I don't think the full story will be known, but the diplomatic version is given at

http://www.hostalibrary.org/firstlook/AdenPlantNotice.htm

A lot of the registrations will remain in his name. It's my sense that when there is specific parentage given, we can trust that parentage. The numbered Aden plants existed. Where they initially came from is not quite as clear.

The hosta world was much smaller back in the day... and considerably less formal. Many people didn't believe in registering hostas, while the AHS was a big promoter of registration. It was little "wild frontier" situation, with less formal rules seeming to apply.

Nowadays, for example, if somebody gave me an unregistered plant and I grew it on and decided it deserved registration, I'd get permission from the originator... and list the originator separately from the registrant (me) and the namer (whoever...) We'd try to get the heritage straight, or declare it unknown.

Back when... well, I too have heard the term "stole" plants... but I'm not sure how this came about. I think the big purge of the registrations indicates that, at the very least, current thinking is that Paul Aden took credit where he shouldn 't. On the other hand... lots of fine hostas came from him legitimately.

When I read articles it seemed that Aden was valuable as a marketer of hostas in general. He knew how to introduce hostas, sell them and by that helped the hosta hobby get going. Bernd

double post - removed by author

This post was edited by idiothe on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 21:39

Yeah, I read the diplomatic version on the hosta library. It seemed to leave a lot out. Since I love his hosta, the story interests me. Still, the details seem hard to ferret out.

Yes, Bernd, from what I've seen in the world, the salesman will be forgiven anything as long as he keeps selling.

bk

If anyone needs to know about Paul Aden I lived three houses away from him since 1981. Paul was an amazing person I spent many years in his "Garden of Aden" helping him and trying to soak in all of his knowledge and wisdom. He was truly an amazing individual.

A more complete story:

http://www.hostalibrary.org/firstlook/Case.htm

I wonder where we would be now if Kevin Vaughn had not quit hybridizing hostas after the theft of his breeding stock.

iguigd

did you ever see him make crosses and start seedlings?

Wondering how much money we are talking in that article?

I've often thought about fragrant bouquet and invincible. In my opinion 2 of the best crosses ever made. Fragrant bouquet And all its sports, guacamole stained glass. Etc. ...On and on. Knowing now that Aden made up his parentage info. That is now lost.

I would love to recreate that line. But fragrants are very tough to breed. Hopefully I've got a foot hold with a few dozen fragrant seedlings going.

i've emailed Kevin about it but he can't say for sure what the parents were. Since they were stolen from him at their infancy. He never got to see them grow up.

and then there is sum and substance. We can only speculate how that came to be. Thanks to Aden.

Hosta_maker, I wish you the best of luck with your fragrant seedlings! :-)

Thanks Josephine it's quite possible that Kevin might not know the pollen parent regardless. Because it is quite common to use mixed or layered fragrant pollen so that the pod parent will accept one of them and not abort the pod.

Odd to see this resurrected. The story is more complete at http://www.hostalibrary.org/firstlook/AdenHome.htm.

Mr. Aden may have been quite smart, and I (and others) certainly owe my interest in hostas to his seminal book, but his intelligence does not excuse his immoral actions. Could he have not accomplished all the same things while giving credit to those who actually did the hybridizing? It is a sad, sad story.

I take it Paul Aden is dead. Therefore he can't defend himself. What I'm hearing here sounds like speculation, innuendo and gossip.

The Latin phrases De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and De mortuis nil nisi bene [dicendum] ("Of the dead, [say] nothing but good") indicate that it is socially inappropriate to speak ill of the dead. Wikipedia

Have you read the full linked articles above? Your comments would make sense if it was speculation, innuendo, and/or gossip.

There is ample proof that many of the plants registered by Aden were from the works of others. His name should be stricken as originator from all of the plants he registered since there is ample proof that he stole plants from others and no proof that he ever hybridized plants.

A good percentage of Aden's "secret seedling beds" were evidently located inside the property lines of Florence Shaw's estate.

Also the backyard of Kevin Vaughn's boyhood home, among other places. Thankfully, Kevin Vaughn had already shared some of his plants with others before they were taken.

" There is ample proof that many of the plants registered by Aden were from the works of others. " If it so "ample" and "proof" then AHS or whoever should set the record straight. In the meantime we have trial by a few houzz Hosta posters.

gardencool

some of his victims are still around if you'd like to start yet another investigation.

That was a fascinating read.

Don't believe all the negative comments you read about Paul Aden. Paul was genuine, a close friend and my neighbor for over 30 years. I visited him at least two times a week at the Garden of Aden to offer help. Paul was always gracious and spent a great deal of time teaching me about Hosta and his methods of selective breeding. Paul used to get busloads of people from all over the world to visit his wonderful Garden of Aden. He was an amazing cultivar and always had something new to teach me every time I visited. Paul inspired many as a science teacher at Baldwin High School. I get so aggravated when I hear false statements from spineless jealous people posting negative comments about him especially after his death in 2010. Truly spineless…..

Spineless was his theft of the breeding stock of a college student, Kevin Vaughn, while he was away from home at college. Spineless was his theft from hosta gardens during plant tours. The guy was a proven thief that fraudulently marketed the works of others as his own.

Anyone who thinks this is name calling, made-up stories or BS needs to read the ENTIRE Aden story on The Hosta Library front page. No other proof needed. He may have been a nice neighbor, but he stole others plants and claimed them as his own. He was a complete fraud and a thief of the worst kind......smiling to your face while stabbing you in the back!!

It’s very sad that the lineage of so many plants is lost forever.

debra

Look at the story on the HL. It was written in 1990 twenty years before he died. In all that time he never tried to fight the registration removals nor did file any sort of slander case. That says it all.

debra

I could not possibly care less.

So don’t read it.

debra

The Commission report is dated 2013. Aden died in 2010. The crook couldn't be interrogated.. Sad. Con men get away with it because they are so NICE. Deceitful would be a good name for a Paul Aden introduction.

-Babka