Tri-State Hosta Society Picnic

After visiting John O’Brien at O’Brien Nurserymen (www.obrienhosta.com ) in Granby with a friend earlier this summer, I told Will that we should go up for the Tri-State Hosta Society (www.tristatehosta.org) picnic being held there in August.

We both like Hostas and have a number of them thriving in our yard in Fairfield. A couple of them are a bit more special (not the plain-vanilla ones found at big box stores or supermarkets) and after my first visit to John’s the great variety available became evident. I think he has upwards of 2,000 varieties.

Hosta 'Liberty' at O'Brien Nurserymen in Granby.

The picnic gave us the opportunity to be among hostaphiles doing what they love – adding to their collections, swapping stories and sharing a common passion. On the way up, we even got behind a pickup truck with the license plate, “HOSTA.”

The food and company was good and we had a great time. Ignoring warnings, Will even managed to play with John’s cat without shedding any blood. He managed this feat with the judicious use of a long stick.

Matt Sanford was most helpful to us relative newbies and John -- what can one say about John -- he’s the mayor of Hostaland. A personality as big as the sky, with a thorough knowledge of his subject.

One of the three Liberties we got from John O'Brien.

We asked advice from these two on what to plant under some newly limbed-up hemlocks (a project inspired by a visit to Richard Bergmann’s place in New Canaan), and received two recommendations: Liberty and Brother Stefan.

We went with Liberty because we had already taken notice of a truly stunning example that turned out to be Liberty and Will is not a huge fan of the puckered varieties. We look forward to seeing how our new additions do in our garden.

If you like hostas and are ever in the vicinity of Granby, pay John a visit.


-- AR