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'Patriot' hosta colors are not matching

13 years ago

Hello! This may be an elementary questions but, I've only been gardening for a few years...

I have a ring of 'Patriot' hostas surrounding a bed of pachysandra under a jack pine in my yard. I planted the ring autumn before last. One didn't come back this year so I went out and bought a replacement and planted it. The green is much darker on the new one. Will color lighten in time and even out or am I going to have one oddball which stands out?

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

i-like-to-grow
13 years ago
I'm new to this as well... but I have picked up on the fact that many things will change the shade of the colors in your hosta... primarily sun exposure and maturity...
I'm guessing your new Patriot isn't as mature as the ones you planted almost two years ago.. and I'm guessing maybe you just planted the new one...while the others have seen some raw sun this year... Some are gonna tell you to post pictures and that would help... they could probably tell you more than I could...
I know patriots get mixed up at box stores like HD and L... and it might be likely you could have wound up with another variety like albomarginata or something.. But if you bought from a credited farm/nursery that probably didn't happen...

Maybe I was helpful =)
John
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alyciaadamo
13 years ago
The one you bought is probably darker because it has been up longer and probably in more sun from the green house. The ones in your yard will darken up with time and next spring they will probably look all the same.
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Oh yes! My girls and I often find terrific buys like that - we go to the nursery very early in March and come home w $1 Delphs and Lupines, for example and stand agape when it's flowering time! At end of the season for shrubs n trees! I have a dwarf Korean Lilac that I only paid $7 for that I love to talk about. Glad someone else out there that appreciates the potential and looks beyond the aesthetics sometimes. Double the pleasure!
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Yes I went to one of those box stores...shhhh dont tell anyone but do this every year looking for sports and found this one. Actually it was yelling at me from across the bench and fortunately there were no other hostaholics in the crowd since only we can hear them when their yelling at us to put them in the shopping cart. This plant has 5 eyes all the same and what you cannot see is the huge wings on the petioles the ripples on the leaves and the mix of colors that goe all the way down to the crown. I tend to stay away from streakers given their notorious instability but given this was a mere $5.98 how could I say no. What is also different is it isn't just merely a streaker per say but is a combination of misting and streaking combined have never seen that in a hosta before. The fact there are 4 different colors in the plant also make it very unusual as well. In 2 years if this plant remains as it looks now I'm going to TC the plant. The response I got from growers and members at the AHS was very positive so if this plant remains stable it will be worth a look into large scale production and have already assigned a name to it as Ashland's Messiah. Patience in this business is a virtue to be certain.
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I had to go out and look at my Patriot and Minuteman after reading this. From a distance they do look like they are probably the same plant but upon closer inspection, Minuteman is a deeper, darker shade of green. The leaves are a bit more rounded than Patriot as well. Also, if you feel the leaves, Minuteman has much thicker (sort of leathery) leaves than Patriot. My Minuteman did have cream edges until a couple of weeks ago when they started turning a more pure white... but the baby leaves still have cream edges. I think you're right about your's being Minuteman... it looks just like mine.
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Kathy--your gardens are absolutely beautiful!!! How long a flowering season do you have in Juneau? I still happen to LOVE snow!! I'd love it if we could just pick a day, in November, (maybe right after Thanksgiving) where it is still beautiful, and then the next day we have the snow for a couple of months, then Spring for about 3 months! I don't think there's a place like that, though! :o/ Thank you for giving us a peek at your gardens and home. Hope you stick around and post with us as a 'regular'!!
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thisismelissa
13 years ago
Ah, but, if there are different exposures, then yes, the greens will differ.

For instance, in my front yard, I'm working on a garden with a tree in the middle of it. On the east side of the garden, it'll be in full sun... from dawn till about 4pm. On the other side of the garden, just 8 feet away, it'll be part sun since the tree's shadow will rotate across it and shade it during the hot parts of the day. If the same hosta were to be planted in both spots, there would likely be differing shades.

And, in my back garden with mostly shade, the areas that have dappled shade have darker dark-greens than the areas that get more sun.
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Mark Walker
13 years ago
... maybe the nursery inadvertently switched the 'Patriot' and 'Minuteman' tags :)
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