Review of Stark Gardens
February 1998
by Steven C. Chamberlain
105 Academy Street
Manlius, NY 13104
Steve_Chamberlain@isr.syr.edu
Stark Gardens
631 G24 Highway
Norwalk, IA 50211-9431
Phone (515) 981-4780
ELSS57A@prodigy.com
Catalog - 2 stamps
Owner: Gunther Stark, Member AHS
In the past I have purchased the following hostas from Stark Gardens:
All of these are doing just fine in my garden.
The 1998 hosta and daylily catalog contains an alphabetical listing of 246 hostas. A brief description is given for each species and cultivar, including who introduced it and when. There are a few nagging typographical errors sprinkled through the catalog. The catalog contains several cultivars not available elsewhere according to the 1997 Hosta Finder, including H. 'Amy Stewart', H. 'Hub City', H. 'Locomotion', H. 'Mishima Fukurin Koba', H. 'Pandora's Box', H. 'Sara Jane', and H. 'White Edged Sharmon'.
Prices are very competitive for the mature divisions offered. I don't know whether the plants shipped are mature tissue cultured plants or field divisions, but they are large divisions with adult leaves. The most expensive hosta offered is Clarence Owen's H. 'Yellow Highness' for $80. H. 'Golden Gate', H. 'Locomotion', and H. 'Pandora's Box' are each $50. Most classic hostas are $5 and the prices seem to cluster around $10-$15 for many of the hostas offered. Checks or money orders must accompany all orders. The minimum order is $10 and shipping is a flat $6. Credit cards are not accepted.
Hostas are shipped bare root and arrive at the time requested. The plants I received were all mature divisions with adult leaves and arrived in good condition. They were all true to form as far as I can tell.
The catalog also lists two pages of daylilies. This is a fine supplier offering many tried and true garden worthy hostas rather than mostly the latest introductions at high prices. I particularly like H. 'White Edged Sharmon' which emerges with strikingly complex variegation and then settles down as the season progresses to a nice green hosta with a creamy white margin
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