skip to main content

Hosta Identification

9 years ago

I'm in love. Please tell me what kind of host this is. Many thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

donrawson
9 years ago
Hmmm...I'm thinking it may be Avocado or Holy Mole. Both of these Guacamole sports have pale lavender fragrant flowers from mid-August into September.
hostahosta
9 years ago
That's a beautiful picture. I understand why you are so taken with it. I agree with don r. It looks like that pic is taken with a lot of shade, possibly making coloration looking darker than it actually is. I love all the Guacamole sports. They have a shiny appearance and of course fragrant.
Related Discussions
Hosta Identification 1
Q
Comments (15)
Jim - it's definitely EW. I'm not sure when it was first released for sale but I've had this for around 10-12 years now. I'm not great w/ any definite time frame past a year ago the older I get! HAHA! I grow this one in full sun and I think that lends to the tight, upright form. I can't imagine the real estate it would take up if it was sprawling! LOL Funny thing is I purchased another EW around 5 years ago and it was growing around 6' away from this one. It was bloom time and I was standing and looking at that bed. Total lightbulb moment that I had twins! HAHA Funny thing is that the other one was around the size of Royal Standard. It looked fine but never thrived like this one. I've heard many tales of EW that never got big. Makes me wonder if there are TC snafus on this variety.
...See More
Hosta Identification help #3
Q
Comments (9)
a scale usually helps.. anything we might recognize ... I see the consensus is a probable Wide Brim, but here's a couple more pics, with a 12 inch ruler for scale. (sorry the ruler is hard to see, but it's the only one I have, and a measuring tape was too heavy)
...See More
Hosta Identification help #5
Q
Comments (18)
and i dont think the friend was a collector ... but i could be wrong on that ... The friend that gives me the most divisions is somewhat a collector, but she is also a bargain hunter, and will pick up dying twigs to baby back to life. So she has a mix of regular standards and more unique ones. This hosta, however, plus the one in my #6 query, were not from her, but other people, and I think they may have come with their properties, so more apt to be old standards.
...See More
Hosta Identification help #7
Q
Comments (20)
@gardenchick2010, here are some photos I just took of my viridescent undulatas. They've finished blooming and are changing to green in order to get more photosynthesis done before the season is done. I understand that this change to green helps them set up what's going on underground now so they can come up bigger and stronger next spring. Some leaves turn fully green. Others go half-way, and some stay white. The clumps still look "white" in the context of the garden. Of course I wish they didn't need to turn green. My White Christmas hosta doesn't turn green, but it also doesn't get any bigger. As in, years and years of growth and the stupid thing, beautiful as it is, still only has a few leaves. Here are a bunch of undulatas in a clump out back, still looking more or less white right now mid-August. They are suffering from the drought, so look more thin than usual. Close up of that clump. You'll see every variation of viridescence. More closeups: At first reading I thought you were wanting to get rid of a plant that was reverting right in the middle of the season, one white leaf at a time, because you were worried it would come back eternally green in the future. On second reading, I now realize you thought your hosta was sick. Nope, not sick. It's just doing what it needs to do to get enough fuel to its underground parts now so it can work on growing bigger for the future. Those white leaf parts can't do photosynthesis. They are just decoration for our visual pleasure. Another note about undulatas: they grow better in full sun. But the white parts burn out. In full shade they barely grow; not enough photosynthesis can go on. I keep mine in as much sun as I can, and I ignore the fact that they get holes in them. I can do that because there are so many close to each other, so they read as a white clump, not as specimens to be admired one at a time. This hosta is no good for that kind of viewing. Here's my Night Before Christmas. It must be 8 years old. That's dianthus up next to it. It's been such a disappointment, given my desire for it to replace the undulatas. It's prettier and has more dense substance, though, than the undulatas. It just won't expand to fill a space that can be seen as part of a designed garden bed.
...See More
Steve Massachusetts
9 years ago
Looks like Cathedral Windows to me. Check out the pics on the Hosta Library and see what you think. All of these guesses are related to Guacamole.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta Library
daysquid
Original Author
9 years ago
Are most of the Guacamole sports shiny leafed?
Steve Massachusetts
9 years ago
Yes. Shiny leaves are typical of the entire H. plantaginea family. H. plantaginea is the species from which all fragrant Hostas descend.

Steve
Mary4b
9 years ago
Is that an oakleaf hydrangea with the hosta? Very pretty whatever it is!
User
9 years ago
My vote is for Holy Mole. I'll try to get a picture of mine this morning, and hope the 11 inches of rain has not beat the garden down. The neighbor said her 5 gallon bucket had 13 inches of water in it, her friend in Pensacola had 17 inches in hers (although they say Pensacola got 20 inches of rain, with 5.5 inches coming down in 45 minutes)... I notice that some of my hosta leaves have sort of bruises on them, which I estimate came from the sheer force and impact of raindrops.

Here is the Avocado leaf. It is much too plain in the middle to be the plant in question. That twig went through the leaf last night.

Cathedral Windows another candidate. Of course my plant is not mature and the center may change. But I see it as more golden in the midleaf than the greener in the example.

Holy Mole has a touch more of the green in midleaf, which is why I submit it is the plant in question. To me, the clue of the midleaf color was that large chartreuse leafed shrub next to the hosta. The hosta was matched with that shrub for effect.

Emerald Charger is another fragrant with that kind of midleaf variegation. However, it has twisted leaves which I don't think the example mature hosta has. It is the one at the bottom of the picture beneath.

. I think you could get Holy Mole, Cathedral Windows, and perhaps Emerald Charger and be in good shape. Nothing like having all three! They are beautiful hosta
funnthsun z7A - Southern VA
9 years ago
I would say either Holy Mole or Avocado, as well. I don't think it's Cathedral Windows, even in shade, I would think it would be a bit more yellow-toned in the center. Mine is BRIGHT yellow centered. Certainly no expert, though.

Take a look at this pic from Sebright Gardens of Avocado:
daysquid
Original Author
9 years ago
You guys are great. And this combination with Oak Leaf Hydrangea is define.
User
9 years ago
Daysquid, when you get your arrangement in the garden, be sure to share the effect. I'm sure it will be gorgeous.
daysquid
Original Author
9 years ago
Will do. I plan on several trips to my local garden centers in the next few weeks. Looking forward to this combination or something similar.

Related Stories

GARDENING GUIDES How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Yard

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Find plant maps, sale sites and guides that make going native in the garden easier than ever

Sponsored

More Discussions

What are you doing Monday 41524

34

What is wrong with Forest Shadows?

15

Frost warning tonight

8

Sun tolerant hostas:

3

I have my first Scapes!

5