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From "The Edmonton Journal"May 1999
By Marilynn McAra
| Con Boland, the photographer whose vast Riverdale Garden is graced with thousands of Hostas has been dubbed the local King of Hostas. Con remembers the first one he saw, before he knew what a Hosta was. "It was a plant with huge ripply leaves, and the light was perfect". I said "Holy smokes, what is that?" |  |
It was the most beautiful foliage plant I’d ever seen. And it said,
"I want to grow in your garden".
So he found a Hosta grower in Eastern Canada, and ordered 35 different varieties,
from the tiny Golden Tiara to Big Daddy and Big Mommy. Years later, Con has
edited his varieties down to about 20 favorites, with rivers of multiples
that have resulted from spreading, splitting and buying.
I realized that they’re really great in masses, as a ground cover,
and I can do wonderful designs with different height, colour and texture",
he says. Con also features "solo" hostas.
He’s excited about the showpiece possibilities of two new acquisitions:
Sum and Substance and mondana macrophylla, a giant that will mature to 40
inches height and 30 inches width.
Hostas are notorious for their late emergence in spring so Con has interplanted
Puschkinias and Scilla Siberica in his hosta beds. The original bulbs have
multiplied (with his seed-spreading assistance) and in spring the garden
looks like Victoria, with thousands of tiny white and blue blossoms nodding
in the breeze. As their delicate foliage dies down, the hostas nonchalantly
appear, like featured artists after the warm-up act.