Certainly, it is true that the gardener never stops learning, so it must also be true that forgetting never ends. More for some than others, and here I plead guilty.

I suspect that most often I am inattentive to details rather than just being forgetful, though you should not consult my wife on this matter. Which is worse? And, is it so horrible that I can put a name to no more than a few handfuls out of many dozens of hostas? I am comforted by hellebore and hosta seedlings that I readily identify as seedlings, with no further identification required, but named cultivars become too much information for my poor little brain to retain.

Long ago, there were a hundred hostas, or more, before the damage from deer snuck up on me and some started to disappear. Now, I spray a repellent that does the trick until I occasionally stray too long between applications. Of the many that remain, there are large leafed types where the clump grows four feet across, and there are miniatures that clump slowly to only a few inches tall and wide.

Despite occasionally lovely blooms, hostas are most often grown for their foliage, though this should not stop the gardener from enjoying the flowers. Here are photos of ‘Regal Splendor’ (above), the green and white variegated Medio-variegata, Blue Cadet (medium to small leaves), and the large leafed ‘Elegans’ (though possibly a seedling) in flower. There are another dozen, maybe more, that I can name.

Beautyberries (Callicarpa, below) are also grown for reasons beyond their blooms, but as the name indicates, it is the berries in late summer that are the attraction.