Dave, glad you r out of hibernation! Nice long rest, eh? Lol

brain sploded whilst napping, had to find a shovel to put it back together.

holy humpty dumpty (hoy 2020)

dave

Curley Fries ?????? Seriously ???? With all the other really great hostas out there? Geesh...

I was out looking for local hosta today. Curly Fries was available at Calloway's. I should have known it was a Bob Solberg plant by the name. Now, I'll have to go back and get it. I picked up a LS Shore Master with about 6 eyes and a Crusader with about 9 eyes. Past that, pickings seem really slim.

One nursery had Great Expectations, Wide Brim, Blue Umbrellas and Aphrodite. They were huge, but GE in Dallas Texas? They have to be crazy.

My neighborhood nursery that brought in Walter's starts cut way back this year. He only has a about 4 or 5 varieties. They aren't up yet, either. That's a concern. Most all of mine are up or at least showing some pip.

But there is always mail order. Calloway's is getting another shipment in a couple of weeks, too.

bk

I passed up on Curly Fries this year. It just did not sound or look that exciting. But I'm surprised both it and Victory have been named HOY. Both are fairly new and I would doubt most hosta gardeners have much experience with them, at least not enough experience to name them Hosta of the Year.

As we've said many time HOTY is a marketing award given by the Hosta retailers association. Part of the criteria is that the plant has to be widely available for $15 or less. It's not the most rigorous test of garden performance by a Hosta.

The Benedict Garden Performance Medal given by the AHS is a highly rigorous, multi-step award program that is the highest award that a Hosta can receive. Thus far only 5 Hosta have received this award. These are as follows:

2009 - June
2010 - Sagae
2011 - Blue Mouse Ears
2012 - Niagara Falls
2013 - First Frost

A Hosta has to receive an Honorable Mention first and an Award of Merit before it can be selected as a medal winner. That means that these cultivars are "the best of the best."

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Benedict Performance Medal

They must have run out of good ideas for HOTYs in all three cases.

I have ADG and Victory is arriving next week but Curly fries don't do anythin for me I'm afraid, I'd take it as a bonus plant I supose lol.

I think the criteria was has to grow well in all regions, look good, and be $15.00 or less. The HOTY has to be tough enough that almost anyone can be successful and common enough to be cheap, while still being eye candy. That's actually pretty hard; I've got most of them, and they certainly fit the "grow well" part.

I planted Victory last year and for a newbie it looked pretty good, eagerly awaiting it's appearance this year.

Vicotry hasn't done that well for me. It may be the pot, though, as it's done beautifully in the ground at the Dallas Arboretum. During that horrible summer with 60 days above 100 and no rain, Victory was a standout. It was one of the best looking in August, if not the best looking.

bk

Keep in mind August, 2 hail storms, no rain, high temps and under Crape Myrtles.

The HOTY is obviously something they want you to buy. They realize you already have most of the great hostas.

A few that have never been on the list:

montana Aureomarginata
Sun Power
Blue Angel
Krossa Regal
Journey's End
Queen of the Seas
Alex Summers
Great Expectations
Thunderbolt
Elegans
Key West
Halcyon
Satisfaction
Abba Dabba Do
Paradise Power
Gold Standard
Love Pat
On Stage
Blue Mammoth
High Noon
Komodo Dragon
Northern Exposure
Olive Bailey Langdon

Great Expectations would never be considered since it is mostly a dud. I have seen a few beautiful specimens but overall it's a poor performer.

LOL...'Curly Fries'...Ha ha ha ha ha...

Don B.

don:

goes with ...
moe fries
larry fries
and
shemp fries

dave

And a Beef n' Cheddar...

Don B.

I like h. Curly Fries.

I also like its mom, Pineapple Upsidedown Cake.

I find it wondrous that one genus can include a plant like Empress Wu as well as Pandora's Box and even Hacksaw. And it has a catchy (descriptive) name too. Unlike tokodama flavocircinalis. ;-) Hooray for Hostas!

-Babka

HI, bk- Maybe Victory does hate living in a pot - or maybe I'll be disappointed in year 2. Only time will tell, and if we don't get some warmer weather, it will be a long time. We're 3-4 weeks behind; the snowdrops just bloomed.

Year 1 was pretty spectacular, more growth than I expected from a large hosta.

{{!gwi}}

Maybe I just got a bad Victory. I got mine in either late 2011 or early 2012. I didn't make a file for it, but the first photo I have is 2012. It was a really small plant when I received it. It still has only two eyes this year. I'm very disappointed in it, espescially after how well it did at the Arboretum. Mocc has one, and it looks a lot better than mine. I'm waiting to see how hers looks this year.

I went back for the Curly Fries. I still don't care for it. I skipped it again and bought a Krossa Regal instead. That's certainly a classic.

bk

OK, I was recently at Arby's and I ran across 'Curly Fries' again. I admit, the ones Arby's had looked better (IMO) than the ones they had at a local nursery last year, so I picked up one. Yummy.

Don B.