About Us:

The Hosta Guru: Bob Solberg

Hosta Guru, Bob Solberg, has long loved being a nurseryman and working outside with plants. As a young boy in Miami, Florida, Bob had a small nursery that he ran out of his parents backyard where he grew palm trees in recycled oil and powdered egg cans. His love of nature and plants carried him to Davidson College in North Carolina followed by a graduate program at UNC Chapel Hill in botany. However, it was after college as a young father that Bob began yet another backyard nursery that would grow to become Green Hill Farm. Here, Bob got in on the ground floor of hostas and learned all he could about hosta cultivars, genetics, breeding, growing, and the hosta business. He became an active member in the American Hosta Society, soon holding leadership roles and earning several awards. In the almost forty years that Bob has run and worked at Green Hill Farm, he has grown the business from a backyard supplier to garden centers and retailers, to one of the world-leading introducers of hostas. Green Hill Farm now offers retail and wholesale as well as mail order and some walk-in business. Due to Bob’s leadership, Green Hill Farm works hard to introduce great new plants each and every year for nurseries, garden centers, and hosta collectors. Bob’s life passion can really be summed up in hostas; he is passionate about understanding and educating others about the science of hostas and hosta gardening.

Some of Bob Solberg’s better known hosta introductions: 

  • ‘Guacamole’, introduced in 1994 and Hosta of the Year in 2002 is probably his best known cultivar and is probably in your garden.
  • ‘Orange Marmalade’ PP16,742 is his first patented hosta and destined for a wide distribution.
  • ‘Corkscrew’, ‘Ginsu Knife’, ‘Cracker Crumbs’, ‘Crumb Cake’, ‘Tongue Twister’, ‘First Frost’, ‘One Man’s Treasure’, ‘Smiley Face’, ‘Sweet Sunshine’ and ‘Curly Fries’ are some of his better introductions.
  • Some of his newest and most exciting introduced hostas include, ‘Ambrosia’PPAF and ‘First Blush’PP28,920 , and ‘Lemon Snap’.
  • Bob’s 2020 introductions include ‘The Mighty Quinn’, ‘Sugar Cookie’, ‘Curly Fries’ and ‘Lettuce Wrap’.
Bob Solberg receiving the Alex J. Summers award.

Awards and Accomplishments:

  • Bob has served as the Editor of The Hosta Journal, the principle publication of the American Hosta Society, (1988-1990) and Vice President for The Genus Hosta, (1998-2001).
  • He was the recipient of the 2003 Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Award from the America Hosta Society.
  • Bob is co-founder and is Executive Secretary of The American Hosta Growers Association, (1998-2011, 2018-current), a professional trade organization for hosta nurseries. The members of the AHGA select the Hosta of the Year annually.
  • Bob is a nationally known lecturer on the subject of hostas and writer of many articles on hostas. He has edited the “Green Hill Gossip” since 1996 and the “Gossip Jr.”, a twice yearly subscription newsletter since 2004.
  • Hosta hybridizing has been a passion of Bob’s for almost 30 years. In 2008 he was awarded the Eunice Fisher Distinguished Hybridizer Merit Award by the American Hosta Society for his work with hostas. He has introduced about 100 hostas to date and has plans to add five or so to that number each year.
  • ‘Curly Fries’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ have won the Benedict Garden Performance Award, the highest award given to a hosta by the American Hosta Society.