if you want to see, buy or just talk hostas, you need to make the trip to Kridler Gardens in Homeworth, Ohio.

	"The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas" Patriot hosta is a quick grower. Click photo for larger image.

The nursery, which is just outside Salem, about an hour west of the Pittsburgh airport, is hosta heaven. Owners Barrie Kridler and Barry Nichols sell between 200 and 250 distinct varieties of this common foliage plant, but they probably have more than 400 varieties growing at the 20-year-old nursery, which encompasses more than 80 acres on an old campground.

Why sell only half of what you have? Because they test all plants on site before deciding which ones to sell, says Nichols, who manages the nursery end of the business. When clients want to see what the small plant in their hands will look like at maturity, they're directed to a mature clump on the acreage.

Nichols didn't plan to become a hosta expert. The Texas native's interest in the plants started as a hobby. He found that the large-leafed plants were great to fill bare spots in the garden.

"They are such easy, carefree, no-nonsense, long-lasting perennials. I started [collecting them] when there were only 30 varieties available," he says.

An interest turned into a passion, then a business. Within the past 15 to 20 years, the legion of hosta admirers has grown, and breeders have been busy. Now there are literally hundreds of hosta cultivars (cultivated or man-made varieties) available to gardeners through nurseries, garden centers and a variety of specialty mail-order houses.

So, with interest burgeoning and nurseries offering more and more varieties, why should you get into your vehicle and trek west to Ohio to buy a few plants? Here's your answer:

Sheer unadulterated selection. Ice that with good prices and healthy plants, and you have one heck of a reason to make the trip.

Any plant the nursery sells must meet a strict set of guidelines before it is offered for sale, says Nichols.

"One criteria that plants must meet is that they have to be clearly distinctive from other varieties," he says.

Next, the plant must look good throughout the season, not languish and collapse in the heat of August. Lastly, the plant must be pest-resistant, slugs being the most common and destructive pest of hosta.

"Before I even sell one, we have them in the ground and I've watched them for several years." It takes five years for a hosta to mature.

"We are harsh in what we [select to] sell," Nichols says. "If it isn't going to look great all season, we will not sell it."

Even if you aren't a hosta nut, you can find room for one or two in almost any garden, even on a tight budget.

"I've got varieties that hang around $7," Nichols says. "My very highest end is $40, but my average is $15. I'd rather sell a lot more and get you hooked than have $30 and $40 plants sitting around that intimidate people."

In fact, many of his favorites are economical, inexpensive varieties. They include:

'Krossa Regal' -- a beautiful light gray-blue plant that Nichols says "is almost a piece of sculpture in the garden." It's also a very old variety that Nichols says has yet to be improved upon.

'Regal Splendor' -- a relation of 'Krossa' that has a creamy golden-yellow band on the edge of each leaf. An elegant plant that looks good first thing in the spring until the heaviest frost in the fall.

'Patriot' -- the standard for a splashy green-and-white plant. It's a big, quick grower and Nichols' favorite in this combination.

'Fried Green Tomatoes' -- For fragrance, nothing can beat this hosta with large, dark, blackish-green leaves and flower stalks that can reach 4 feet high. The fragrance is an exotic, tropical jasmine aroma that Nichols says you can smell within 15 feet of the plant.

'Halcyon' -- a great blue-leaved plant that stays blue all summer.

'Leola Fraim' -- a beautiful long-leaved variety with green and white coloration.

'Paul's Glory' -- boasts a leaf with a gold center and blue margins. "It's distinctive from 30 feet away," says Nichols.

On the flip side, there are common varieties that Kridler Gardens won't sell. 'Aphrodite' for example.

"It just doesn't perform the way gardening books have let on," says Nichols.

Another very common variety not to be found at the nursery is 'Frances Williams,' which Nichols calls a disappointment.

"Use 'Olive Bailey Langdon' instead. You won't know the difference, and it's a better plant."

Nichols likes to debunk a popular myth that hostas must be grown in the shade. Some varieties are very sun-tolerant and others -- like 'High Noon,' 'Golden Sculpture,' 'Sum and Substance' and 'Guacamole' -- thrive in full sun.

"Typically, the ones that are the most sun-tolerant are the gold-leafed varieties," says Nichols. "The blue-leafed hostas, in general, will take some good bright light but they do want a half-day in the shade to keep their blue coloration from fading. The green-and-white varieties will tolerate a little bit of sun and shade with not much fuss."

Of course, many varieties can be coaxed into more sun exposure if you can afford to give them extra water.

"They love water. The more water, the more feeding, the bigger the leaves," says Nichols.

To keep plants healthy, he recommends feeding them once in the early spring, by April 1, even before the leaves push through the surface, with a high-nitrogen, slow-release fertilizer. One feeding a year is plenty. If you fertilize before they pop through the ground, you'll never burn the foliage, says Nichols.

"Broadcast [the fertilizer] on the ground, and let mother nature flush it in."

And how about slugs? The best way to avoid them is to choose cultivars the slimy buggers don't eat.

"I can do 40 varieties that I can say are 100 percent slug-resistant," he says.

'Revolution,' a green-and-white leafed plant with green speckling, "like it's been spray-painted lightly with green," will never be feasted on by slugs, Nichols says. Others are 'Summer Breeze,' 'Liberty' and 'Dream Weaver,' whose heavy, thick leaves are apparently too tough for most slugs. There are many more at the nursery, of all shapes, colors and sizes.

If you've got hostas that already have slugs, Nichols endorses a product called Deadline.

"It's a pellet, and you apply it, ideally in the spring, as the plants are emerging. Do it once every 10 days. What you want to do is knock out the first generation [of slugs] before they reproduce, and after a few years of being diligent, you can greatly reduce the slug colony."

There are many home remedies, like a saucer of beer that's supposed to be a drowning pool for slugs. But Nichols says he still finds Deadline to be the most economical and efficient method of control.

"The saucer of beer, who has time to empty the saucer?" he says with a laugh.

Deadline also has a low toxicity level and a little bit goes a long way.

"I probably use 3 pounds for every 6,000 square feet, and I only do that every two weeks in the spring, then taper off to once a month. Deadline is not harmful to people. A small bag should last a homeowner all summer."

The nursery sells small bags of Deadline for $7.50, but Nichols says the product should be available at any well-stocked nursery.

In the future, you can expect more and better hosta cultivars for your garden, says Nichols. The trend now is toward opposite ends of the size spectrum, from the very small, such as 'Blue Mouse Ears,' a blue plant that can be tucked into rockeries, to a giant called 'Sum of It All,' which can mature to 5 feet in width and up to 4 feet in height.

Kridler Gardens, 4809 Homeworth Road, Homeworth, Ohio, also stocks interesting trees, shrubs, perennials, garden sculpture, pottery and ornaments. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. For directions or more information, call 1-330-525-7914.