President's Message

President's Message from the Current Newsletter - September 2025

Expressions from Ella!

Our last meeting of the year is at Wildlife Prairie Park with a banquet on September 16th. What a wonderful year we have had: great meetings, interesting gardens, unpredictable weather, and the AHS National Convention. You have heard my gardening ups and downs-- we had an opportunity to enter leaves and arrangements in the hosta convention cut leaf show winning some blue ribbons. Then at the August meeting, I found out my H. ‘Snake Eyes’ indeed had the hosta HVX virus. A thank you to Kay Dye for ordering test kits for the club. Knowledge of disease and other hosta pests are important to being a good hosta grower. I am now marking hosta flower scapes with seed pods I will collect and try to germinate. Growing hosta from seed is easy and rewarding. With the LED lighting now available, you can germinate seed on a countertop this winter! I know many of you have elaborate set ups. Hosta seed has no dormancy issues and can be seeded after it ripens and dries. Hosta I have marked include H. ‘Gabriel’s Wings’, H. ‘Bud Lite’, and many yellow ones like H. ‘Coast to Coast’. I love to see the variability in the seedlings. I really don’t have streaker plants, so my seedlings won’t be variegated. 

I have enjoyed my time as president and Deb McCollum will take on the role as president. She has asked that I continue to write an introduction for the newsletter. Our club is only as good as its officers; we have the best! I want to thank all the people who were officers, volunteers and dedicated members to our club and the convention we sponsored. I encourage anyone willing to serve to reach out and be a part of the planning for our club’s future. Looking forward to seeing you all at the banquet for good food, good conversation, and a good program; a great evening will be had by all!

Ella Maxwell. CIHS President