i think the blue GE is wheaton blue .... or is that pauls glory .... well that was worthless.. lol ... i am sure someone will set you straight ...

the all green guac might be fried bananas ....

in general .. the solid plant will become dominant .. and sooner or later.. one year.. you will no longer have the original plant ...

dig them up ... and take it apart .... sometimes i tape all the blue together.. and all the GE .. and then gently tug the two apart .... or use a big knife..

ken

Thanks Ken, I appreciate to information.

SonKen has very sandy soil so he can pull his hostas apart with his bare hands!
We in IL. have different soil conditions so I would try to get as much soil off the roots after you dig up the plant and then look for a separation line between the different plants. Gently start to pry then apart and try to save as many roots on each as you can. Ken is right in trying to tie the plants 'leaf stems' together as it will help keep them out of the way of your dividing. Gentle is not usually in a man's vocabulary although I just reread SonKen's post and he did use it!!!! 'Mother taught you well son'!

Some older hosta I have are really sending up interesting leaf veriations, sports I guess. I plan on waiting to see if they come back next year, then I'll have to divide too! I have a Platinum Tiara that is almost completely reverted back to Golden Scepter.

Connie

We have hybridized them into what "we" want but mostly it is not good for the plant. Most hybrids would not survive in the wild; they are trying to revert to the most efficient form.

Don't let them, we ARE in charge.

Connie, do you agree with Ken on the names of the hostas that are coming out? I have no clue. I think this will be a spring project.
PS I'm new at this forum thing...so I hope you don't get this message twice!!

Wheaton Blue is a sport of Paul's Glory named for the town of Wheaton right here in IL.

GE might be reverting to Elegans from which it came.

I agree on the Guacamole reverting to Fried Bananas.

Janet

I don't agree that Guacamole is reverting to Fried Bananas.
Fried Bananas was a sport from Guacamole, but there's absolutely no certainty that this green sport is a 'Fried Bananas', it could also be a 'Fried Green Tomatoes' or even something else, undefined

Hi Sally,

I don't know what you have ! It will be interesting to see if it comes back next year.

Ken and OE are the experts on the Hosta Forum. The rest of us have some knowledge but I myself don't know nearly as much as the aforementioned people! I enjoy hostas for their interesting foliage and not for their background! I really don't care to know in depth things about them.

When I started getting more and more hostas I did decide to try to learn the names of the ones I have and a little about each one but that is it.

Sorry I can't help you!!!

Connie

Proving that we moms don't know everything, I guess :-)

Yes that was my misspoken mistake.
I guess what I was trying to say was the Guac could be sporting to Fried Bananas.
But like sugarman says, it could also be something totally different.
Sorry.

Janet

Speaking of reverting... I bought an Inniswood from of all places, Inniswood Metro Gardens where they were originally developed, about 8 years ago for $10. It was just a tiny little start. My ex bought one too. His is huge now and it looks just like an Inniswood. Mine, on the other hand, is just puttering along and it has both solid green and solid gold leaves but has never had gold leaves with a green margin until this year. It has one leaf from one of its eyes (this plant has several eyes). Do you think that after all these years, I am getting an Inniswood sport? Should I separate this eye and plant it separately? It's large enough to divide. Do you think if I did separate it, it could turn into a real Inniswood. Or should I just enjoy the oddball Inniswood as is?

Thanks for any advice.

Diane

i may now a lot about growing hosta ... but i NEVER claim to be great at ID's .... peeps with smaller collections are much more in tune with the ability to know them all by name ....

on top of that .. i knew them all by name at the old house... but once i moved here.. and scrambled them all up ... moved them to new locations.. names started escaping me ...

i do believe i stand corrected .... i think guac did go to fried green tomatoes ...

anyone asking such info ... should take the SUGGESTIONS ... to the hosta library .... look for pix to compare.. and then hit the link above the pix to the database.. where they will [might] tell you some of the history ... you double check us, in other words ... sometimes i feel like doing it for the poster.. sometimes i don't ...

good luck

ken

Not to be picky here.... but isn't Fried Bananas the gold sport of Guacamole and Fried Green Tomatoes the green sport?

Alexa

yep

"I am getting an Inniswood sport?"
A; No one will know but you may have one that is better. This sport is what it is and can't be changed. If you have the sport that is the latest and greatest that would be great and you still want Inniswood go buy or take one from your ex.

"Should I separate this eye and plant it separately?"
A;You should separate it if you want to keep it, sports (different eyes from the rest) will either take over or disappear. If you want this eye the best way to keep it is to divide it.

"It's large enough to divide."
A; If it has more than one eye it can be divided.

Thanks, esther_opal! Yes, it has multiple eyes but only one has this leaf that almost looks like an Inniswood. The difference is that the green margin is much wider than the regular Inniswood. I suppose it's possible that it may be something else entirely. I am going to go ahead and separate it from the parent plant. Thanks again!

Diane

Creatingadream, have you ever divided hosta?

What I want to say... we just don't know what it is. In this case, the plant is not reverting because FGB and FGT are sports from Guacamole.

I think that you should not try to classify this sport as one of those hosta. You simply don't know if it's true to the real FGB or FGT It's just a Green Guacamole sport.

In the case a plant reverts to the original you can name it, but in this case FGB and FGT are sports and this Guacamole is sporting again, we don't know what's coming out

Yes, many times. But, it was all self-taught, trail by error. If you have any tips, I welcome them! I am a long time hosta lover but only recently discovered this forum. TIA!

Diane

Ask Ken, he posted a really good piece with photo's and directions, and someone can help you find it. It may be on FAQ?

The main thing I try to do "IF" I want a careful division with lots of eyes and few losses. If I don't care I drive a spade somewhere and chop it into as many pieces as I want.

Back to a good job, soil holds the plant and roots together so remove as close to 100% of the soil as possible, spend more time getting the dirt off than you do dividing. It is far easier to see the eyes clearly with the dirt off. Then, grab an eye in one hand and the rest of the plant in the other and wiggle them apart attempting to keep as many roots intact as possible. Separating roots are like a fishing line or thread; you just have to work at to get it done. The more roots the more plant next year.

Thanks, esther_opal. I usually take a sharp knife and slice between eyes and then dig it up with a spade or hand trowel, depending on how large it is. But, I was planning to be more careful with this one so I will try your suggestion.

Diane

I think I heard that in TC'ing Guacamole they took the edge color dark green culls and called them Fried Green Tomatoes and the center light green culls and called them Fried Bananas, but that is just a rumor, I can't back it up.
So if it's light green, you could put on the label something like "Guacamole sport, compare to Fried Bananas" if it's the light color. Then you can't offend anybody.
As far as taking over the whole plant, I suspect that the dark green solid sport growing much faster would be the one to worry about. The light green one should just annoy you if you leave it in the plant.
Dave

Here's a pic of my 'Inniswood' with the eye that is reverting or sporting. History: it was sold as 'Inniswood'. I've had it for 8 years. It has always had both solid green and solid gold leaves but if you notice the leaves at 1 and 2 o'clock, it's changing this year. Comments appreciated!

NEWBIE QUESTION: Should I have started another thread or was it okay to post this here? Thanks!

Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: Inniswood reverting or sporting

I seperated the solid green from the rest of the Guacamole and they are quite a bit bigger and blooming like crazy right now. I think I'll just wait and watch these for a while and see if they stay all green. thanks so much for the information everyone.
Sally

Not hard to get green or gold, since I don't know what value you place on this clump I'll look at as if it were mine.

Dig the whole damned thing and start to divide carefully looking to find the eye that has the variegation. Try to separate that eye and pot so you can watch it and remove any solid colors. The one variegated leaf looks like it has lighter color on each side of the center stem so it should come back if you can separate it. If there is only one leaf on that eye then we can talk about "Zumberizing" it to get that leaf coloration only.

Now back to the remainder, you have a group of greenÂs and goldÂs decide what you want and compost the rest.

IÂve done this and it is just fun to find out what happens. The worse is youÂll lose this leaf but you will still have all the green and gold you can use.

Speaking of guacomole and margins, I was recently noticing that my guac does not have much in the way of margins. Is this typical for young plant? (1 gal last year). The hostalibrary pics have much deeper margins.

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