Join fellow hosta enthusiasts for a day with hosta expert and hybridizer Bob Solberg. The garden center will be open from 9 am to 2 pm, with a Meet & Greet opportunity starting at 9:30 am. At 11:00 am in The Barn, Bob Solberg will present "Living with Hostas: Care, feeding, and collecting them while sharing their joys and sorrows."
This is a free event and registration is appreciated so we know how many people to expect. Register at:
https://shop.hornbakergardens.com/item/10279/Bob-Solberg-Hosta-Event-Sunday-July-20-FREE-event
We encourage you to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy eating in one of many shady seating areas within the garden center. Cookies and lemonade will be provided. There are also many delicious lunch options in Princeton. The Princeton Tourism Guide will give details and locations of places to visit and eat in the area. (The Tourism Guide is here:
https://www.hornbakergardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Princeton-Illinois-Visitors-Guide-with-Map.pdf )
All hostas will be $2 off for this one day only.
Biography:
After graduating from college with a B.S. in Biology, Solberg did graduate work in Botany at UNC in Chapel Hill, NC. He established Green Hill Farm, Inc. in North Carolina as a hosta nursery in 1981, and has been introducing great new hostas ever since. In fact, Solberg has introduced nearly 100 new varieties of hostas. Some of his better-known introductions include ‘Guacamole’, ‘Curly Fries’, ‘Orange Marmalade’, ‘First Blush’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’, and 'Ruby Earrings'.
Solberg was co-founder of the American Hosta Growers Association, the trade organization that established the Hosta of the Year award in 1996. He has been instrumental in the running of that organization ever since, serving as the Executive Secretary since 1998. From 1988-1990, he served as Editor of The Hosta Journal, the principal publication of the American Hosta Society. He presently serves as Historian of the AHS. Solberg is the recipient of the 2003 Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Award and of the 2008 Eunice Fisher Distinguished Hybridizer Merit Award, both from the AHS.
In short, Bob Solberg is one of the top experts in the country on hostas and is a nationally known speaker on all topics related to hostas. He’s a very personable, laid back kind of guy with a good sense of humor. It’s always a pleasure to hear him speak.
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