April 29, 2024
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Hosta expert Bob Solberg to speak at Hornbaker Gardens on July 30

Solberg will be at the garden throughout the day

By Shaw Local News Network
Just around a bend stands the gravel entrance to Hornbaker Gardens. The lane, lined on one side by a white split-rail fence, leads past an open field to a wedding venue known as The Barn, retail space and thoughtfully planted display gardens as well as the brown two-story home of Rich Hornbaker. In 1978 when Rich and his late wife, Kathy, first looked at the property now known as Hornbaker Gardens, it was a 14-acre abandoned homestead with an old house, a barn and some sheep.

Nationally-known hosta expert Bob Solberg will be present at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 30, at Hornbaker Gardens, 22937 County Rd. 1140 N. in Princeton.

Nationally-known hosta expert Bob Solberg will be present at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 30, at Hornbaker Gardens, 22937 County Rd. 1140 N. in Princeton.

Solberg will host a presentation titled “Where do new hostas come from: selection, propagation and production.”

Solberg also will be available throughout the day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This free event is available through registration at www.hornbakergardens.com. Lunch is also available for preorder at the time of registration.

After graduating from with a bachelors 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 new hostas ever since.

Solberg has introduced nearly 100 new varieties of hostas. Some of his better-known introductions include Guacamole, Curly Fries, Orange Marmalade, First Blush and Sharp Dressed Man.

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 involved in the running of the organization ever since, serving as the Executive Secretary since 1998.

From 1988-1990, Solberg served as Editor of The Hosta Journal, the principal publication of the American Hosta Society. He currently 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.

Hornbaker Gardens is a garden center, botanical garden and arboretum located near Princeton. For more information, call 815-659-3282.

Solberg will also be available throughout the day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This free event is available through registration at www.hornbakergardens.com. Lunch is also available for preorder at the time of registration.