Instead of calling myself hostalavista I may have to change to The Procrasto-nator! I want to thank my sender but I lost her name, I tore the little address tag off the box, stuck it in my pocket and washed it, (maybe). So I still want to thank you for the three hostas you sent. They arrived in excellent condition. Thank you so much and thank you Kelli for doing this swap, I know you put alot of time in it. Here's hoping I don't get BARRED from future swaps! Hostalavista, Linda

This is a sport I divided out of a FF this spring. Interesting to see if it keeps that green center stripe next year. A friend had his FF sport gold also, but not with the green center. Sandy

I like Praying Hands, and have had it in my garden since the first year it was widely available. However, I see one compelling reason why it should not be HOTY. Like it or loath it, this variety is definitely a novelty hosta, completely unlike other varieties. While I find it an interesting variety, and worthy of a place in the garden, I certainly would not like to see a large number of new varieties with the same growth habit and leaf form. Can you imagine a whole bed of different varieties, all with the closed, twisted, pointed leaves? I believe the HOTY should be a more typical representative of the genus as a whole--clearly recognizable as a hosta, even by novice growers. I work with a local hosta seller every spring, and the typical reaction ratio to Praying Hands seems to be about 40 percent "Yuck!" and about 60 percent "Oh, neat!" More people want it for the name than for the plant itself, and many have heard the name and are disappointed upon seeing the plant for the first time. A 'yuck factor' of 40 percent seems too high for a HOTY. This same logic would eliminate White Feather as a contender for HOTY. This variety sells hand over fist, but it's decidedly not a typical hosta, being rather a novelty plant with a lot of pot appeal in the spring. Add to that the fact that it turns mostly plain green and rather boring later in the year, and you have a variety that isn't going to do much to promote hostas in general, and make no mistake, promoting hostas in general is one of the main purposes of having a HOTY. Orange Marmalade might be a good choice. My only hesitation with this variety is that it hasn't been around long enough to really judge the mature plant. Of course that's going to be a problem with most of the newer varieties. Personally, I would like to see some of the older, classic varieties considered for HOTY. For example, Montana Aureomarginata would make a wonderful HOTY. Spilt Milk, while not having been around long enough to be considered a true classic, is a very unique yet mainstream variety. I'm a bit confused by the comparison of Aristocrat and First Frost--in my garden they are very different. First Frost is of Halcyon lineage, as are El Nino and Sleeping Beauty, and there are minor differences between these three varieties. Aristocrat is a Hadspen Blue sport, and it has a much wider light edge, an overlay of colors between the edge color and the center color, and a different growth habit, being more horizontal in habit. It also has a more rounded leaf than any of the Halcyon offspring. Although not a very fast grower, Aristocrat is one of the standouts in my garden, enough so that I picked up a second one this year. It was nice to see a mini finally make HOTY, and Blue Mouse Ears was a good choice. It might make sense to have a whole new category of HOTY for minis and small varieties, since they are gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds. The American Hosta Society now has a separate popularity poll for minis, so perhaps it's time to give the little ones separate recognition for HOTY as well. There are plenty of worthy varieties out there, with many more being introduced each year.

Dave- 3 correct - 1 I had mislabeled for 2 years and got it ID'd on the forum earlier this summer, the other is often misspelled. Mark - I left a clue in my reply to Candice. Anyone care to try row 4? Paul