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Goodness Gracious, reverting or sporting?

sandyslopes z5 n. UT

8 years ago

I hope this isn't a dumb question. I get reversion is going back, and sporting is going forward. But can a hosta revert back to it's "grandparent"?

My Goodness Gracious is showing a few yellow leaves. It's a sport of Satisfaction, and Satisfaction is a sport from Piedmont Gold. So do I have a new yellow sport, or a reversion back to Piedmont Gold?

I ask because it could make a difference between twisting the leaves off at the base (because I have a nice PG) or trying to separate out the more yellow part of it.

Featured Answer

Babka NorCal 9b

8 years ago

Sandy, Go for it!! I learned how to do the Twist in the 60's. With hostas it is the same, left to right and around and around you go again. Just do it "like we did last summer" according to Chubby Checker. Some of you younger folks will have to do some Googling...

-Babka

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Comments (7)

zkathy z7a NC
8 years ago
I pulled two yellow leaves off mine yesterday which is pretty radical cause it's on of the two I have that aren't thriving, the other one being Ripple Effect.

Here's a picture of what I got for not doing that last year when my Mango Tango started putting off solid leaves. One measly eye came up varigated this year and I didn't get much crown when I separated it off.

It's starting to grow some roots. The solid part is thriving in the garden.

Kathy
sandyslopes z5 n. UT thanked zkathy z7a NC
smorz
8 years ago
That's a fast hosta take over Kathy. But true to what you say, I have a solid green eye I took off Fascination last spring, that is already twice as big as the original plant.

If you have an all yellow sport of Goodness Gracious... And it keeps the substance... And it keeps the pie crust?... Its worth finding out imho
sandyslopes z5 n. UT thanked smorz
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I just got mine, and I chose it because of its relationship to Piedmont Gold, which is the one Satisfaction sported from, and then Goodness Gracious sported from Satisfaction. I have those three and another Piedmont Gold sport, Sentimental Journey. Which I bought accidentally, mistaking the name for Journey's End. However, it was a good kind of mistake, and gives my collection a bit more depth in the strong gorgeous big growing hosta area. I'm sure others will chime in here quickly, since a good many of the Goodness Gracious plants flew out of the nurseries this summer. It is eye catching alright. Sort of a family tradition. I don't know if you've made the acquaintance of a very helpful data base or not, but you can begin with the HostaLibrary.org......then when you click to view a hosta picture, at the top of its page will be an active link for you to click to view more information about that hosta. That will take you to MYHOSTAS.BE and there you will find several parts to check out. One is the index of sports--the family tree of many many hosta and how many sports they threw....I think Gold Standard must be the champ with up to 150 or something like that. Also, another part, if you want to look up information about Goodness Gracious all by itself, you search (by typing that name in) the very first part of the database. It throws back to you all the possible plants you might be looking for....even if you only know part of the names.....the portion about where you can buy it is not current pricing, but it gives you an idea of where to start looking anyway. I'll link you to the MYHOSTAS.BE page which features Goodness Garcious, and you explore from there. Hope this helps a wee bit. :) Here is a link that might be useful: My Hostas...sports...Goodness Gracious
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
rephrasing your question ... can a TC plant revert back 2 generations ????

i have no clue

i would go to the library.. myhosta.. and look for yellow sports ... and lean toward that answer

ken
sandyslopes z5 n. UT thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
Original Author
8 years ago
This is the third year it came back with this change, and it's just the one eye as far as I can tell, but I really don't want to lose GG so I should take some action. I'm lucky it didn't change over as fast as your Mango Tango, Kathy. Good luck with getting what's left of your MT to root and take off again.

smorz, it is holding the ruffled edge and could be nice. I need to rework this portion of my east garden, anyhow, so might as well try and separate it. If I'm successful I could use another yellow/gold somewhere.

ken, thanks, clarity is what I'm seeking, so restating my question is helpful. my hosta database shows plenty of sports, (progeny), some yellow, for Piedmont Gold, but none for Satisfaction or Goodness Gracious. I like my PG, I just didn't want a duplicate.
Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
My Mango Tango un-tangoed and my Stitch in Time un-stitched. Both are gone. ;-(

We LOVE it when they sport to new and exciting plants, but you really gotta watch out when they go solid. Don't wait to do surgery. If that fails, try another one, as you might just have started with a not very strong plant to begin with. Isn't this fun???????

-Babka
sandyslopes z5 n. UT thanked Babka NorCal 9b
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
Original Author
8 years ago
Fun is the word for it. My GG is in a hard place to get to, a steep slope behind a thorny rose, which is why it's taken me so long. So now I have this one and Brother Stefan to experiment on. I'll find out if I'm any good at hosta surgery, unless, when I get out there, I decide to just twist off the yellow and let GG stay where it is for the time being.

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