I know what you mean...look at my Guardian Angel...it's a mess..
{{gwi:919968}}

I'll dig it up this year and separate inta many divisions...hoping that one or more of them will develop into a decent Guardian Angel.
I guess it's part of the fun...or part of the challenge in this hosta collection that we are involved in.

Papou

the GA in my picture is at least 7 and maybe 10 years old ... patience is a virtue ....

second... i know the source of mine.... do you?

Tissue culture is variable ... and there needs to be a culling process .... though all plants are supposed to be clones ... or exact duplicates.... the hosta is technically an unstable plant ... so thru the process ... streakers.. and other mutants can occur ...

a good seller... grows their plants on for a year or two, to be sure that they are selling the actual plant ... these days there are so many bargain sellers... that one can not be sure of this .... to often a middle man gets a 2 dollar TC ... and sells it for 4 dollars... never knowing or caring if it is true to name ...

all that said .. some plants thrive in some areas.. some dont .. though your z5 should be similar to mine ... GA may not grow in the south e.g. ....

papous GA doesnt look exactly like mine .. from the other post ... but mine never gets the sun that his does.. just from the picture ..... and his is extremely young in comparison ......

if yours is even close.. or you can get a picture... just give it time .... it will be worth it ....

if it looks NOTHING like the other pix... maybe it isn't GA ...

ken

Good Morning Papou,
I believe it's part of the challenge but I think there is a genetic factor also.
Yours looks better than mine. Mine is green. It starts out with streaking but not strong enough to my liking. Its a big beauty or baby.lol But the streaking subsides. I want the varigation to be stronger like Kens and Greenguys. Maybe divisions will help give it a kick in the butt. I'll try that one this summer also.
Gloria

Hi Ken,
It's will be the 5th year this summer.
And I did get it from a nursery but they start their own slips but I know it was only there shortly. I am sure its GA because of the first coloration and look of the leaves.
Maybe the divisions will produce a favorable plant.
Can't get a pix on, I did get a great camera this past year but I haven't experimented sending pix yet.
Thanks for the advise.

there is a FAQ on the forum ... link below ...

posting pix is real easy ... and free ... and we will help you through it ....

if the link isnt clear ... put photobucket in the search engine at the top of the forum .. hit the GO button ... and there will be a lot of posts about pix....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: photobucket

Hosta are by their nature highly variable which is part of the beauty and frustration. Even if you get an eye of the very first plant it will vary and each eye on each and everyone of your plants are different even though it may not even be noticable.
TC leads to inexpensive plants of varing form or color, buy from someone who grows them longer and pay more and you should expect one closer to the original.
Some pictures are the only year that plant looked like the picture.

Hi Gloria,
I know that any hosta is different from ANY other...even if they belong to the same family or variety. Most of us are laymen (laywomen) and therefore are not expert in the field...and I dont ask where that hosta came from when I purchased it. Over the years, I limited myself to purchase from reliable growers and hosta suppliers...the Solbergs, Zilis, Van Wade, Tony Avent, or similar...I do not buy fom eBay because hostas are cheaper...very risky IMHO.
I once bought Striptease...without the fine white line...and a few year after, it reverted back to Hyacinthina.
And so, the fun continues....with some challenging hostas, sometimes....
We both need good luck with our Guardian Angel. If and when nothing works, I intend to simply purchase a new one.

Papou

Hostared, as far as the Guardian Angel thing goes..you might just have a dog. Buy another, give it time. The pic Ken posted is one of 3 I have seen that awesome. The other 2 I saw in person. Mine will celebrate leap year this year. I hope.

I took special notice to the second line in your post, about moving them. That is one thing that drives me crazy! Don't move them. Especially cultivars that get big. Lots of people do it. I move them if there's good reason, like when our sewer main was being dug up. Otherwise, unless you have a reason to hold it in a location that's temporary, plant it thinking it will be there always.

Well,I don't have a Guardian Angel,but what about other hostas? I have 2 Guacamoles,and neither one has ever grown like everyone raves about! One is from 2002 and still is a pathetic little plant. I moved it last year to see if it would grow better in a different place,and the other one is planted near where the oldest one used to be. I have many other hostas that far outperform Guacamole! Phil

Hi Roxanne,
I am with you about moving plants. I try not to. I love the maturity of a plant. I am slow to divide also for that reason. This one has grown large and I really believe I am going to have to purchase another to get the characteristics I am searching for. It had the tell tale signs of GA when purchased but just became a dud. I may try a small divison that looks promising from the original. I keep thinking each year this will be the year but nope.
So we'll see how this experiment goes.

I am at work and don't have time to read this whole thread but here are a cople of things i would recommend

#1 stop splitting them up!!!!!!

papou yours looks fine let it mature a while - if anything move the whole plant where it gets a bit more shade and that should give it the darker colors

hostas can take a long time to bring out their mature traits - look at manhattan and some of the others

give them some time, a little fert. and a lot of water and i bet in a couple of years they will look as good or better then some of the pictures you see

my ga only gets some a.m. light then it is in shade the rest of the day - exposure can make a huge difference with hostas and with this one more than most imo

You have 2 recommendations which will give different results but should be considered based on what you want.
If you don't move it then it will grow and mature faster but it will probably not change
If you identify leaves that you like and excise that spot on the basel plate it will more than likely produce a plant looking like the leaf you like.
Search Rossing or Zumberizing.

Gloria, another experiment you might want to try: cut off any leaves/eyes without the coloration you like. This will force dormant buds into growth without disturbing the roots. If your GA gets a lot of sun, it will produce more, smaller leaves. Like Greenguy, a morning sun position will get you larger leaves and possibly more contrast. We should all live on the sunny side of a hill = early morning sun, afternoon shade.

Can you post that picture now?

Nope can't post that one yet.
I have never taken a picture of it. But when I find time to mess with posting pictures I will. Most my pictures are not digital and I do have a disc of last years pics.
I will try my hand at photobucket.
GA gets morning and some afternoon light...so that's not the problem. It is a large plant. I just really think it's a dud. We can't all have perfect specimens...like special people there are special hosta's. lol