This is a good point to introduce W. George Schmid who wrote a book named The Genus Hosta (ISBN 0-88192-201-3) which was published in 1991. This book changed a lot in terms of the classification of hostas. Prior to this time, there had been much confusion and incorrect information floating around about where hostas belonged in the Plant Kingdom. Several species where miss-identified and many plants were incorrectly named or classified. It was quite a mess!

George Schmid made an extensive study of hostas over many years and went into greater depth in his search than any previous investigator. He gathered information from the Asian native homelands of hostas as well as from gardens, people and archives around the world. In the end, he came to certain conclusions that changed the way we think and talk about hostas.

Another major work relating to hostas is The Hostapedia (ISBN 978-0-9679440-1-2) published in 2009 and written by Mark R. Zilis. Mark is a well-known hybridizer, former nursery owner and professional horticulturist who is dedicated to the genus, Hosta. He has spent over 30 years studying hostas in extensive, minute detail and his book covers over 7,000 named species and cultivars almost all of which he has personally observed, measured, photographed and studied.

Many of the links associated with the text in this eBook will take you to our website, The Hosta Helper. It contains images of over 2,400 hosta cultivars with links to such items as the person who originated it, related cultivars and/or species, plant characteristics, unique features and many other factors.

The Hosta Journal is the periodic publication of The American Hosta Society (AHS). Several times each year, this publication which contains a wealth of information is sent to AHS members. It is now available in both a printed and online format.