Welcome to the First Look Quick Info page for 2008! 

      Hello everyone! We've got lots of pictures from our last meeting for you to enjoy if you missed it, or if you'd like another look at the sights of First Look 7. It was a great meeting as we welcomed back the legendary Kevin Vaughn to the New England area where seemingly ages ago he began changing the face of hostas as we knew them. His early work with variegation and fragrance laid the groundwork for so many of the cultivars we know today, that it was easy back in 2000 for us to decide on naming one of our top Regional Awards for him. Attendees at First Look 7 finally got to see Kevin and last year's winner Bill Meyer present the Kevin Vaughn Award personally to first-time winner Marge Campbell-Bauer. As long as First Look lasts, it will be a moment that we treasure. His keynote speech was also a treat as he took us back to those early days when there weren't so many hostas. 

        More news that isn't COOL NEWS!!, we're afraid. We spoke to Mark Zilis at the AHS Convention and he informed us that there have been some delays in the publication of his fantastic new book. It is truly a monumental effort and just plain is taking longer than he had expected. By all accounts it will be well worth waiting for, so don't miss out on your chance to get one when they do become available.

        COOL NEWS!! --- The Meeting Schedule is set has had a few minor changes and you can get to it HERE. Other meeting info will not be up here at the website until our staff return from the AHS convention.

        COOL NEWS!! --- C. H. Falstad will be offering a class on using the new HVX test strips from Agdia Corp. We will provide a test strip for each person in the class, so if you have a plant you are concerned about in your garden, bring along a leaf in a clean plastic baggie. Do not add anything to the bag with the leaf - just the leaf alone. In the class you will do your own test on the leaf. Please keep the questionable leaves in the bags and do not handle them until the class to avoid infecting other plants. They will be disposed of after the class, and hands will be washed!

        The registration forms are up! Just go to our Registration printout page from the First Look Homepage or click HERE to download a registration form in either Word .doc form, .pdf, or .htm. OK, we guess that isn't really cool news, but the meeting should be full of cool plants, and you need to register so we can have some food waiting for you there.

        This year's First Look Online Auction is over. We had a great time doing it and we hope you all enjoyed it even if you didn't get that special plant you were after. There's always next year. To go to the auction results, click the banner on the front page, or click HERE.

        Our Keynote Speaker for First Look 8 will be the one and only Mark Zilis! As many know, Mark's spectacular new hosta book will soon be on sale. We hear it will be an amazing work, with over 1,000 pages! Come meet Mark and get your new books signed! 

        We have a date and place for First Look 8! It will be in Ascutney, VT on the weekend of June 27th - 29th. Our Meeting Chair will be Susan Lawrence, who many know as the partner of emerging hybridizing star and two-time First Look Award winner Andrew Williams. As further details become available to us, we will post them here and in the main website, but we can tell you that we will be including Sunday tours of the spectacular 1,000+ hosta collection of Glen Williams, one of the world's best featuring many rare and unusual hostas, and the garden of new hybridizing star Andrew Williams and Susan Lawrence. These alone are worth the trip to frigid Vermont!

        Our cover page and wallpaper image are of a very special plant this year. Bob Axmear has been a tremendous help with our website, which you may notice is hosted at the HostaLibrary site, and with our auction. Without his help, we probably wouldn't have gotten this far. In respect for all that Bob has done for First Look as well as the great strides he took for hostas in general with the creation of the HostaLibrary, Bill Meyer has decided to name a plant for him. Hosta 'Bob Axmear' is a very good streaked sport of 'Elegans' that is everything a hybridizer could want. It is essentially a much-improved 'Dorothy Benedict' that is sure to be a favorite for years to come. The color is better than "DB" and it and its seedlings grow much better. Bob has recently taken up hybridizing and his favorite types to work with are streaked blues. What better plant could Bill name for Bob than the future king of all the streaked blues? If all goes well, we should have the first piece for auction in 2009. It will very definitely be the coolest plant offered that year!  

      Photos from the Competition and other First Look activities can be found in our Photo Viewer by clicking the "2007 Photos" button in the main  site, or just clicking HERE. To see how the competition went, with photos of our award winners, and a complete list of ribbons click the "Competition" button, then the "Awards" link. You can go directly there by clicking HERE. Be sure not to miss our Slide Show (HERE), which features 25 gorgeous photos of new and exciting hostas, and help yourself to a copy of our free wallpaper if you like.

      2007 was a big year for the Seedling and Sport Competition, featuring the return of the great Kevin Vaughn to the New England area, and two first-time winners. Stan Megos, owner and operator of The Variegated Foliage Nursery collected his first award, and Marge Campbell-Bauer also won for the first time, both with sports they had discovered. Marge won the Kevin Vaughn Award, and had it presented to her by none other than Kevin himself! They continue to prove that our highest awards are within the grasp of any hosta aficionado and not just the purview of serious hybridizers.  The two seedling awards went to Kent Terpening (his competition-leading fourth major Award!) and fast-developing new hybridizer Andrew Williams, nephew of hosta collecting  legend Glen Williams. 

     We at First Look mourn the passing of two of the hosta community's brighter lights. Jerry Hadrava, hybridizer and former nurseryman, was the creator of the Rosedale series of Hostas, of which some 88 are registered. Margot Dargatz, was Canada's premier hosta nurserywoman, and her great nursery Hosta Choice Gardens may be coming to a close, leaving a huge gap in central Canada for local hosta lovers. Margot also served in several capacities with the AHS.

Jerry Hadrava 1931-2007		Margot Dargatz 1941-2007

      The 2002 Mildred Seaver Award, which was given to the plant now called 'Peanut' remains under review at this time.  A committee is considering charges brought to us that the plant is actually 'Lakeside Dot Com'. No decision is expected until at least Fall 2008 after the plants can be examined further.