Founded in March 1995, the Black Swamp Hosta and Daylily Society (BSHDS) is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote, encourage, and foster the development and improvement of the genera Hosta and Hemerocallis. 

Taking its name from northwest Ohio'’s once formidable Black Swamp, BSHDS is a member of the American Hosta Society and the American Hemerocallis Society.

BSHDS holds regular meetings in the spring and fall at the Conference Center. Special speakers, programs and refreshments are featured at the general membership meetings, which are free and open to the public.  In the summer, BSHDS holds a members’ garden tour and picnic, a bus trip, either a hosta or daylily show, and a daylily auction.  Gardening workshops and special events are also held at various times during the year.  January is the annual dinner meeting with a featured speaker, May is the Perennial Plant Sale (the society’s major fundraiser), and November is the holiday potluck with a featured speaker.

Since 1998, BSHDS has focused its philanthropic endeavors on the development of the hosta and daylily collections at TBG.  Through its 21st Century Project, the BSHDS has donated hundreds of plants and interpretive signage.  Because of these efforts, the Garden’s Daylily Walk, a signature collection of more than 300 varieties, was designated a Display Garden of the American Hemerocallis Society in 2001.  It is the only public collection so honored in Ohio.  Installed in 1993, the Daylily Walk features three major groups: species, historic and ten categories of award-winning cultivars.

Hostas are Toledo Botanical Garden’s largest herbaceous holding, presented in 20 thematic gardens that were designed and installed by BSHDS volunteers.  With more than 500 species and cultivars on display, this signature collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive hosta collections in America.  Given its diversity and educational focus, The American Hosta Society designated this collection as a National Display Garden in 2002.  That same year, the collection was honored with provisional membership in the North American Plant Collections Consortium of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.  Also planted throughout the Shade Garden are three collections of award-winning hostas that chronicle the trends and achievements in hybridization.

BSHDS also maintains a comprehensive hosta collection at the 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, OH.  This educational project is managed through organic gardening principles.  In 2005, this collection of hostas was designated a National Display Garden of the American Hosta Society.  BSHDS also developed and maintains a garden at the City of Perrysburg Senior Center.  The City of Perrysburg Office of Recycling and BSHDS started a program in 2004 whereby the city collects used plastic flowerpots for re-use by members of the BSHDS.

Other special programs and events are the Daylily Host Program, which familiarizes participating members with new daylilies.  After growing the host plant for two years, members divide their host plant, keeping one fan and returning all others to BSHDS’s Daylily Auction. 

The Hosta Spring Sale offers members an opportunity to purchase exciting new hosta cultivars at special prices offered only to hosta societies.  The Hosta Tissue Culture Education Program provides members with practical experience in raising plants that have been propagated through tissue culture (TC).  Members monitor their plant and compare growth patterns with other members several times during the growing season.

BSHDS has donated books on hostas and daylilies as well as money to local libraries to purchase additional books.  We have books in over a dozen library systems, and are still expanding the program to include more libraries and more books.

BSHDS welcomes all gardeners who share members’ interest in daylilies and hostas. Dues are $10 per garden per calendar year. 

For more information about this organization, please contact Charlene Patz at 419-874-8964 or cfpatz@att.net.