Hosta La Vista – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Every podcast has an origin story. This is ours.

Welcome to the very first episode of Hosta la Vista — the only podcast dedicated entirely to hosta plants, hosta care, and the growers, collectors, and hybridizers who love them. If you're looking for the perfect shade garden plant, a low maintenance perennial that comes back bigger every year, or just the most welcoming corner of the plant collecting community — this is your show.

In this debut episode, sisters Betsy Peterson and Mandy Olson introduce themselves, share how they each fell deep into the world of hostas, and explain why the hosta community deserves its own podcast. Two sisters, two climate zones, two completely different gardens — and one shared obsession with the friendship plant.

Betsy gardens on a city lot in Minnesota zone 4b, proving you don't need acreage to build a serious hosta collection. By day she's a school teacher, but her shade garden is where she truly comes alive. Her favorite hosta variety is Guardian Angel — the blue angel sport that earns its name every single season and turns first-time visitors into instant hosta collectors.

Mandy lives in Kansas zone 7a, tending a sprawling multi-acre shade garden and hosta collection while dabbling in growing hostas from seed and hybridizing her own hosta seedlings. When she's not in the garden she works as a sculptor, and that artist's eye for form, texture, and beauty shapes everything about how she sees hosta foliage — the corrugation, the cupping, the color. Her passion is the fragrant hosta plantaginea family, especially fragrant hostas like Fragrant Bouquet, where a shade perennial dares to smell as good as it looks.

Together they span zone 4 and zone 7, a city lot and several acres, beginner-friendly hosta care and serious hosta hybridizing — but share an equal and slightly unreasonable love for these remarkable shade tolerant plants and the warm, generous community that grows around them. In this first episode they lay out what Hosta la Vista will be: weekly conversations with hosta hybridizers, nursery owners, hosta collectors, show judges, and everyday shade gardeners with extraordinary stories about the best low maintenance perennial in the plant world.

Whether you have two hostas on a shady city lot or two thousand hosta varieties across several acres, whether you're zone 3 or zone 9, whether you're a seasoned collector or just discovering what to plant in the shade — you are in the right garden.

New episodes every Saturday. This is Hosta la Vista — where the shade is cool, the leaves are lush, and the friendships are perennial.

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Get a sneak peek into Hosta la Vista, the podcast where the shade is cool and the friendships are perennial! Meet your hosts, Betsy Peterson and Mandy Olson — two Hosta-loving sisters who are here to celebrate The Friendship Plant with weekly chats, special guests, and plenty of leafy laughs. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just discovering the magic of Hostas, you’re in the right place. Subscribe and grow along with us — one episode at a time! Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com

Welcome to a special midweek edition of Hosta La Vista — the podcast devoted to the world of hostas, shade gardening, and the people who make this community so special.

In this episode, we’re bringing you exclusive highlights and on-the-ground field reports from the American Hosta Society Convention 2025 in Peoria, Illinois. Whether you attended and want to relive the experience, or couldn’t make it this year, we’ve got you covered with real-time insights, stories, and standout moments from one of the biggest hosta events of the year.

While Betsy reports from her own shady garden, three trusted Hosta La Vista correspondents — Alisa Bowe Lenhardt, Tanya Refshauge, and Julie Lewter — take us inside the convention. From the hosta leaf show and seedling competitions to garden tours, educational seminars, and the high-energy hosta auction, they share what’s blooming, what’s buzzing, and what collectors are most excited about right now.

Hear firsthand about:

• Award-winning hosta leaves and seedlings
• Creative garden designs and inspiring hosta landscapes
• New trends in hosta hybridizing, including future possibilities like sun-tolerant and pest-resistant hostas
• Memorable auction wins (including coveted varieties like Gunther’s Prize)
• The powerful sense of connection that makes hostas known as the “friendship plant”

This episode captures the heart of the hosta community — from first-time attendees to seasoned collectors — and highlights why the American Hosta Society Convention is a must-attend event for anyone passionate about hosta gardening, shade perennials, and plant collecting.

A huge thank you to our field correspondents for sharing their experiences and bringing the convention to life.

Mark your calendars: the 2026 American Hosta Society Convention heads to Dublin, Ohio, June 11–13.

Have questions or want to connect? Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com
Don’t forget to follow Hosta La Vista on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

Pack your wellies and a good umbrella — Hosta La Vista is heading to England.

This week Betsy and Mandy cross the Atlantic to sit down with Ben Matthews of Worcester, England — curator of one of the most fascinating and historically significant hosta collections in the world. Ben holds the Plant Heritage designated British National Hosta Collection, focusing specifically on British hybridized hosta introductions from 1976 to 2016, comprising 32 species and an additional 350 cultivars — all tucked into a shade tunnel in a small suburban garden just three minutes from the M5. Because sometimes the most extraordinary things come in the most unassuming packages.

Ben's journey into the world of serious hosta collecting began with his mentor Una Dunnett — a fellow Worcestershire hosta enthusiast who lived down the road. When Una passed, she left her beloved collection to Ben, a gesture that speaks volumes about the trust and friendship they shared and the responsibility Ben carries as its steward. It is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever been shaped by a generous mentor or inherited a passion from someone they loved.

Ben is a member of the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society and brings a perspective on hosta growing and conservation genuinely different from anything we've heard on this side of the ocean. The UK growing climate, the culture around botanical conservation, and the particular challenges and joys of growing hostas in an English shade garden offer a fascinating window into a parallel hosta world that most American growers never get to peek inside.

And if you ever find yourself near Worcester — Ben's collection is open by appointment and completely free to visit. Contact him at hostahouse2@gmail.com.

Topics covered:

• The British National Hosta Collection — Plant Heritage designated, Worcester England
• British hybridized hosta introductions 1976 to 2016
• The mentorship of Una Dunnett and how her legacy lives on in Ben's collection
• Growing hostas in the UK — climate, challenges, and shade gardening differences
• The Plant Heritage National Collection program and botanical conservation in Britain
• The British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society
• Stewarding a living national plant heritage collection
• Transatlantic hosta connections — what UK and US growers can learn from each other

Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. Got questions or a story to share? Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook and Instagram at Hosta La Vista Podcast.

This week on Hosta la Vista, we welcome Alisa Bowe Lenhardt — hosta grower, fine artist, nationally certified hosta show judge, flower arranging expert, and member of the legendary Bowe family from Ohio, one of the most respected names in the hosta hybridizing world.

Alisa brings a perspective on hostas that is genuinely unlike anyone we've had on the pod. Yes, she grows them and judges them at the highest level — including this weekend at the American Hosta Society's annual convention in Peoria, Illinois — but she also sees hostas through an artist's eye. Her fine art has been displayed at the Pittsburgh Art Museum, and that same eye for color, texture, form, and composition shapes the way she evaluates a hosta leaf on a show table and arranges them in a vase.

We dig into what it actually takes to become a nationally recognized hosta show judge — what judges are really looking for when they walk a show table, how leaves are evaluated for size, color, substance, and presentation, and what separates a blue ribbon leaf from a best in show. Whether you've never entered a hosta show or you're a seasoned competitor, Alisa's insider perspective will change how you look at the plants in your own garden.

Alisa also has her own registered hosta cultivar, and we talk about what it means to bring a named variety into the world — the patience, the selection process, and the pride of seeing your plant in someone else's garden.

One of the most important moments in this episode is Alisa's warning about HVX — Hosta Virus X. As someone who sees hundreds of hostas at shows and nurseries, she explains just how easy it is to miss the early signs of this devastating and incurable virus, what to look for, and why even experienced growers get fooled. If you grow hostas, this is essential listening.

We also talk about flower arranging with hosta foliage — how the bold leaves, varied textures, and striking colors of hostas make them exceptional material for arrangements, and why hosta leaves outlast almost any cut flower you pair them with. Alisa shares how to think about hostas not just as garden plants but as living art.

And for anyone just getting started with hostas, Alisa has practical, encouraging advice on where to begin, what to look for, and how the world of hosta shows can take your passion to a whole new level.

This is a rich, inspiring conversation with a woman who lives at the beautiful intersection of horticulture and art.

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Can you grow hostas in Florida? In Zone 9? Zone 10? Zone 11? David Bowe has tried. And in this episode he tells you exactly what he learned.

This week on Hosta La Vista, Betsy and Mandy sit down with hosta hybridizer David Bowe — a man who spent decades breeding some of the most personality-packed cultivars in the hosta world, relocated to Miami, and refused to stop being curious about plants. He just had to find different ones.

David has registered over 30 hosta cultivars, many of them as memorable for their names as their leaves. Bottle Rockets. Cupid's Bow. Beau Brummell. Summer Rainbow. His hybrids aren't just beautiful — they have a sense of humor, which in a field full of perfectionists is genuinely refreshing. In this conversation he shares what it's like to watch a tiny seedling become a named variety, how he decides which plants make the cut, and why he doesn't take himself too seriously.

But the real twist in David's story is Miami. After decades of hosta hybridizing in Ohio, he relocated to Zone 11 — where the blazing heat makes growing hostas nearly impossible. We dig deep into what that transition looked like, what he learned about attempting to overwinter hostas in Zones 9 through 11, whether it's actually worth trying, and what warm climate gardeners can realistically expect when they refuse to give up on their favorite shade plant.

And when hostas finally said goodbye, David said hello to orchids — applying the same hybridizing curiosity, patience, and eye for the unusual to a whole new genus in a whole new climate. You just can't keep a good hybridizer down.

Whether you're a collector, a hybridizer in training, a warm climate gardener desperately googling whether hostas can survive a Florida summer, or just someone who appreciates a hosta with a sense of humor — this episode is for you.

Topics covered:

• Can you grow hostas in Florida — honest answers for Zone 9, 10, and 11 gardeners
• How to overwinter hostas in warm climates — tips, tricks, and reality checks
• Growing hostas in Zone 11 — what works, what doesn't, and whether it's worth it
• David Bowe's 30+ registered hosta cultivars — Bottle Rockets, Cupid's Bow, Beau Brummell, Summer Rainbow and more
• How hosta hybridizers choose which seedlings make the cut
• Relocating from Ohio to Miami and leaving a hosta garden behind
• From hostas to orchids — applying hybridizing skills in a new climate
• Humor, creativity, and personality in hosta naming and breeding

Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. Got questions or a story to share? Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook and Instagram at Hosta La Vista Podcast.

This week on Hosta la Vista, we sit down with Don Rawson — hosta hybridizer, curator of the legendary Hosta List database, creator of the Hostas of Distinction website, and one of the most quietly influential figures in the entire hosta world. Don grows on four acres near Grand Rapids, Michigan, makes up to 11,000 intentional crosses per summer starting at 6:00 AM, plants around 20,000 seeds per year, and has introduced over 20 cultivars including Rhinohide, Gabriel's Wing, Razorback, Alligator Rock, Granny's Goosebumps, Catcher's Mitt, Gator Bowl, and Gatorhide. This is the episode hosta collectors and hybridizers have been waiting for.

Don traces his hosta journey from childhood — his mother's plants, falling in love with the genus in the 1980s before the internet made finding hostas easy — through building his home garden in 1992, to becoming one of the most serious hybridizers working today. He walks us through his entire process: protecting breeding plants, bringing selected parents inside the night before, making crosses outdoors at dawn, collecting seed in fall, planting 60 to 65 flats, and ultimately keeping only 1,800 to 2,000 of roughly 15,000 germinated seedlings. The rest get composted. Yes, really.

Betsy asks Don about Alligator Rock — her personal favorite hosta — and Don reveals the backstory: it was actually Bob Solberg who spotted it in Don's hybridizing garden before Don had even marked it to save. Along with Granny's Goosebumps, Bob pulled it out of the crowd and said this one matters. Don describes what makes it special: extremely corrugated dark green shiny foliage, dense growth, beautiful white flowers. We also dig deep into Catcher's Mitt — one of the most unique cupped hostas in existence, with vertical cups that show the white leaf backs rather than the inside, a dark green margin hidden inside the cup, and an exclusive release coming through In The Country Garden and Gifts. And Gator Bowl, currently in tissue culture production, which Don describes as extremely cupped with four-inch cups, deeply corrugated, dark green with pure white flowers.

Don shares his vision for where hosta hybridizing is headed — red and purple leaved hostas that hold their color all summer, variegated hostas with red or purple centers and margins, bronze and pink leaved varieties, double flowers, and crosses between hostas and related genera like agave and manfreda that could produce deer resistant and drought tolerant hybrids. He also points out that hybridizers are only working with about 28 of the 38 to 41 known hosta species — meaning the potential for future development is staggering.

On HVX, Don is direct and practical. He explains that just because you can't see Hosta Virus X on a plant does not mean it isn't there. He walks through his recommended tool sterilization routine using a 10% bleach solution — fresh every couple of hours, rinse your tools after or they'll rust, never reuse it the next day. He also warns against composting hosta leaves and scapes if you suspect any disease or nematode presence in your garden.

Don also shares his advice for anyone wanting to get serious about hybridizing: find local growers, join Facebook seedling groups, set specific goals, and get a copy of the Hybridizers Manual — a 170-page illustrated compilation of articles from hybridizers who came before, available directly from Don.

We play Finish the Rhyme and in This or That he picks massive cupped leaves over red every time, keeps the weirdest seedlings, and admits he's guilty of hand pollinating in a thunderstorm.

His parting advice: gardening is meant to be fun. Don't make it a job. Have fun, and pass it on.

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Before Niagara Falls existed, Olga Petryszyn painted it. Before Coast to Coast was growing in gardens from sea to shining sea, she dreamed it into being on watercolor paper. Then she spent decades making every single one of them real.

This week on Hosta La Vista, Betsy and Mandy are fully fangirling — and we make no apologies. We are joined by the one and only Olga Petryszyn of Northern Indiana — known worldwide as The Hosta Lady, winner of the prestigious Eunice Fisher Distinguished Hybridizer Award, Master Judge of the American Hosta Society, and the creative force behind some of the most beloved hosta cultivars in existence.

Olga's journey into hybridizing began in 1986 under the guidance of master gardener and Art Institute of Chicago professor Bill Brincka — a mentor and dear friend whose influence on her craft and her life cannot be overstated. It was Bill who first opened her eyes to what hostas could become, and the hosta world has never been the same since.

Her Americana Collection includes some of the most recognizable cultivars in the hosta world — Niagara Falls, Coast to Coast, Manhattan, Grand Canyon, Key West, Blue Hawaii, Chesapeake Bay, Golden Gate, Gone with the Wind, Mississippi Delta, Gotham, All That Jazz, Dawn's Early Light, Old Faithful, Brother Stefan, and more. Coast to Coast was the 2020 Hosta of the Year. Brother Stefan was the 2017 Hosta of the Year. If you grow hostas, you almost certainly grow Olga.

Topics covered:

• The origin story of the Americana Collection — from watercolor paintings to world renowned hostas
• The art and science of hosta hybridizing — form, color, texture, and genetics
• The influence of mentor Bill Brincka on Olga's life and career
• Cultivar spotlights — Niagara Falls, Coast to Coast, Brother Stefan, Key West, Blue Hawaii and more
• The Eunice Fisher Distinguished Hybridizer Award
• Growing giant hostas — tips from the master herself
• What makes a hosta worthy of introduction to the market

Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. Got questions or a story to share? Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook and Instagram at Hosta La Vista Podcast.

What if gardening wasn't just a hobby — but a path to healing? This episode of Hosta La Vista goes somewhere a little deeper than usual, and we think it might be one you'll want to share.

This week, Betsy and Mandy head to Cuyahoga County, Ohio to sit down with Barb Rauckhorst — President of the North Coast Hosta Society, proud Master Gardener, and someone whose personal connection to the garden goes well beyond beautiful leaves and shade beds. Barb's story touches on something that stopped Betsy in her tracks: horticultural therapy — the practice of using gardening and plant-based activities to support healing, wellness, and mental health.

Barb shares how she fell in love with hostas, what it takes to lead one of Ohio's most active local hosta societies, and what the Master Gardener program really means to the people in it. Her warmth and passion for community gardening come through in every answer — and her personal connection to horticultural therapy gives this conversation a dimension that goes far beyond plant talk.

After the interview wraps, Betsy dives into the history of horticultural therapy — a practice with roots stretching back centuries that is only now getting the mainstream recognition it deserves. If you've never heard of it, you're not alone. Betsy hadn't either — until Barb's story sent her down a research rabbit hole that she is very glad she fell into.

Horticultural therapy is used in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, memory care facilities, correctional institutions, veterans programs, and mental health treatment — and the evidence behind it is growing. If you work in healthcare, wellness, or education, or if you've ever found yourself feeling genuinely better after time in the garden and wondered why — this episode will resonate.

This is one of those episodes that listeners have been passing along. We think you'll understand why once you hear it.

Topics covered:

• What is horticultural therapy and how does it work
• The history of horticultural therapy — from ancient practice to modern treatment
• Horticultural therapy in hospitals, memory care, veterans programs, and mental health treatment
• Barb Rauckhorst's personal connection to healing through gardening
• Leading the North Coast Hosta Society in Cuyahoga County, Ohio
• What the Master Gardener program is and what it means to participants
• Growing membership and community in a local hosta society
• Why gardening is good for your mental health — and the science behind it

To learn more about horticultural therapy, visit the American Horticultural Therapy Association at www.ahta.org.

Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. Got questions or a story to share? Email us at hostalavistapodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook and Instagram at Hosta La Vista Podcast.

This week on Hosta la Vista, we sit down with Dr. Mary Lewnes Albrecht — horticulture professor, Master Gardener, botanic garden volunteer, communications director of the East Tennessee Hosta Society, and Vice President of Genus for the American Hosta Society. Mary brings a rare combination of academic depth and genuine gardener's heart to everything she does, and this conversation is one of our favorites.

Mary's love of plants goes back to age five, helping her mom in the yard. She went on to earn her doctorate and spend 16 years teaching herbaceous plant materials at Kansas State University — yes, the same K-State that Betsy and Mandy attended — before joining the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she eventually retired and became a volunteer at the UT Gardens, tending her adopted spot in the hosta garden.

We talk about what the VP of Genus actually does for the AHS — working alongside the hosta registrar, encyclopedia contributors, and education programmers — and Mary shares her refreshingly grounded take on hosta taxonomy: plant families are a human construct, she reminds us, and sometimes you just need to chill about the botany and enjoy the beauty.

On the growing side, Mary gardens in Tennessee, where heat and humidity create a different set of challenges than the Midwest. She's noticed that minis struggle in southern heat, that yellows and whites need more morning sun to perform well in warmer climates, and that some hostas that look spectacular in photos from up north simply don't reach the same size down south. Her current showstopper? Summer's Rainbow — a sport of Sum and Substance — which she received from a friend and which stops every single garden visitor in their tracks.

Mary talks about her favorite large and giant hostas — Blue Umbrellas, Paul's Glory, Liberty, Stained Glass — and makes a compelling case for why big, bold hostas are where the real drama lives in a shade garden. She also shares what she's observed about hostas and human wellbeing, including a graduate student's research that actually measured blood pressure before and after visiting a botanic garden. Spoiler: gardens are good for you.

We also hear about the 2025 AHS Convention in Peoria — the serendipitous connections, shopping at Hornbaker Gardens in 90-degree heat, and why Mary drove 9 to 10 hours and came home with a restrained but respectable 8 new hostas. She tells us why first-time convention attendees should absolutely go — not for the leaf show, but for the people.

We play Finish the Rhyme, and in a Tennessee-flavored This or That, she picks Kansas City burnt ends, Dollywood over the Grand Ole Opry, and Lookout Mountain over Hot Springs every time.

Mary's parting advice is simple and perfect: enjoy hostas, challenge yourself, and try a new one every now and then.

If you love shade gardening, collecting hosta varieties, or just want to spend time with someone who has dedicated her career and her retirement to plants and the people who grow them — this episode is for you.

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