Meetings
Let's look in on a typical meeting of the Society.
Members are treated to a long drive through a mature wood to the beautifully landscaped and elegantly appointed meeting space made available to us by garden philanthropist Deen Day Sanders: Bellmere Garden House, located at 10777 Bell Road in Duluth.
At the door, membership chair Becky Paris welcomes arriving members, dispenses name tags, collects dues, and keeps attendance.
At the front of the room, Treasurer Dexter Henry and Ways and Means Chair Kendra Spadoni coordinate the plant-sharing and fundraising activity for the meeting.
Julia Lyons stands by in the kitchen at the back of the room to accept contributions of savory and sweet foodstuffs and direct their final presentation for the buffet lunch.
There’s the call to order by President Mark Malaguerra, followed by a quick trip through the business agenda and announcements of interest to the membership.
On then to the tasty portion of the get-together as members enjoy each other’s contributions to lunch.
After lunch, it’s the featured presentation, offering in-depth insight into an aspect of the genus hosta and companion plantings for shade gardening. Probing questions and comments from the audience enrich the sharing of expertise of the speaker.
Meetings often conclude with a bit of poetry or an anecdote from society historian Claudia Walker to rally perseverance over pests and pestilence or to encourage members to take satisfaction in their gardening successes.
The group gradually disperses as successful bidders claim their auction plants and pay up. Others might elicit recipes for especially appealing lunch items.
The room returns to order, name tags are turned in and reminders are called out.
Then, folks head home, having enjoyed a thoroughly rewarding Saturday in the companionship of others who appreciate the diverse beauty of the genus hosta.
What's Coming Up? See Below for Details ...
General body meeting
11:00 AMÂ Saturday, September 5, 2026 at the Deen Day Sanders Garden House 10777 Bell Road
Duluth, GA 30097
Our Program will feature a presentation by Mark Zillis. Â
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Since 1980, Mark has been actively involved with the American Hosta Society. He attended every national convention since then, with the exception of 1982. He served on its Board of Directors, participated in AHS committees, judged numerous AHS leaf shows, and has been an AHS auctioneer since the late 1980s. In 2001, the AHS honored him with the Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Award for his service to the society. Mark traveled to Japan five times to study hostas in their native habitats and collections. Over the years, Mark studied twenty-five species and botanical forms in wild sites that ranged from the swamps and streams of Hokkaido to mountain-sides, woodlands, and wetlands of Honshu and Shikoku Islands. This would have not been possible without the extensive guidance of noted hosta collectors Yoshimichi Hirose, Hajime Sugita, Taoto Ito, Hiroshi Abe, and Kimio Muroya. Mark’s travels have led him to a great appreciation of both Japanese wildlife and the Japanese culture in general. |
| Mark authored and self-published three books about hostas. The first, The Hosta Handbook, was released in 2000. This 600 page book described and discussed the top hostas and their sports in a spiral-bound format making it easy to carry around in the garden. In 2009, Mark released The Hostapedia, an encyclopedia of hostas which details over 7400 different types of hostas in an 1128 page book. It includes nearly 1900 photos of hostas. In 2014, Mark released his third book, Mark Zilis’ Field Guide to Hostas. Over 428 pages, Mark delves into the top 272 types of hostas, completely describing them and evaluating their merits. The Field Guide also reviews hosta taxonomy, nomenclature, techniques for developing new hostas, and propagation methods. A thorough examination of problems that occasionally afflict hostas can be found at the back of the book. Like The Hosta Handbook, the Field Guide is spiral bound and easy to carry in the garden. |
The meeting starts at 11 and the program will begin after lunch. Hope to see you there.