West Coast Wonders—Mandy’s Trip to Sebright Gardens with Kirk Hansen

This week on Hosta la Vista, Mandy escapes the Midwest's heat to trek into the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley—and we're all along for the ride. After visiting in August, she returns brimming with stories from Sebright Gardens, a true botanical treasure near Salem that cultivates over 1,000 hosta varieties alongside hardy ferns and elegant epimediums—making it one of the largest and most immersive shade-garden nurseries west of the Mississippi.

We sit down with co-founder Kirk Hansen to explore how four acres of magical display gardens began as a private passion project in 2003 and grew into a source of inspiration for gardeners everywhere.

Learn what it takes to curate more than a thousand shade-loving beauties (plus hundreds of companion plants!), what the visitor experience feels like, and how Sebright manages to ship plants beyond Oregon’s borders.

Whether you’ve walked their pathways yourself or are hosting hostas in spirit, this episode delivers plant-spiration straight from the Pacific Northwest. Join us for tales of mossy paths, towering hosta mounds, and the man behind the hostas—Kirk Hansen of Sebright Gardens.

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