I got MD last year and it is lovely! That said, mine is the same size it was last year, so I am not impressed with the growth rate. Of course this is the "creep" year in my garden, so we shall see.

Alexa

I don't have this one, but it is described as a kikutii hybrid with bluish leaves with creamy-yellow margins, forming a low spreading mound.

I have one I like that I've grown for years as kikutii 'Kifukurin' but we are now told is probably not a kikutii, but might be a kikutii hybrid. The correct name now is 'Kifukurin Hyuga.' It has a lot in common with the descriptions of MD except the leaves are shiny green... and the margin definitely goes from yellow in spring toward the white end of things.

and why did I bring all this up? The kikutii hybrids tend to have a trait that throws off buyers. The adolescent leaves tend to be slender with a very elegant look. As the plant matures, the leaves tend to become wider in proportion to the length so that, though still attractive, they don't have the same "look" that attracted the buyer at the nursery.

Same thing happens, to a degree, with Katsuragawa Beni and, I assume, with its sport Red Alert. It certainly surprised me when my mature Kifukurin Hyuga didn't have the same slender elegant leaves that attracted it to me originally - but it is still an attractive plant.

Not necessarily a bad thing... depends on taste. With Ginko Craig, most of us divide it to keep the juvenile look. With the kikutii clan, one just needs to know about the trait. They are nice looking plants in maturity.

I think the pictures in the HL may show some of this trait in MD... the first two pics of younger plants - more slender leaves ... and in spring - yellower margins, while the last is likely a more mature plant and later in the season.

Mourning Dove is a great plant that just looks better as it matures. It should be a really good grower, at least it has been for me over the past 5 years. The same can't be said about its reverse, Lonesome Dove. That one is not garden worthy...

Thanks for the tip, ctopher...

A shame that one with such a great name - Lonesome Dove - proves to be a dog. I haven't tried it... I tend to stay away from the disappointment of white centered hostas... but I think when the only picture in the hosta library shows a potted - and damaged - plant, that should be a warning to us all.

Thanks, Alexa, idiothe and ctopher . . . the MDs at the garden center look mature- nice full pots of low-mounded plants with wide leaves. Like I said, *very stunning.* Sooooo.... if there are any left when I return, I will purchase one.