512 unique ones that I can find
36 that I have 2 of
2 that I have 3 of
2 that I use in a border and have more than 10 of
45 seedlings that I grew from seed
48 weedlings
6 arriving in the mail on Thursday
and 1 in my shopping cart (Lakeside Reflecting Glass) that I can't make my mind up about

Somewhere around 220. I keep count, but I know I lost a few, but I also haven't counted some plain green ones, so that's about right. I've lost some shade due to losing an oak and some huge branches from my Cottonwood last fall, (not landscaping trees, that's for sure) so I'm not sure if I can add many more, but I'm working on an idea for that. :-)

115 all different varieties. Another 10 or so if you count doubles. Did I mention that our lot is 80' by 100'? lol

It is a good thing that we don't have more property - this hosta thing could get very expensive, even more than it is now.

Paula

I have 75, no duplicates. I'd have A LOT more if I didn't live in a housing development!

Somewhere around 500, give or take. I lost count a couple years ago at 454, bought some, lost a few, grew some seedlings, gave up on a tally!

Sandy

I stopped counting when I reached 400 different varieties. My garden has really matured the last two years and I have been moving some over into the neighbors woodland area. I plan to get down to about 200. Luckily the neighbor has a good sized lot.

I have no idea and don't care because it doesn't matter. I'm a hosta lover, not a hosta collector, and have many duplicates because there is no way the 500th hosta variety would be as cool as montana Aureomarginata, Sun Power or Paradigm.

I'm going for the look, not the number.

138 unique named hostas
14 duplicates, 6 of these are mass landscape plantings
10 noids
5 seedlings
167 hosta entries total in my journal

Gesila, I think I have 'Lakeside Looking Glass' in the plants new hostas coming from Bridgewood. I decided to order it anyway and just bring it to the Hallson's summer get-together if I end up hating it =)

Paula, I think my lot might be 80' x 120'

Timhensley, can I be your neighbor?!

I'm nominating myself for hosta lover with the FEWEST hosta at a whopping 18. :)

I don't have ear the numbers that most of you have amassed as I am more a woodland shade gardener than hosta collector. I have about 75 hostas but also significant numbers of supporting plants such as trilliums, huechera. brunerra and lingularia.

I dont have plans for large numbers of new hostas (I add a few each year) - just enjoy the garden that I have,

Doug

132 different named cultivars
5-6 NOIDs
duplicates/triplicates/border of about 10-12 of the 132
Still lots of space in my woodland garden!

I have about 70 varieties and 40 seedlings. I haven't counted but my DH did and I had over 60 then. I love flowers and have an American mixed border. In my small suburban lot I don't have much room for more - but I'm finding some. Yesterday I took out two yews that where planted to close to the foundation to look right anyway.

Have 128 total. Some are duplicates, making 109 different varieties. I live in town but my lot is 98 wide by 320 deep. So needless to say I can still expand. hehe.

I have over 500, all named, labeled, and in their designated themed beds. I currently am not purchasing any others unless they are truly distinct, like Frisian pride that I couldn't pass on this year. Or tarheel blue, delona's smile, kaleidochrome, battlestar, and summer squall, radiant, star, Flemish gold, curly fries, clovelly, forbidden fruit, (my recent indulgences). I am trying to purchase plants that I think might have good traits for any hybridizing I might do in the future.

No real idea. I know there are over 200 named varieties, 5-6 NOIDs, a lot of duplicates in the older, more landscaped areas, and 6 waiting for a wall to be finished so they can go in. Very excited about some of those. They're sort of souvenirs in advance of things we hope to see on a trip to New England this year. Humpbacked Whale is getting the big area in the middle, and Niagara Falls and Bridal Falls go on either side.

Some of you have a LOT - I can hardly maintain what I've got, can't imagine trying to weed and water thousands of hostas. And now I'm reading Flowerchilds list and coveting each and every one.........................

I have over 350 hostas,not including seedlings. 245 of those are named hostas,but I have a lot of duplicates. I've lost some,and am only going to add a few this year. I garden on thes side of a small 'mountain on 1/2 acre of property,which is mostly unusuable due to being too steep,or too shady,and there is too much underbrush,and poison ivy to even think of going in there. Did I mention that I live in the woods,and my garden is a woodland garden? Phil

I only have 43 with a couple of duplicates. Don't have that much shade or i'm sure I would have a lot more.

I have a total of 49 on my 60X110 foot city lot. That includes 3 noids and 2 So Sweets, of course. I don't have enough shade for more at this time. However, I'm building a workshop and it will have a covered porch, which will give me more shade just in time for my fall acquisitions.

bk

I have 78 different varieties with many duplicates. Have narrowed down a list of wants from seeing all of your pics to 7. Will only purchase this year if I find those specific hostas. Have you seen the commercial with the guy asking a group of kids various ???'s and the little girl's answer to one ? "Cause we need more, cause we gotta have more, cause we don't like less, cause I just have to have more, cause more is better than less, cause more is good..... :)
WW

I have about 70 with no duplicates plus one seedling (first one ever this year!!!!!).

I'm not sure how much more we'll be able to do, although there's always room for *one* more. I do love the large hostas, but I think I'll be moving towards the minis and small hostas going forward......LOL

Flowerchild, have you watched this video of the Friesian horse? It has gorgeous creatures and perfect music to watch them by.

Now I understand where the name for Friesian Pride hosta came from, the significance of it.

Pardon me for mumbling here over the exact number. It is a secret I keep from even myself. You might as well ask me my weight, or maybe my age, since I have a birthday next week. But I'd rather reveal that number than have to count the hosta in my garden......

........Let's say that last May I had about 110 with many orders in the chute. This May, when I deleted the losses, deducted the multiples, combined a few of those multiples into one pot, and updated my indexing records, I still did not have a good number. Let's say it is somewhere around ......350......and I suppose I will know the total when I finish making my notebook in which each hosta has its own page by name/variety/species.

Now I do not consider myself a collector per se, because I don't fit that gardening style. I've never been one to have a whole row of one thing.....although I do have a border of Italian cypress and rosemary with a few small boxwoods. And I edge with liriope, aspidistra, ferns run freely. With the hosta, I'd be likely to select some lookalikes, but all unique named varieties, to sort of line up a breaking wave of that look. There are too many beautiful hosta out there to have to choose just ONE to plant in a row....

Anyway, the number is 350.....that's my story and I'm sticking to it.....ask me next year, I might have a handle on it by then.

Judging by the number of seeds being set this year on my hosta through blooming, it will be a bumper crop. Hopefully some of my fragrant hosta can get together with a few fragrant combinations. I'll sure try to give them a chance to show what they can do. I'm busy moving pots with scapes and open flowers close together, hoping something is going to happen as a result.

Here is a link that might be useful: Friesian Pride

I have 15, I think. Rainbow's End, Remember Me, Paradise Island, Rainforest Sunrise, Gypsy Rose, Blue Cadet (2), Undulatus mediopicta, Sparkler, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (2), First Mate, Raspberry Sundae, Cracker Crumbs, Yellow Eyes, High Society.

Not so many, and way too many.

50 different varieties, 151 plants...not counting seedlings (~20)

Jon

Around 180, no duplicates....coming to the end....I think

187 but my files are not updated and there are a lot not counted for yet. I agree with mocc ... ask me my age which is like 50 again. I like to think that I do not collect the hosta but that they choose me!

My old database got corrupted in a computer swap, so my list is a little uneven... so I won't say how many different cultivars. I can tell you I have about half an acre completely covered in hostas... I'd guestimate my seedlings count at 400-500. I try to give away seedlings to young gardeners just getting started to make room for more seedlings and sports...

I've got it bad, folks...

I feel like that really, really old drunk at the bar warning the "kids" to limit their consumption!

160 with 109 different cultivars, soon to be 164/113. Those numbers may go back down, though. Clovelly, one of two ADG, and two Snow Caps were struggling last year and came back small this spring. If they croak, Clovelly is the only one I'll replace.

Around 200 total with 180 different cultivars.

My goal this year was not to go over 300 different cultivars. I'm two short but am not sure I can buy only two if I go to a garden center that I haven't been to this year. Small hostas are pretty easy to fit in somewhere but I'm afraid a large one will catch my eye. The last biggie that I haven't planted yet is Brave Amherst. I'm trying to nurse back Loyalist, Orange Marmalade, Sea Fire and Fireworks. I do have some multiples such as Royal Standard but that's a lot of work, replacing a large one of those and I have 10. I should probably just content myself with making the ones I have grow better.

Eleven, I'm sure you'll love L. Looking Glass. It's very shiny and so aptly named.

STOP THE PRESS!!! LATE BREAKING NEWS.....

Three boxes of hosta were delivered this morning. One from Pella, IA, one from......one from Michigan, Hallson.....and the biggest one, from Jim Hartmann, bless his heart for digging some MONSTER SIZE plants for me. It makes me sweat just thinking about it. And his box was as long as one for long stem roses. What a wonderful way to end springtime. Come on, SUMMER. Those plants from Jim are mature divisions, and will go straight to the large size pots to accommodate them. When I say BIG, I mean some are taller than my Empress Wu which arrived measuring 33 inchs including root ball. These new guys are every bit as tall.

My DH saw the boxes, and with a wrinkled forehead above his astonished eyes, said, "Those aren't more hosta, are they?" Well, I told him I had to get more for the new bed out front, since there were none to spare anywhere in the garden! :)

So now I've done it. There is a second and a third box coming from Jim tomorrow, the longest or biggest triangular shape Priority Mail has to offer. For just 8 more hosta in them. So I can tell they are going to be humongous too.

Who needs Bodacious when I've got all these biggies.

The estimate of hosta in the garden is up for revision.

My Sam Spade, coming from Ed Schulz, the originator, is I hope an OS.....it is rhizomatous so might not be put through tissue culture, right? I'll ask him. It is sure a lot prettier than the small one I got in 2012, looks like a big feather duster.

I'm in the process of tying up all the petioles before I take them outdoors. Still in the horizontal position, it is easier to wrap the blue masking tape around them, before they splay out in the heat and humidity outdoors. I've begun potting near sundown these days, sweat obscures my vision otherwise.

Pictures of the contents of the three boxes will be posted when I have a chance. Separate thread, you betcha. I'll be using a wide angle for some of them!

"Those aren't more hosta, are they?" Well, I told him I had to get more for the new bed out front, since there were none to spare anywhere in the garden!

None to spare anywhere in the garden! That is a whoot! Best laugh I had all day. I was broken into today. No hosta were damaged nothing taken. Close though. Odd my son was home at the time. I worry more for his safety. He scared them off. So I did need a good laugh. Now if CSI will get here. I have 18 liners in transit somewhere.

Oops, guess you are lucky they did not vandalize the place too, Paula. What a pain. Or, they may come back again, just cased the joint this time. You have a privacy fence too, and I think that is a good policy to keep folks inclined to burgle from seeing the lay of the land, lights, security, etc.

Well, guess what....DH was working on the front stoop and he intercepted the FOURTH BOX OF HOSTA. As he brought it to me, at the kitchen sink blue taping the big hosta received in the morning, he said, "Big surprise...guess what just came...MORE HOSTA!" It was merely TWO hosta tonight, from Mason Hollow.....a 2 gallon Manhattan, and a one-eye Venus, of the fragrant double-flowered fame. I am a happy camper tonight. Tomorrow is the grand finale. :)

Geez, those big hosta from Jim (Hartmann--Idiothe) will take a lot of potting mix, so another 4 bags coming home with me from Lowes tomorrow. Hope I don't miss Jim's last two boxes to bring them inside to cool off....

Please note I said JIM'S LAST TWO BOXES. If you believe them to be MY last two, then I have a bridge over in Brooklyn that I'd like to sell you.

I boast of having 400 all ID and tagged and not yet kicked my habit! :-)
Gary

Mocc, I am betting your total is going to rival Gesila's 500 hosta by the end of this year!

LInda :)

I have around 350 hostas, not counting all the h.'Lemon Lime'. I have 205 different cultivars and around 50 seedlings not counted in above totals. To count it differently, this morning I needed 4 lbs of BugGeta Plus pellets spread sparingly under all those hostas. Thereafter I needed 3 1/2 fills of a 2 gal pump sprayer to spray all the leaves and petioles with Bayer Advanced Disease Control, hopefully stopping any nematodes. Bernd

That's a lotta pellets/liquid, Bernd!

Don B.

I think I might get more but every time I feel that way I try to remind myself of the work involved each year on the upkeep of all of them. Weeding alone is gonna kill me.

chris

Berndny, take a look at the benefits of adding crushed crab shell to your current tasty blend. It is supposed to feed the good bacteria which will then feed on the nematodes. Since having foliar nematodes and saw fly larva and such are part of our gardening conditions in the south, I figure that is a good investment. If you're interested, I ended up going to the "manufacturer" which has a website under the product name, Neptune's Harvest. For my experience just using it this spring growing season, I see lots of sawflies but very few sawfly larva holes in hosta leaves. It was a constant battle last year with those holes. And I have a little cutworm damage, but mostly in pots with no crab shell in the mix.

I mentioned that because of the measures you are taking to prevent the nematode damage, one more regimen couldn't hurt, right? :)

I haven't found the Bayer Advanced Disease Control in anything but a squeeze bottle. Will look harder. SEVEN gallons to go around the garden? You must have been soaking everything.

Tropic_Lover had this to say:
"Mocc, I am betting your total is going to rival Gesila's 500 hosta by the end of this year!

LInda :)"

I am so glad I did not miss this!
Linda, good LORD, I hope you are wrong!
My poor DH asked at dinner tonight, "Do you really know how many hosta you have?" I looked him level in the eye, and said "I really don't know, but I'm thinking you're right to guess 300, and with all these new arrivals, maybe 350?" To which he replied, "I don't know, I'm thinking now it is closer to 400."

Okay, it looks promising that he is not immediately asking for a divorce, you know? So I figure I'm covered up to 400. Which might be closer than I think.

Can you imagine what the count might become when I try to grow some open pollenated fragrant-flowered hosta seed? I won't be tossing a one of those!

Mocc, lol, maybe you should actually count them before you end up with more than Ken has! You have a good husband who lets you indulge your addiction. No harm, no foul! It will be fun to see them all in a few years when they are mature. How many giants do you figure you have?

about 480 (and pretty content with that, though evening out around 500 would be good). On top of that, another dozen or so that are MIA.... not sure if they're being held hostage (ha ha, get it?) by other hostas or if they're dead.
3 need to be destroyed due to viruses.

Last year, I thought I had surpassed the 500 mark, but after completing inventory, I now know that I must've been off in my accounting.

I have maybe a dozen duplicates, but most of those have been doubled up with their dupes by now.

My days of adding 100+/year are OVER. I'm at 9 for this year and probably won't exceed that since I have no buying trips on the horizon. Last year, I think I added about 40-50. But for the previous 3 years, it was over 100/yr.

The next new beds will be filled with hostas who've outgrown their spots.

Man, I'm but a piker compared to some of you.... I have somewhere around 65 varieties with multiples of many, so I'm guessing close to 90, BUT, I have probably as many seedlings from the last 2 years I'm hanging on to for evaluation, most of which will end up being given away and at most I'll end up with a half dozen or so of those that'll be garden worthy.

I'm cramped though, we have a small 50x100 suburban lot and most of what I have is in pots. And of course hostas aren't the only thing in pots in the garden, we have plenty of lilies as well. I've threatened for the last couple of years to make an additional island bed in our front yard for a small shrub/tree surrounded with you know what, but DW keeps balking at that for some reason.... I say who needs a lawn.... but she thinks differently, though I keep working at it.

Pieter

Melissa makes a good point about how many you plan to add a year. Last year I added one, Goodness Gracious. But his year I'm on a rampage, adding six. I decided to bulk up on Liberty, three new ones, because the one I already have is so bright and cheerful that I wanted more of that brightness in other spots.

I also picked up two Junes as foreground for a display with Dream Queen, Golden Gate, Guacamole and an old wooden wagon wheel. I already had a couple of those too.

So only one new variety among the six hostas. That was Paradise Island, also added for brightness.

Other than that, I just promote to the yard from the seedling bed.

I have 96 varieties. I have duplicates and several divisions. The total number being 139+ I haven't counted since 2011 and I just added the totals of new varieties but I know that does not include the divisions I placed in a new bed last year.
I am still longing for a Niagara Falls.

I feel silly... I only have 15!! But no duplicates. All different!!

30 - Small potatoes - but they are very "happy hostas."

My name says it all...67...I'm sure over time that will grow.
I LOVE perennials, don't buy annuals unless something catches my eye...no, im not a perennial 'snob', i just got hooked on perennials like my mother did before me....waiting for spring to see the babies return is such a thrill....

I fell in love with hosta back in the fall of 1980 when I asked for a piece of hosta called Lancifolia...plain green, pointy leaves, but was she a beauty. I took her home in a green plastic bag and left her in the backyard, sitting in the bag, against the house until I had a chance to plant her. I had three small children, got busy, and soon forgot about the hosta. Winter came, winter left, spring followed, and I was outdoors checking on my "babies"...I gasped when I saw the garbage bag, forgotten and still propped against the house but the gasp was one of amazement! Poking out of the bag were all these pointy, green tips, obviously a hosta was growing!!!! Imagine that...a garbage bag 'hosta bed'. That was it for me...anything that could survive such neglect deserved a place of honour in my garden. To this day my daughters and I refer to this hosta as Mary Long because that is the lady who gave me my first hosta.

I still love the older hosta from which all these newbies originated, in one form or another...now we have fancy names, exotic names, suggestive names aka Striptease, Obscene Gesture, etc etc etc but they are all hosta, they are beautiful, majestic plants and will never go out of style....they don't demand special care, if you don't fertilize they still reward you with flowers and they grow bigger and more beautiful each year but they DO COME BACK, YEAR AFTER YEAR. Saying I collect hosta really means I am hiding behind the excuse that my gardens are a jumbled mess, somewhat of a jungle and the hosta that live in those beds have the job of detracting from that mess...lol. Here's a pic of the Lancifolia that survived the garbage bag and fondly named Mary Long. This is the "mother" plant from which my divisions are made. She's been moved so many times I can't remember how many, yet look at her...isn't she a beauty?

Anyone who ever says "less is more" ......surely that saying doesn't apply to hosta, does it? If that's the case, then I'm a hopeless case.

My backyard is 42ft. wide only but it is jammed with all perennial plants. I have a bed under the tiny deck which consists of hostas, astilbes, hellebores, one heuchera, a columbine, a dwarf goat's beard, a peony, a shrubby sweet pea perennial...a bed on the other side of stairs, consisting again of hosta, peony, bergamot, anemone, brunnera, jacob's ladder, primula, easter lily, astilbe, a bed along each side of the house with more hosta, fern, tall phlox, lillies, a bed under the front window which continues down the front walkway entrance, consisting of rose of sharon, weigela, spirea, potentilla, yellow Itoh peony, hosta, then a long (not really long) free standing bed out front, forsythia row down one side of driveway, and a bed that incorporates the city-planted maple...mainly comprised of variety of low growing sedums. Just a whole lot of jumbled plants, nothing fancy or scientific, but boy they sure make me smile!!! Gardening gets me up and at it, sore back and all, and keeps me moving and happy with the world in general. My motto is that if I see it and like it, it goes home with me! I'll worry about placement later...I have no room for anything more, hosta or otherwise but, like a lot of you, I dig up more sod, lug soil bags around and plant to my heart's content!

josephines67, welcome to the forum. Love your passion.

Paul

moccasinLanding...WOW, again, WOW!!!!! My email is hostajocee@gmail.com

Pleeeeeease send me some pictures to drool over...my curiosity has the better of me...I would love to see a pic of your latest new arrivals and of your gardens...question: do you allow tours through your gardens??? Road trip! Road trip! Road trip! Lol

Thank you, Paul for the welcome...I have to curb my enthusiasm sometimes but pretty hard to do when talking gardening lol.

I realize more and more what a novice I really am the more I read all your comments. Some of you (maybe more than I can imagine) grow your own seedlings...I am not worthy!!!! All I do is go nuts over my plants, talk to them regardless of whose listening, go out front in my pjs (now-a-days who knows they are pjs? Lol lo lol) to take pics of new blooms, call my neighbour over to complain together over the rascally wabbit that is eating my asters #%€£¥+=
..then find out he's also eaten my Sweet Kate Tradescantia!!! At least he left me a few flowers behind..he ate my neighbours rose! How do they do that with all the thorns? If I had a pellet gun....no, no, no, just kidding!

Well, I had better go and check on the resident slugs...they must be happy with me as I soaked the beds early this am. They are likely moseying along towards poor Ann Kulpa and Bedazzled hosta....lots of holes...I forgot to pick up the beer for them...heck with them, if they keep chewing my hosta, I will be the one drinking the beer!!!