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ken_adrian

i will miss the freak

phil the hostafreak passed on 12/4 ... an aneurysm ...

he and his wife diane.. visited my garden a few years back.. on their way to a summer family get together in MI ...

he was so happy to meet another freak ... and got so excited... as many hosta peeps do.. about my conifer collection ... as well as the hosta, of course ....

Diane was the best of enabling spouses ... and was the photographer ... and phils happiness.. seemed to make her happy ...

simply... happy shiny people ...

Rest in Peace my friend ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: find a youtube if you wish

Comments (92)

  • User
    9 years ago

    I thought I'd said all my words until I read Myrle's mention of Eventide for a new hosta in memory of Phil. And I must say, even the name is perfect. It seems that we were all gathered together as friends, sharing the love of our gardens at twilight. Eventide..favorite hour in my White Dove. We shared the sunset of life with Phil. How lifting is that.

    In a moment of meditation this summer, sitting in my garden at twilight, I realized that when God created Eden, he defined Paradise as a garden and a place where we may always find Him.. When we pass from this world, if there is a Paradise around the bend, it will be the garden...Phil would agree with that.

  • zkathy z7a NC
    9 years ago

    I am so sorry to hear this news! Phil's comments and posts to this forum have been so useful to me and so reassuring. I tried to arrange a visit to his garden when DH and I visited Asheville this fall, but the timing was bad for both of us. My deepest sympathy to Diane and all of us who knew him through this forum.

    Kathy

  • bkay2000
    9 years ago

    Eventide would be a great hosta in memory of Phil. It's a beautiful hosta. His Dress Blues was gorgeous, too.

    I never "knew" Papou, but every time I see a Liberty, I think of him and his record keeping.

    That's a great idea, Myrle.

    bk

  • bchosta 8b west coast canada
    9 years ago

    As so many of you have stated ... sad news.

  • sandyslopes z5 n. UT
    9 years ago

    Oh know. This is terrible news. So shocking and hard to believe. I always related to how he gardened on a hillside. It breaks my heart that he won't be here to see his hostas this spring. He was so proud of his Parhelion, that he made me take another look at mine with more appreciative eyes. Sad. Sad. Sad. My heart goes out to his family.

  • plantbug
    9 years ago

    I was so saddened to find this out. I met Phil a few years ago and he was a hosta freak, in a good way. A good idea on the H. Eventide to keep him in our hearts. "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
    RIP

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    I would love to get an Eventide hosta in Phil's memory as well but I'm having difficulty finding it in my area. Neither Hosta Fever nor Giboshihill carry it. I'll keep looking for it in Canada unless there is another favourite hosta of Phil's?

    This post was edited by josephines67 on Fri, Dec 12, 14 at 13:06

  • don_in_colorado
    9 years ago

    I got 'Dress Blues' after seeing pics of Phil's plant and his strong recommendation for it. Beautiful plant. Will always think of Phil when I see it now. I'll miss you, "Hostafreak." Rest in peace.

    Don B.

  • donrawson
    9 years ago

    Here are a couple pics of Phil's garden in early April, 2014: Phil's garden

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Ken, thank you for sharing such sad news. Indeed, Phil's gardens were so inspiring to me and I have always harbored a secret hope to hop on down to NC one of these years, knowing he would welcome guests to his gardens with open arms. I adore that picture of the two of you. He was always such a sweetie in his posts and it shows in that photo!

    My thoughts are with Diane and everyone here who knew him better than I.

    Cynthia

  • MadPlanter1 zone 5
    9 years ago

    All my sympathy to his family. I have a mental picture of Phil in his heavenly garden, planting hostas on a hillside where the sun never scorches, the hail never falls, and the rain always comes at the perfect time displaying his treasures for all the other hosta freaks.

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    I absolutely love and visualized that mental picture, MadPlanter!

    I've been reading a smattering of threads where Phil posted and presented pictures of his beloved hostas and even bookmarked a couple. It really is so peaceful, and lovely to enjoy looking at them, knowing Phil tended them.

  • donrawson
    9 years ago

    The garden of Eden must have been absolutely breathtaking before the fall of man. I imagine hostas growing in lush glades...without slug holes, frost damage, scortching, etc. They were evenly watered by a continuous dew from the ground.

    The Lord promised the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise". The term "paradise" is an Old Persian word which means "garden" or "orchard". Jesus was linking the future glorious kingdom to the beauty of the original garden of Eden before the fall. Apparently, we will be tending God's wonderful garden again...once He creates a new heaven and a new earth..

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    You know, I became a hosta addict just about the time Papou passed. Even though I hadn't been lurking for long and was secretly becoming "one of you" (that is to say, an addict), I planted a Liberty for him. I smile every year when it begins to pop through the soil. Perhaps we could do the same for Phil.

    Cynthia, who still mostly lurks, but appreciates all of you so very much

  • User
    9 years ago

    Don, thank you for providing the background for the garden as a paradise. I'm saving your post to first page of my hosta garden information, in case I should ever forget the definition of "garden."

  • Janice
    9 years ago

    Amen, don_r! I firmly believe the original *garden*will be restored to never be defiled again and I do hope I get to tend all those perfect hosta as a small part of the blessing of being there with The Lord!

  • Janice
    9 years ago

    Moccasinlanding, I just went back and read your eulogy about Phil being 'a best friend you never met'! Your thoughts are so beautifully expressed and touched me deeply! Thank you for taking the time to share them with us and hopefully Diane will take a place amongst us and read them as well!

    One day The Garden will be perfect again and Phil will be there, too!

  • Teresa_MN
    9 years ago

    A little late to this post but still very saddened to hear about Phil nonetheless.

    Thanks for posting Ken.

  • almosthooked zone5
    9 years ago

    Ken , if at all possible for you to send this complete conversation to Phil's wife and family I would be certain she would appreciate all the wonderful comments from all the friends he never got to see but who all that knew him through the world of gardening. He will be missed
    Faye

  • mary52zn8tx
    9 years ago

    So sad to hear this news. I will miss Phil's beautiful garden and his presence here.

  • irawon
    9 years ago

    I feel so sad that Phil won't be posting pics of his lovely hillside hosta garden next spring. I will remember him every time I look at my 'Ice Follies' (sport of 'Antioch')... it was one of the few of his hostas left untouched by the NC freeze last spring.

    My condolences to his family and his hosta friends here on GardenWeb. I will miss his presence on this forum.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Well, that decides it for me, irawon. I will plant Ice Follies for Phil this spring.

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    I just finished reading a July post where Phil mentioned he lost his Winter Snow this past spring. I am so glad it was one I chose as my Top Gun winner, just as a matter of chance! It is doubly special.

  • User
    9 years ago

    Same thing happened here, Jo. I bumped the thread about Addressing Overcrowding, and Phil had posted in there.
    Not wanting to move XL hosta at his age, he said.....so we will keep finding tidbits and memories still with us for a long time.

  • Linda's Garden z6 Utah
    9 years ago

    This makes me very sad... R.I.P. Phil....you will be missed.

    I will miss his beautiful garden and I was looking forward to seeing his little japanese maple tree with the ring of hostas around it maturing.

    Linda

  • evermore_gw z 4/5 NB
    9 years ago

    These tributes to Phil preserve memories of a wonderful gardener who shared his passion with others. They also prove to us, if anyone doubted it, that there is a strong bond among the hosta growers of this forum, a sense of community that Phil himself helped create.

    I remember my reaction when first seeing the photo of Phil with Ken (shown above). Phil was not as I anticipated - a gentle sort as others have described him. I had always imagined a sterner, tougher individual. But looks can be deceiving. The very fact that Phil chose to grow hostas on the side of a steep hill, worked harder than most to clear enough ground to do so, and then coaxed his beautiful plants along until they blended with his magnificent hillside retreat - all show a man of strong inner determination and grit.

    They say you know a person best from what they do. I guess we knew Phil as a man who loved his natural surroundings, added to their beauty, generously shared his experience with others, and (despite nature's sometimes cruel twists) never lost hope in what another spring would bring.

    Like others here, I hope to find Eventide to serve as a gentle reminder of Phil and all he taught us.

    Steve (Evermore)

  • hillbillyhosta
    9 years ago

    so sad news phil will be missed

  • don_in_colorado
    9 years ago

    I was just thinking about Phil's mountainside garden, and remembered him telling me in a post that he only watered his hostas when he first planted them. The climate where he lived, the amount of rain Hosta Vista gets is enough to sustain his hostas throughout the season. Kind of made me a little happy...Phil may have passed, but Hosta Vista will be back, hopefully for many seasons to come, even if they're not seen by us "hosta freaks". Viva Hosta Vista.

    Don B.

  • sandysoil_2008 6A Near Boston
    9 years ago

    Phil was one of the "regulars" and I enjoyed reading his postings. He will be missed and remembered by all his hosta peeps.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    Phil

    On the side of a hill in North Carolina
    He grew hosta, no one grew finer
    Polite and savvy was old Phil
    The man who planted on a hill
    This year his plants it seems were failing
    Knowing maybe Phil was ailing
    Spring is coming weâÂÂd say to him
    Phil seemed to think the chance was slim
    Seasons come and seasons go
    A finer guy weâÂÂll never know
    Search so wide for one to beat
    You just wonâÂÂt find another Freak

    RIP

  • DelawareDonna
    9 years ago

    Very touching, Jon. Sums him up.

    DD

  • User
    9 years ago

    You say it so well, Jon. So true.

  • don_in_colorado
    9 years ago

    Wonderful, Jon. Very nice wordsmithing.

    This is H 'Dress Blues'. Upon maturity, it's a very beautiful plant, in color and in form. Phil loved it, and he said I should get one. Sure glad I did. Mine is only a couple years old, but here is a pic from the hosta library of a mature one. it's from a cross of Breeders Choice and Halcyon. My tribute plant to Phil I already happen to own. (Although I'm looking for Ice Follies or Eventide) But I'll always think of Phil when I see Dress Blues : ) Miss ya, buddy!

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    Thanks DD, Moc and Don. I knew you would appreciate the effort Moc.

    Spring won't be the same without Phil sharing his garden and making us jealous with his early risers.

    Jon

  • User
    9 years ago

    When I lived at MoccasinLanding, I planted "memory" plants for my family and dear friends. Trees as well as shrubs which had a long life expectancy. I thought my son would reside there after I was gone. Yet, he died, and in subsequent years I sold the house to begin again elsewhere. I never expected that the new owner would bulldoze everything, every tree, every shrub, and strip MoccasinLanding of all its beautiful private garden. I was shocked when I saw it.

    It set me to thinking about a legacy. What can a person do to mark their days on earth? How can you as a regular normal human being make a difference in this world?

    That's when I realized that we live in the memories of those we touch. I need no statue or a planting in the name of my daddy, my mother, my grandmother, nor even the Don Juan rose for my son, to remember. My best friend who taught me to cook with reckless abandon, and to appreciate the rhythmic song of a long proper name for trachelospermum jasminoides, she touched my heart with her joy of living.

    Thus I can say there will never be a green ginger jar that does not remind me of Phil. No steep slope planted with hosta at eye level that does not feel like the shaded pathways in his Carolina garden. When Phil was morose about having no guests to visit his special space, I soon came to appreciate how he felt when my collection of pots and hosta started to look like a garden too.....oh, to have someone who knew how to appreciate it, to look with informed eyes upon what was evolving in its own time. Sagae and the green ginger jar will continue linked in my memories with Phil.

    He reached out and gently touched so many of us. His heart will go on.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Celine Dion...My Heart Will Go On

  • mctavish6
    9 years ago

    Beautifully said.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    A friend of mine used to be the foreman of the fabrication shop where I worked until he retired. I use to see him once a year at a get-together we all had. Bill had a hobby of hybridizing irises and people would stop and ask if any were for sale. Bill and his wife decided they were either going to stop selling anything or start a regular business; which they did. They sold out of their property and by mail order.

    I bought a bunch of Iris from them and I would joke to our mutual friends that this was going to be a memorial garden for Bill. We all got a big laugh at this.

    This year the Iris never bloomed , probably the iris borer that prevents blooming. I just never got around to soaking them in bleach to cure it. It did get me thinking about Bill and I looked up his website and found it was gone. I Googled a little bit and found he had died in April.

    If Bill ever heard how we joked about my 'memorial' he would have cursed me out for sure, but there is no doubt we would still have been friends.

    So now I have a big incentive to dig up all those iris and treat them. I don't want Bill to get angry with me. I think a memorial plant or small plot is a great idea. I do have one good sized Sagae on the side of a hill that will have to become Phil's Memorial Sagae.

    This post was edited by jonnyb023 on Mon, Dec 29, 14 at 15:56

  • evermore_gw z 4/5 NB
    9 years ago

    Mocc,

    Your words are truly touching. And, of course, you're right: our memory of the person is what counts. Each of us may choose something different - like your green ginger jar - that reminds us of Phil. And then we'll all get to the same place.

    Steve

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    9 years ago

    haven't been around for a very long time. So sorry to her Phil is gone. He will be alive in our memories.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Mocc and Jon, lovely.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    i couldnt figure out why i have been so down for the last few weeks .. and avoiding my email in box ...

    and i decided it was all these wonderful thoughts and prayers ...

    i did write to diane.. and wish her well ...

    and linked her to this post..

    i have no idea if she is up on how to post to GW ...

    but if she sends me an email about it... i will forward it along to you.. here ...

    goodbye phil ... you touched my life.. and i am enriched by it ...and i will think of diane often ... especially when my hosta come up ....

    ken

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    diane wrote the following on 12-31-14 :

    Ken,
    I'm doing ok. I have a wonderful family and both sides.
    Would you please thank all the people on the Hosta Forum. I have read the beautiful things they wrote about Phil. He would show me pictures they posted and tell me about them. He considered them friends.
    I'm glad I got to meet you. Have a good 2015.
    Diane

  • User
    9 years ago

    Ken, thank you for sharing Diane's message with us.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Ken. I hope the new year brings you, Diane, and everyone here health and happiness and, at some point, more smiles and laughter than tears as we remember Phil.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    Ken,

    Anyone who called himself the freak wouldn't want us to keep feeling sad.

    Diane,

    Please check in once and a while and help us keep the memory of Phil alive and fresh in our lives. Obviously he was a favorite here and I'm sure with all who knew him. He made everyone's life better for knowing him. I'm sure you know this best. Stay strong.

    Jon

  • hostatakeover swMO
    9 years ago

    Moccasin, I just read what you wrote and found it beautiful and moving.

    I wish I'd met Phil and had the privilege of viewing his gardens. I haven't been here long enough to really get to know him well, but remember he was always so happily helpful.

    This past year he'd indicated he would post a pic of his Dino in '15. I'd just gotten mine and wanted to see what his looked like. Sad I'll probably never get to see his now, but from now on whenever I look at my own Dino I'll think of Phil.

  • smorz
    9 years ago

    I was offline from the holidays til now... Such sad news. DonR... You found the perfect words to share :)

  • mosswitch
    9 years ago

    So sad. I'll miss his posts and beautiful garden.

  • paula_b_gardener 5b_ON
    9 years ago

    As I was without Internet for so long, I missed this post. I am truly shocked by his passing, he was such an integral part of this hosta community. He was very kind and helpful. I, too remember his sad spring freeze but I like to think the support he received here helped him cope with his loss. Jon, beautifully said.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    Thanks Paula, he is a tough guy to forget.