Kent Terpening

I have been hybridizing hosta for about the past 15 years. My breeding program started out with a few choice plants, H. 'Azure Snow', seedlings from H. 'Split Personality' and a few special hostas I grew from seed that came from Alex Summers and Ran Lydell.

I had little in the way of goals as I started out, but soon found a passion for unique shapes and wavy edges. H. 'Clovelly' PPAP and H. 'Split Decision' were early successes for me. They have become the backbone of my current work as I try to deepen the waves and increase the amount of ruffling. Blues have always been difficult for me and I'm still working at producing a great ruffled edged large blue. I think H. 'Heaven's Coast' is close, but I still would like to see a more intense blue shade in my work. Had I not lost H. 'Tunisian Dream' I think it would have been the key to that goal.

Another focus I have had recently is developing some better variegated hostas. I would love to see H. 'Clovelly' PPAP with a center or edge and also the same on H. 'Dancing Queen'

The best part of being part of the FOoSF group is having the ability to share ideas and techniques. We also as a group tend to challenge each other to produce our best work. I can't wait to see what our group has in store for the future. I hope we continue to lead the way in hosta hybridizing in the future!