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Mystery Hosta

8 years ago

I purchased this hosta from my local nursery. It stated on the tag that it was Queen Josephine but I'm starting to question that. I know it is still young and is going to change as it ages but does anyone have any ideas? All my searches for dark green variegated hosta have come up empty.

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squirejohn zone4 VT

8 years ago

Here are photos of my Potomac Glory. The first one is from 2013 the year purchased and the second from 2014.

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Comments (13)

Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
Definitely not Queen Josephine. QJ has cream edges and shiny leaves. Unmistakeable. I would take it back to the nursery, along with some photos from the Hosta Library to prove your point. This one isn't even close. It could be a young Whirlwind. Mine gets that deep dark green this time of the year.

-Babka
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
8 years ago
Im guessing Potomac Glory.
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Please help identify mystery Hosta
Q
Comments (16)
lykaon and dave - brace yourself for my periodic lecture - you hit one of my pet peeves - the term "reversion" - which I believe should be stricken from garden language. Guacamole is a sport from Fragrant Bouquet, which is a light green with a cream margin. Fragrant Bouquet is a cross between Fascination - a streaker that is a cross between two other streakers - and Summer Fragrance, a deep green with white margin. So how in the heck could Guacamole "revert" to an all green plant. How can it "go back" to a plant that has, as far as we can tell, never been in the family line... at least for four previous generations?! when they tissue cultured Guacamole they got a lot of not-true-to-type plants... many all green and some all yellow. Instead of throwing them them away, they named them Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Bananas and sold them. In this case, not a bad idea... good foundation plants... nice neutral coloring to use with some of the more dramatic fragrant plants. Guacamole is pretty variable... which is why we have Stained Glass and Cathedral Windows and and and... The margin will streak and vary... without actually being something I'd call a sport. Guacamole will also sport to an all-green sometimes. That green typically looks like Fried Green Tomatoes. Whether it is identical or just similar would require a genetic test, but most hosta folks are comfortablere with the fact that people will call it Fried Green Tomatoes. (I'm resigned to this... though I'll bet some of these end up lighter or darker or smaller leafed or larger leafed... there isn't just one way to sport...)
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Back again with more photos of my 2 mystery hostas
Q
Comments (24)
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.
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Can you ID this mystery Hosta ?
Q
Comments (8)
It does look different than my whirlwind but than could be age or light conditions. I wonder if it could be Rasberry Sundae or Summer Lovin? I will post: This above is my Whirlwind Here is Rasberry Sundae. Note the red petioles And last Summer Lovin
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Mystery Hostas
Q
Comments (6)
If you look in the HL to see Undulata, you will see the sports : Don't click on just Undulata, goto the next page "un" to see the others. -Babka
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Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
Time will tell. Keep good records, or go back to your nursery and ask who their supplier is and which hostas have they shipped to your nursery that looked like that one.

-Babka
ctopher_mi
8 years ago
My first thought was Whirlwind, though I've never grown Potomac Glory (it has been on my wish list though) so I'm not sure how that would compare to this. I think you will know more about it in the spring.
gardencool
8 years ago
Wow! Blue that appears almost black on your PG? Nice color contrast. Nice wax job, too!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
I know it is still young and is going to change as it ages

==>> not really ... on a yearly basis.. it can go thru color phases ...

but over the years ... it is what it is ... it wont be morphing into something else ...

whirlwind greening up for the year was my guess ...

what was its sunlight at the nursery??? .. deep shade???

ken
gardencool
8 years ago
Whirlwind!!! Here is my Whirlwind today, underneath a large Maple. It might get some filtered sun and a brief clear shot in late afternoon. My Whirlwind has never come close to looking like the mystery hosta.
Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
My Whirlwind is in the shade. I love the deep dark green it gets.

-Babka
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
8 years ago
PG is a new purchase for me. I also like its deep green leaves and their metallic sheen. Looks like a nice companion to a lot of hostas.
gardencool
8 years ago
babka, is your photo hosta a Whirlwind?
Babka NorCal 9b
8 years ago
Yes. Whirlwind. Got it back in 2001, and it has been divided so it is in a smaller pot. I will edit my post, sorry I didn't give it a name when I posted it.

-Babka
gardencool
8 years ago
Wow, wow, wow! Wow! If your's is a Whirlwind I question whether mine is a WW. The only way I could get more shade is if I planted it under a shrub under the maple; or grow it in the basement. So I googled WW; and the photos of WW look more like my WW than yours! I clicked on one of the photos and came upon an interesting thread from 2012: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2035018/whirlwind

Interesting comment:">>>> ctopher_mi

I really like the color changes that Whirlwind goes through, however the ones like tsugajunkie has, which don't turn all the way to dark green, are not true to type. Some people like those, but he ones that stay light cream in the center are sports of Whirlwind and not true to name. I just label it "Sport of Whirlwind".<<<<<"

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