Bill and Elizabeth’s obsession with Hosta all started with Bill’s grandfather. He had a line of a fragrant variety along his driveway that Bill took a liking to. Bill and Elizabeth’s first house included apple trees that created a lot of shade, so they went looking for plants that would thrive in those conditions. Hosta were the perfect fit and they planted their first, run-of-the-mill varieties which they enjoyed. Then they started purchasing unique Hosta, their first being Green Pie Crust which started their “food” garden. Hosta varieties have names that help provide a personality of sorts and lend themselves to themes. When Bill and Elizabeth moved to Carmel, they took Pie Crust with them and expanded the theme with a Sugar and Cream variety.
Once in Carmel their love of Hosta fully took root – pun intended. They continued to expand the food collection and then delved into Giant, Blue, Christmas, Patriotic, and Sam’s Ooh LaLa varieties (plants with names like Strip Tease or ones the family pokes fun at). They spread the species throughout their property, mixing and matching along the way.
All this dabbling and exploration turned into what the Eagleson’s have now at their Sheridan home. As Bill puts it, “We’ve gone hog wild because we have room!” At the Carmel house, they had 150-200 varieties and they moved almost all of them. Now they have over 450 varieties and 500 plants, all planted in theme gardens together.
“We name the gardens based on the names of the varieties for the most part,” says Bill. “For example, the Food Garden is filled with food names, like our first, Green Pie Crust, and then Fried Green Bananas, Fried Green Tomatoes and Guacamole. Our Blue Garden is filled with Hosta with blue leaves in all shapes and sizes. Our Native American Garden has varieties with names like Iroquois, Tomahawk and War Paint. We have a Star Trek/Star Wars Garden and a Miniature Garden too. Hosta range from a few inches to 6 ft tall and 8-10 feet wide. One of the largest is Empress Wu, which we have. She is not fully out yet and is already 3ft. tall and 3-4ft. wide! Our most recent addition is the Goth Garden, which I think needs a better name. We started it with a variety called Dark Shadows, which is a TV show I loved as a kid. The other plants in this spot are quirky – maybe I’ll call it Bill’s Quirky Garden!”
Bill and Elizabeth’s love of Hosta led them to become involved with the Indianapolis Hosta Society. Their garden will be featured on the organization’s 2018 Garden Tour on Sunday, July 1st. If you are interested in seeing just the Eagleson Garden, click here to download a free ticket.
