Hosta La Vista

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 [email protected], or find us on Facebook and Instagram at Hosta La Vista Podcast.

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 [email protected]
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 [email protected].

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 [email protected], 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.

[email protected]

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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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Tomasz Redman music

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 [email protected]