To my untrained eye I can't define DW from the Thunderbolt.
At least in a nursery pots.
However Dream Queen indeed have a much narrower stripe than a Thunderbolt.
Here is a two years old DQ (at least it was sold to me as such)

I don't have a good picture of a Thunderbolt to show them side by side for comparison, but whatever was sold to me as a Thunderbolt has a much wider stripe than this.

You will see slight variations from plant to plant, but they are basically the same. And the center stripe will vary in width with age and maturity, typically getting thinner (margin getting wider) as they get older and more mature.

Here's my Thunderbolt

and my Dreamweaver

Funny, I was thinking yesterday, the look like the same plant too.
Pam

I don't have Dream Weaver,but I do have Dream Queen and Thunderbolt,and right now they look pretty much alike. Tbolt in new this year,and DQ was planted last year,although it is still young. Phil

I have both. For me, Dream Weaver is a much better grower. However, something keeps munching or stepping on two of my three Thunderbolts to the ground - I only have one decent one now.

Dream Weaver
{{gwi:910084}}

Thunderbolt
{{gwi:1048311}}

Char

Interesting........ because I, too, was looking at my Tbolt and DW just a few days ago and thought how much alike they look. Mine are in the same bed and I've had Tbolt a year longer than DW. Right now my DW is more of a "medium" and Tbolt, a "large." The light center of my Tbolt leaves seems to take up less space (more like a center strip) than the light center of my DW leaves. But, yeah, they sure do look alike!

Hmmm... I only have Thunderbolt, so I can't really add much to the discussion, but I'll post some pics of my 3rd year Thunderbolt anyway :-)

Buff

Thunderbolt 6-12-07

thanks for all the wonderful photos of these look-a-like hosta. Decisions... decisions... I had never heard of Dream Queen. its nice.

Buff, do you have more than one Thunderboldt? I only ask because I was trying to match back the leaf photo to the plant photo. the crazy things we do.

i love the narrow stripe.

Hi bluepoppy... I just have the 1 Thunderbolt in the picture above. The single-leaf picture is the bottom-most leaf on the plant, around the 6 o'clock position, partially outside the edge of the photo? It's sort of overlapping Brim Cup next to it. Hope this helps :-) Have a great day!

Buff

Have you heard of the ten foot rule? Something about telling which hosta is which from ten feet. Dream Weaver and Thunderbolt are considered too similar to tell apart.

I have also heard they are too similar to tell apart, at least at first glance.

That said, I have heard some people do much better with DW than TBolt and vice versa, rarely can someone grow both successfully. It may have something to do with microclimate, or soil type, I'm not sure. I have TBolt and it is doing quite nicely for me so I am hesitant to try DW. LOL!

Alexa

I have both plants. My Dream Weaver is much bigger and more impressive than Thunderbolt currently, but it is a year further along in development. Thunderbolt is doing OK, just kind of small and bland by comparison.

I just bought a new one that you could throw into this discussion, Warwick Comet. Mine is very samll right now, but I expect great things from this plant in 2-3 years.

My DW looks exactly like my Great Expectations, and they're both growing at about the same rate.

On the other hand the Thunderbolt has enormous thick rubbery leaves the size of plate chargers(!), a narrower blaze (I picked one at the garden centre with a very narrow blaze) - and looks like it wants to become a monster. Slow grower.

D.

here is my DW
C:\Documents and Settings\Herb Blair\My Documents\Garden Data\Garden Plants\Dream Weaver.jpg
and here is my Thunderbolt
C:\Documents and Settings\Herb Blair\My Documents\Garden Data\Garden Plants\Thunderbolta.jpg

Sorry I can't believe I don't know how to post a picture on this forum