My goal for the first 20 years of this website was to provide images of all of the cultivars and species by myself. I accumulated pictures of around 4,200 different cultivars...but then I looked at the list of ones that were still missing from my collection...then I looked at the years speeding by and finally came to the conclusion that I was fighting a losing battle.

A couple of years ago, I began accepting images from others. Since then, over 3,000 hosta images have been received from other people. To my surprise, they have come from such diverse locations as the U.S., Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Some came from the people who introduced the plant while others are from people who just share our enthusiasm for the genus, Hosta.
 

The number one priority is to obtain pictures for cultivars that are currently without an image on the website. We want people to be able to see each plant in order to make good purchasing decisions or to learn about historical hostas.

We would love to display images of hostas that you have hybridized or discovered as sports and have named for introduction into the hosta world. Whether you have your own website or not, The Hosta Helper can be a place where you can "advertize" your prized hostas or to show them off to friends and other hostaphiles.

Although we would like to have a full clump shot of every cultivar or species, we also like to display detail pictures. These may be of flowers, petioles, flower scapes or seed pods of the hosta. Any unique feature of the plant may be highlighted.

If you have an image of a hosta which you feel displays the plant "better" than the one currently on the page, please send it along. Some of the pictures I have used were taken on dark, dreary days during a hurried visit to a garden at one of the 17 National Conventions of The American Hosta Society which I have attended. If yours has better lighting or focus or composition, we will use it.

We need images in .jpg format at least 650 pixels wide. The larger, the better. You can send them right out of the camera or off your hard drive or from your iPhone.

I will do any editing or cropping necessary in Light Room or Photoshop. This includes adding a copyright watermark to hinder unauthorized use of the image by others.

NOTE: As long as the picture is in focus, don't worry about the condition of the leaves. I am pretty adept at Photoshop and can remove blemishes, spots, holes and most other problems with the leaf or flower.

Please name the file in the following format:

• Hosta_Blue_Angel-Your-Name-Number.jpg or
• Hosta_Blue_Angel-Flower-Your-Name-Number.jpg

If you just have a picture or two, you can send them as a simple attachment to an email. If you have large numbers of images, you can use a Zip file or similar compacting program and attach that to an email. Or, you can use a transfer website such as WeTransfer. If you have a very large number of images, put them on a DVD or CD and I will give you an address for mailing.

Use mrpgc@plantsgalore.com to submit images or ask questions.

We will give you credit for providing each image used on The Hosta Helper. If you have a website, we will include a link. Of course, we will not use your photos anywhere except the specific page for that cultivar. Also, we will never share your images with anyone else.  Below every picture, we will include a graphic with your name as follows: