The hostas in photo 5 look like Elegans to me.

Elegans is the name for a group of hostas, right? These would have been bought at a nursery, so it's definitely a named hosta. The only thing that makes me hesitate about "Elegans" is that so many of the photos I see show Elegans as a huge beast of a hosta. It's a lovely beast, don't get me wrong, but these are smaller. I went out and took a photo with a ruler:

Here's Hosta #1 with a ruler. A local friend thought this might be Frances Williams? Or Alvatine Taylor?

#1 - is it Frances Williams. Huge and tall types.

it doesnt have the typical FW spring desication ...

as far as elegans ... it is a named plant.. unfortunately very mixed up in the trade ..

but it takes E 5 to 8 years to mature.. and trying to ID it before then is near impossible.

as is naming many of the blues.. or single color plants ...

i dont think yours is anywhere near to mature ...

you may never know for sure on these names .. too many look alikes... if it is going to drive you insane ... get rid of them ... and buy some named plants ..

in the alternative... lets call them june and ward .. the cleavers... and look for two other w/o IDs .. and call them wally and the beaver ...

ken

For the blue solid, I'd estimate their age at about 5-6 years.

I'm definitely not digging them up-- they're beautiful and hold their blue color well even in sun.

It's just that I'm a biologist, and classification/taxonomy is really fun for me. I enjoy knowing plant cultivar names especially because it's great to look up others of the same name and compare.

For the #1 hosta, the original plant was planted about seven years ago, and I took a large chunk of it last year and put it in the pot as pictured. It gets full sun for a couple hours each day, but is in the shade otherwise. Ken, can you explain what you mentioned with "the typical FW spring dessication?"

See the ugly brown spots? That's sping dessication. Frances Williams almost always has them.

Interesting. Thank you for responding with a photo-- that's very helpful. :) That's not something I've noticed on my hosta.

Hosts #1 is definitely a Fancis William and hosts #2 looks like a Abiqua drinking gourd. I have both and the both are thriving in partial sun. Zone 6

Hosta 1 resembles Frances Williams even without the dessication. FW looks better in your zone than in most. It doesn't quite look like Alvatine Taylor because your margins are not wide enough. If you end up with some little brown uglies on it, you'll be sure it's Frances Williams. They sometimes show up later in the season.

About Elegans, from the hosta library:

Use of the name sieboldiana
'Elegans', though widespread, is technically incorrect. The name 'Elegans' was
originally given to a hybrid created by Arends, which was called 'Robusta'.
Today the name is used for a
variety of different blue sieboldiana-type plants which have been grown
from seed in the last century. It should be considered a general name for
these plants, and not that of a specific cultivar. In preparation for his book
The Genus Hosta, W. George Schmid once tried to track down the original
plant from Arends, but was able only to narrow it down to five growing in two
locations in Germany.

So, there are lots of "Elegans" hosta and they aren't all exactly alike, but close.

bk

Thank you! I've been using the hostalibary.com comparison page to check out different possibilities, and Frances Williams seems likely-- it's very similar, it's commonly available even 5-10 years ago, and mine is showing one patch of burn already. I did enjoy learning about Olive Bailey Landon, though...seems like an improvement for sure.

As for the Elegans, that also seems like a strong possibility for the same reasons. These seem like smaller-leafed, flatter (the body of the plant, not the leaves) Elegans than I've seen elsewhere, but what you wrote about not Elegans being exactly the same would account for that. Does it make a difference that I have eight identical plants, and that they were almost certainly all bought at the same time from a nursery? These eight are behaving as if they're exactly alike.

#2 looks like Hadspen Blue to me. Still not sure about #1 though it sure seems familiar.

You mean this Hadspen Blue will gain more corrugation and look like that?? Oh goody!

Never would have thought of HB...the tips on mine are quite pointy and pronounced...can't see yours as well... what do you think Magpie?

Chris knows.

What I mean about lots of Elegans is that the Elegans sold by Smith Nursery might come from one strain and the ones sold by Jones nursery might come from another. Since nearly all hosta are propagated from tissue culture, what one nursery has should match whatever else it has. It's just that the different companies doing the tissue may not be using the same strain of Elegans for their base material.

bk

#2 is definitely not Blue Angel. Since you say these plants are about 5 years old, I think they are Big Daddy. Big Daddy is cupped and makes a smaller clump than Elegans (which was my first guess). #1 is obviously FW as people have said.

Steve

But I thought they were inherited plants, large clumps, planted about 3 to 5 years ago, so I was thinking these blue clumps are already mature with leaves that are only about 5" across. That's why I was thinking it is an older Tardiana and not something like Big Daddy or Love Pat. The size seems too small for those and the uniform clumps make me think they are all rather mature.

For comparison my Big daddy which is about 4 years but moved last year

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FW first older plant in more sun second younger more shade

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frogged, that was my problem with the Francis Williams ID - the third picture taken in May. This one didn't look like my FW in early spring.

This is my FW still emerging on May 14. The contrast with the margin even in early spring is significant.

My Olive Bailey Langdon is new this year so not worth posting for comparison.

Barb

Oh my! Thank you all so much for the time and the photos and the help! Sooo helpful!

I went back and did a Hosta Library comparison of Elegans vs. Big Daddy, and I think Big Daddy is the winner. All but the second photo of Blue Daddy look like my plants. It would make perfect sense, too, since Big Daddy was widely available around here when these were planted, and they seem bluer and more corrugated/cupped than most of the Elegans I've seen. Most of the Hosta Library photos look exactly like what I have in my garden... the flatter overall shape, the leaf cupping, the corrugation, the leaf shape.

Any difference in the Elegans vs. Blue Daddy flowers...color, size, timing?

To be clear, I'm not sure when these (#1) were planted or what size they were when they were put in the ground. The previous owners did it, then we moved them and gave them better soil when we relandscaped the place two years ago. I'm guesstimating their age at 5-6 years, based on when we guess they put their other landscaping in. I'm not sure what size the plants were when they planted them.

I do think #1 is Frances Williams. (This is the one that I planted/potted last year, taking a very large chunk from a mature hosta.) Since posting, four more leaves have developed that edge burn. I tucked it even further into the shade, but I'm still noticing the burn. Colors-wise, they look more like your photos of OBL, frogged. With the burn, though, that's basically telling me they're FW, right?

Goodness, though.... if #2 is Big Daddy, I may have to rethink where I have them. I didn't realize they would get quite that big. I'll have to put some thought into it, because right now I have a set of three off each side of our walkway-- the main plants you see as you walk toward our house.

I feel really foolish not looking into whether they were Big Daddy. Some time ago someone local said Big Daddy was difficult to grow and took forever to mature, so I figured there was no way the former owners (not gardeners at all) would have had eight happy Big Daddy hostas. Heck, *I* even had a young Big Daddy and gave it away because it seemed to be taking forever to do anything.

And josephine... your Hadspen Blue is *beautiful*. Someone recently gave me Blue Jay, and I'm trying to figure out where to put it in the landscape so I can see it often and appreciate the color... how do Hadspen and Blue Jay compare, blue-wise? I love that color.

Barb Ure Drouillard 6b Canada, based on your photos it looks like Big Daddy flowers are on shorter stalks than Elegans? The flowers are just coming out on mine, and they look very much like yours in the photo of Big Daddy.

Here are more photos, that might better show the size of the possible 'Big Daddy' hostas. In the background of the wider shot there are two Krossa Regals and a Sagae, with interrupted and cinnamon ferns toward the back. Forgive the patchy Pachysandra...it's still filling in.

Thanks, Magpie!! I water it and talk to it, and admire it - it takes care of the beauty department all by itself, lol.

Beautiful garden pictures btw. I just finished comparing the two on the "compare" window in the library and both are touted to hold their blue very well although they do green up some, though not much.

I keep mine in dappled sunlight so the blue wax doesn't melt. Here is a photo from 2013 when it was new, taken in August of that year. It was exposed to more sunshine. A lot of rain will also wear off some of that powder blue. I've learned to touch it from beneath so I don't leave fingerprints all over it!

If you want to retain the blue on your Blue Jay, allow it more shade. They sure look a lot alike and if you read the descriptions alone, you wouldn't know which is which. I don't own a Blue Jay so can't comment on the shade of blue. HB emerges a very soft green, then colours up.

Okay, that really helps to give me a better perspective with your new pictures and new dimensions. I got the idea that your clumps were old but small... Wow, was I wrong. Those aren't small at all, and yes, they look like Big Daddy to me now. Sorry for the confusion. -Chris