Northern Illinois Hosta Society Home Page
The Northern Illinois Hosta Society (NIHS) was founded in October 1992 when Tom Micheletti, our first president, gathered several fellow hostaphiles together and founded the Northern Illinois Hosta Society. He remains one of the country's most knowledgeable hosta experts.
Our NIHS society's mission is dedicated to educating the public, to encourage the development of new cultivars and and promote the use of hostas in the landscape. NIHS works closely with the American Hosta Society (AHS) and the Midwest Regional Hosta Society (MRHS) planning and hosting hosta events and donating to hosta research. NIHS is a general not-for-profit organization that serves the people of Northern Illinois and surrounding areas.
Our NIHS society's mission is dedicated to educating the public, to encourage the development of new cultivars and and promote the use of hostas in the landscape. NIHS works closely with the American Hosta Society (AHS) and the Midwest Regional Hosta Society (MRHS) planning and hosting hosta events and donating to hosta research. NIHS is a general not-for-profit organization that serves the people of Northern Illinois and surrounding areas.
Some of our Programs, Events & Activities
Cantigny Park National Hosta Display Garden This garden is an American Hosta Society (AHS) National Hosta Display Garden we maintain. NIHS contninues to add to this display garden through plant donations from our NIHS members as well as and commercial growers and hybridizers. NIHS has also purchased a number of desired cultivars. Today when you come to our garden, you will find over 250+ different cultivars and companion plants to please your garden palette and have you leave desiring more HOSTAS and companion plants for your garden. Come sit with us in this beautiful garden that brings tranquility and rest during busy days. |
2023 MRHS Winter Symposium.
Feb 24-25, 2023 Milwaukee-Brookfield, WI Symposium check-in is Friday afternoon, February 24th, from 4 to 6 PM, and Saturday morning from 7 to 8 AM. Hostatality Friday evening! The Symposium will be from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM on Saturday, February 25th. More Information and Registration Form 
Winter Symposium
March 12, 2023 1:00 p.m. Medill Room, Cantigny Park, Wheaton, IL Cindy Tyley, is a certified landscape designer, member of the Landscape Design Association, and owner of Carriage House Garden Design in LaGrange, IL. She offers low maintenance beautiful garden designs, and consultations focusing on practical solultions in your garden. Discover useful ways to save time, enegy, and money wile gardening. This show and tell presentation by Cindy demonstrates tips for both indoor and outdoor gardening ideas and care throughout the year. |
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Spring Symposium Presentation
May 21, 2023-1:00 p.m., Education Center, Cantigny Park, IL Our Spring Symposium will be held on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at Cantigny Park, Wheaton, IL in the afternoon beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the Education Center. The guest speakers selected each spring are horticultural experts in their field. Our speaker this year is Heather Prince, speaking on the topic, "By the Light of the Moon-Evening Garden". This presentation will be presented in-person and we will be following all CDC guidelines to continue to keep all members and presenters safe. |
Sponsor Plant Pick-Up-on May 21, 2023
Cantigny Park, Education Center, Wheaton, IL As Lou Horton, NIHS Past President, 2003-2011, has always said, “the Sponsor Plant Program is designed for the benefit of our members”. Every year we select 4-5 high quality cultivars from two NIHS vendors. You will receive field grown divisions that are ready to be placed in your garden after the threat of frost. The offerings are beautiful cultivars that everyone should have in their collection. For more information, look in your email in the March NIHS newsletter. If you have further questions, please contact Mike Kraus, President. Hosta plants have not been decided on yet for this year. TBD |
Annual Leaf Display at the Chicago Botanic Garden
June 3-4, 2023 The NIHS's mission & purpose is to share knowledge of hostas and to promote the use of hostas in the landscape. How better to do this than to display the most stunning hosta leaves from our gardens. Members donate their prized hosta leaves. Hundreds of visitors will enjoy this hosta experience. Some buy hostas and ferns from our vendors. Attendees also have the opportunity to vote on their favorite hosta leaf. If you would like to volunteer to help with this event, please contact Zoe Ingersoll. |
American Hosta Society National Convention
June 7-10, 2023 Ames, Iowa Welcome to Fields of Hosta Dreams 2023 website. To Register go to: American Hosta Society website Here you will find out about this year’s American Hosta Society (AHS) National Convention, to be held June 7-10, 2023. You may also register on-line with credit or debit card or download a registration form you can print out and mail in with your check, or register completely on-line via credit or debit card. The Russ O'Harra Hosta Society is delighted to be the host for the AHS 2023 convention. Hostas continue to be America’s number one perennial due to their versatility in the landscape. |
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Garden Walks- 2023 Each Summer, at least four members open their home gardens to our members. We have four exciting garden walks for this summer that we believe you will enjoy. Each garden is a reflection of the homeowners that have lovingly created their tranquil environment. You will always find our Summer Garden Walks in our spring and summer newsletters and in individual emails sent out to all of our NIHS members with details about the gardens and directions. You will also find the information in our Member's Only section on our website navigation bar. |
2nd Annual Car Caravan- TBD Our members look forward to an annual trip to various regions or states around Illinois to look at private and public gardens with shopping experiences involved. Getting to reconnect with our members and meet new members is a great opportunity during this day long event. We became very creative during Covid as our members looked forward to the annual bus trip, so Mark Rekoske, NIHS Vice President came up with the idea of a car caravan to replace our bus trip. It followed CDC guidelines and we continued to visit some remarkable gardens (between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.) and enjoyed the gardening opportunities and ideas with gracious hosts. Members were able to visit the gardens in any order that they wished. This year our Car Caravan trip will be to ? (TBD), Illinois to look at some great gardens. Check the May 2023 newsletter for more details. If you have visited private and public gardens that you feel our society would love to visit, please send Mark an email to share your thoughts on possible future gardens to see- Mark Rekoske |
NIHS Summer Symposium Presentation
July 16, 2023 Cantigny Park-Education Building Information to follow 
Midwest Regional Hosta Society Convention-
Rochester, MN July 13-15, 2023 Please follow the details on the MRHS website and we hope to see you all attend this great leaning opportunity and participate in all the wonderful site seeing in the Rochester, MN area. The convention is sponsored by the Shades of Green Hosta Society. During the convention you will be able to:
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Auction & Summer Picnic - Cantigny Park-TBD
Thank you to each and everyone of our donors and bidders for making our auction a great success last year and in previous years. Each Summer, members and member vendors contribute plants (hostas & companion plants) from their own gardens or nurseries to the annual NIHS Auction. This is our only fundraiser of the year. The Northern Illinois Hosta Society (NIHS) was founded in October 1992 by a group of people that shared a passion for hostas. The society is dedicated to educating the public and promoting the use of hostas in the landscape. NIHS works closely with the American Hosta Society and the Midwest Regional Hosta Society planning and hosting hosta events and donating to hosta research. NIHS is a not-for-profit organization that serves the people of Northern Illinois and surrounding areas. The funds raised from this event will support our numerous programs and social events including Hosta Garden Walks, symposiums, and meetings. |
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Annual Membership Meeting-Members Only
September 2023-date to be determined at the Education Center at Cantigny The purpose of this annual meeting is to discuss and approve the NIHS annual Budget and the election of new officers to fill vacant positions. Our meeting is usually scheduled on a Sunday in September. The Nominating Committee Report and the Budget proposal is always emailed to our members for their review before this meeting. After the meeting we can walk the beautiful gardens at Cantigny and observe the changing seasonal colors among the vegetation while gathering ideas for our own gardens. Don't forget to bring your favorite fall dessert to share with your fellow members. |
Fall Symposium - Sunday, October 15, 2023 in the Medill Room at Cantigny Park, Wheaton, IL
Presenter to be determiend Our Fall Symposium will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. Liz Omura will be our speaker. Hopefully the weather will be favorable and many of you will be able to find some time to stroll through our American Hosta Society National Display Garden just south of the Visitor’s Center. We hope you will enjoy the sights of so many wonderful hostas and their companion plants. Cantigny Park is located at 1s151 Winfield Road, in Wheaton. Members, please wear your NIHS name tags and wear your mask as the presentation will be indoors. We will be following CDC guidelines and Illinois guidelines too. We look forward to seeing many or all of you there in October 2022. you there. Be sure to check out the future newsletters about this event. |
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NIHS Member Vendors & Advertisers
Please patronize our Member Vendors & Advertisers. Our advertisers have special Sale and/or Open House dates that would be a perfect time to shop for some great hostas and companions. Click here to see these special businesses that support NIHS.
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Resources
We feel you will find helpful information and videos to watch as our seasons change. There is much to learn as we hone our gardening skills. During the winter time we begin to dream, visualize, plan, read, rearrange, and read some more gardening resources while we reflect on what our gardens might look like in the spring. In the spring, we can't wait to clean up our gardens and begin to dig in the dirt. Summer lends itself to more work as we reap the visual sensations of our delightful gardens. In the fall, we must prepare our gardens for their long awaited sleep. You will find a page of virtual gardens under the Resources tab to look at for additional ideas in your gardens too. |
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Become a Member Today
An affordable NIHS membership gives you access to informative programs, Garden Walks and botanical gardens, annual gardening bus or car caravan trip, our spring plant sale and more. Become a NIHS member today! |
JOIN NIHS Facebook page
Our Northern Illinois Hosta Society Facebook page is filled with garden related topics relating to hostas and companion plants, garden issues and other topics that arise in the gardening world. Join and follow our NIHS Facebook group to share garden pictures, post comments, and ask questions with our NIHS followers. |
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