an extensive section on the cultivation of hostas, including conditions, type of soil they prefer etc. and frequent pests. Of course slugs and snails are the worst culprits - it was news to me that there are 25 different sorts of slugs, but happily only 5 of these will be after your hostas as the rest are carnivores!

Following these chapters there is the most interesting part of the book from my viewpoint which is a detailed discussion on a wide variety of hostas. There are so many around - about 7500 varieties at the last count! - that it would be impossible to describe them all in one volume. However, 380 odd pages are devoted to this and the authors do include a wide and representative selection including the most popular. I could not think of any which I would expect to be included which were not here.

The descriptions are very good as they include not only detailed descriptions including size and cultivation notes, but also when and who they were introduced by. There were some surpises here as, for instance, H Fire Island which has been a very popular hosta in the last couple of years with its outstanding red stalks, was introduced as long ago as 1998 and obviously took some while to gain a following. As there are so many hostas included, they are conveniently split into chapters, eg hostas with green leaves, hostas with chartreuse and so on. There is also a welcome section on miniature and very small hostas which are now very popular.

Finally there are lists of sources of hostas, hosta societies and other resources if you want to take your study of hostas further. So really a book for an enthusiast (as you may have gathered I am an enthusiastic fan of hostas) but really a must have volume.

I enjoyed this book, the pictures are great. The descriptions of most hostas are very good but a few pictures of hostas lack
information.
Otherwise I highly recommend it!

Unlike Mark Zilis' Hostapedia, this book is not intended to be comprehensive. Instead it it lists Grenfell's favorite 700+ cultivars. There is an excellent photo of each as well as detailed descriptions of the leaves, clumps and flowers as well as cultivation directions: what kind of setting works best. The book is broken down into the various types of leaves: green, blue, blue-grey, medio-variegated etc. I find this a bit annoying since to find a particular hosta you need to go to the index and hope for the best. But it is one of the classic and essential books for any hosta collector and obviously not as overwhelming as Zilis' tome.

this is a big book absolutely helpfull and complete. Picture are perfect to understand different hostas species and variety to choose one's favorite. Great!!!