Dixie Hosta

We are very happy that the Cruickshank Hosta Garden in the South Carolina Botanical Garden in Clemson has been designated as an American Hosta Society Display Garden. The history of this garden goes back to 1990 when our oldest son and his family lived a mile from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Chuck and I have always been gardeners, so it was natural that we would spend time in the arboretum. We fell in love with the hostas that were grown there, and asked a garden volunteer where we could buy plants. She directed us to Hideko Gowan. We brought plants back to Clemson every time we visited our son.

After three years of buying, growing and comparing plants in Minnesota and in South Carolina, we noticed that the blues were bigger and bluer in Minnesota, but the golds and yellows were brighter and clearer in South Carolina. There was no public garden in the southeast where we could verify our observations.

We live a mile from the South Carolina Botanical Garden, and have worked there as volunteers since 1984. In 1992, the garden was designated as the official South Carolina Botanical garden, so in 1993, we approached the director of the garden, Dr. John Kelly, about donating a hosta garden. He encouraged us, and over a three-year period, we and a friend donated the money needed for a named garden. We started planting in 1995. Some of our first plants came from Bob Solberg, and his suggestions and advice over the years have been very helpful.

We wanted a water feature in the garden, so a beautiful waterfall was created on the hill. The powerful pump that recycles the water was donated by a private company, as were the paving stones for the main paths. There are three memorial benches contributed by individuals.

The Charles and Betty Cruickshank Hosta Garden was dedicated in 1997. We have planted 540 different cultivars with identifying signs. We have lost only 73. For the most part, Chuck and I do the planting, fertilizing, weeding, etc. We have the help of two loyal master gardeners; one keeps the computer list current, and the other keeps the irrigation system going. We also have two good friends who help us one morning a week. The garden staff does the mulching and keeps the waterfall clean. The Hosta Garden is endowed, so when we have to go to “the home” the garden will be maintained.

Big and medium-sized hostas grow the best for us. We think that miniatures and small cultivars can’t get their roots down deep enough in the soil to escape the 80°F plus soil surface temperatures. Our consistently best-growing cultivars are H. ‘Guacamole’ and H. ‘Abba Dabba Do,’ followed closely by H. ‘Gold Regal.’ H. ‘Sum and Substance’ and its mutations seem to like our heat, as long as they have plenty of water. H. ‘Sugar and Cream can become a big, beautiful specimen.

Our best greens are H. ‘Blue Angel,’ H. nigrescens and ‘Love Pat,’ which emerge blue in May, but quickly turn green as the temperatures soar. They do hold their size, and visitors spot them from a distance and walk over to read the identifying signs. All of the H. ‘Piecrust’ series do well in the Botanical Gardens.

Clemson is in Zone 7, so gardening twelve months of the year is one of our themes. Our garden is not just a hosta garden. We have tried to choose companion plants that are indigenous to Japan, China and Korea. When we get a freeze in November and the hostas die down, the camellias start blooming. Park Seed Co. donated thousands of daffodils that bloom from December to March. A flowering apricot blooms in February and clematis ‘Armandii’ blooms in early March. By that time the hostas are poking out of the ground, and when the hosta leaves are full-sized, they cover the yellow daffodil leaves. We have many companion plants: ferns, asarums, astilbes, trycirtis, huecheras, Japanese maples, hellebores, etc. These plants also give visitors ideas of what will grow in partial shade.

We have a nice collection of hostas that Tony Avent registered and gave plants to the garden. Mary Chastain has also been very generous, and the garden has many of her “Lakesides.” The garden has a species collection, but we have found that species are difficult to obtain. The Greater Carolinas Hosta Society has given us financial support to buy new cultivars and replace some that died.

It is a blessing that we have a good relationship with James Arnold, manager of the garden, with the garden staff and with Clemson University. We were the first people in this region to identify foliar nematodes and brought it to the attention of the Clemson University Etomology Department. We are working with CU Plant Pathology on a control for Southern blight.

The Cruickshank Hosta Garden has been a lot of work, but it has been very rewarding. We feel that our purpose has been accomplished when we see people walking through the garden with a pen and paper, taking notes and writing down the names of plants.

by Betty Cruickshank