oops hit the button before I was ready. My june hosta is growing a side shoot that is a lighter green with no markings.....reverting to something else or is this what we call a sport??

Ya now to figure this out!!

ohhhh it might be a revision is darker than I thought. I took pictures now just to figure this out

I did it!! Don't ask me how....yikes.... this is a reversion isn't it??? Which means I have to quickly get it off the main plant before it reverts all to halcyon??? I had something like this before I knew anything about hostas. Bought a fire and ice and thought it was cool that some leaves were green and some had the white markings. Didn't take long for this plant to die off and only green stayed.

within a year or two ...

but its a perfect size for this year..

just do it...

ken

ps: F&I is a PIA ... would have died anyway ...

Fire and Ice is a pain in ass??? If you have it, they will eventually die?? What about whirlwind, same thing?? Anything with too much white is something not good right?? LIKE the darned white feather..........ugghhhhh

I don't agree ... about F & I nor Whirlwind. In your colder zone, Michelle (Sask. right?) you'd probably have a good chance of growing both...if you care to try. I'm not promoting, just saying I don't have trouble growing either and I am in zone 5. (I always seem to pipe up to defend Fire and Ice, or Ann Kulpa, or Raspberry Sundae, lol, sorry.)

If I took as "word" everything negative I have read or heard about difficult or melt-out hostas, I would surely miss out on some very nice hostas - there are exceptions to the rule and I like to test them...but that's just me. :-)

Both hostas have leaves with good substance and do well with morning sun exposure. Mine get sun till around 1:30 but would do just as well until 11:00 as well.

White Feather grows fine in my daughter's garden. I was going to get one but decided to get Zebra Stripes this year. Now that is what I would call "delicate" leaf substance and very susceptible to edge melt-out/ scorch/ sunburn...I already pulled off an ugly leaf! ...so I have it under a tree where it gets dappled sunlight and it seems to be happy...still in a pot.

I figure if someone likes a hosta enough, they are willing to try and find the ideal siting for it. If not planted in the ideal spot, of course it won't thrive... maybe even dwindle down and die.

Michelle, about your June. I would also suggest you remove the blue anytime (if Ken says do it, don't hesitate). I've done it three times now and have a lovely bunch of blue June's which I refer to as Halcyon in my garden. The first year I waited for another year for an entire eye to form, not just a leaf or two....it just got bigger which was fine with me!

You are fortunate in that it is on the edge and not in the middle of the plant like mine was. You could probably try and just lift that end, rather than digging whole plant up, and pull the blue chunk off and replant it. :-)

Post a pic whenever you decide to do it - now or later.

I knew the piece had to come out because of what happened to fire and ice. I was hoping it was a sport but it is not. As for fire and ice and whirlwind I have them both in my garden besides the one that died. The plant is still alive but only the green parts of it, the rest never came back after that initial first year. I have white feather and its so annoying and depressing. I have moved it I think four times. It still is alive but each year it gets tinier and tinier......so I'm guessing it will be gone soon. I will post a picture of the separations when I get done.

Jo, I'm glad you defend Fire & Ice and Ann Kulpa. Both are growing well enough for me. Here's a leaf from F&I. You can see mine has enough green to keep it going. It's still pretty with nice substance.

And, Michelle, I agree about tackling the blue in your June while it's a smaller size. It's much easier to either separate or twist off at this stage.

I am in cold zone 5 and have no luck with hosta 'Fire and Ice', but have no problem with 'Whirlwind'. Keeping 'Whirlwind' out of direct sun keeps its colors.

Thanks guys.....I still have fire and Ice and a few whirlwinds in my yard....They aren't the biggest plants out there but they are doing good. AND I'm in Saskatchewan which is a zone 2. I actually think with all this warm climate change ours has now changed to a 3a. But I still go with a 2 just in case.

Ok I have this labeled as Fire and Ice but maybe its a whirlwind??

Fire and Ice......

Another Fire and ice

tiny whirlwind plus another two more like this

I've had Fire and Ice since 2001, and have never had a reversion or any problem with it here in a very borderline area for growing even the hardiest of hostas! So there!

-Babka

Forgot to add, just cut it off at the crown level (or twist off that one eye). If it reappears, twist again. You don't have to dig and separate and do elaborate surgery. That only happens when you have a sport that you want to keep and grow elsewhere.

-Babka

I'm a hosta freak and I still want to keep the piece that's growing on the side. I know its a halcyon and I already have like four I think but I can't kill it on purpose. I have to do some surgery to keep it alive. I also don't know if I even want to give it to somebody.

Understand totally!

-Babka

I love Fire and Ice and have 75 of them.

Yay, Mac!

OMG!!!!! 75 of them that is so darn awesome...... is it from having a bunch of seedlings grow?? Ok fire and ice is a rather small plant isn't it?? Ok I thought it was just mine that weren't really growing.