compare yours to decorata here: http://www.hostalibrary.org/d/d.html

I am guessing here.....I took a look at both plants in the HL. Decorata is an old plant,one of the first to be imported from Japan as the library says. It is also moderately stoloniferous, meaning over time it creates new hostas under the ground much like a ground cover Like ajuga would spread. So it would be likely that there would be more than one if it is Decorata since you have had it for so long. Also Decorata is described as having rounded blunt tip leaves. Though there’s two leaf tip shots,to me they don’t appear to be rounded or blunt. Lorelie has very little information in the HL. Your plant appears darker colored to me. Is the flower purple? Both of these plants have purple flowers. Looking at Lorelie your plant looks darker green to me but leaf colors can vary from yard to yard, zone to zone. So it could be Lorelie........It’s also possible it is neither plant, but I do not have a guess at what. I bet someone else will chime With an opinion or definite ID. Good luck!

debra

lorilie was reg'd in 2003 ... less than 20 years ago ... but pretty close .... but... were you buying expensive state of the art hosta back then?? ..

imo.. its decorata ... that dark green color ...

ken

Thanks for the suggestions. I took a couple more pictures and will attach. My pictures tend to be a little darker green than the actual plant. The leaves are definetely not rounded, nor blunt tipped. One picture shows the petioles, which does have the white extending down the edges although they do not seem to be "broadly winged" as described on the HL Decorata is also described with "crisply margined white" edges. What I see in my hosta is more like feathery brush strokes on the edges. The plant has multiplied, although not compact as I see most of my hostas. Plants are 2 to 6 inches apart in an area up to 2 feet wide. So some characteristics seem like Decorata, others not. To me the leaves do look like Lorelei. As far as "state of the art" no I was not. However, for a bit of the history. I was fortunate to be given a good number of hostas from the estate of a man who I believe was a horticulturist or such at the University of Minnesota. He was very involved with both hostas and daylilies and sold many of his plants from his home in Arden Hills. He passed away - guessing again - 15 to 20 years ago. In his will, all his daylilies went to the Day Lily Society. (they dug up every one of them) A renter with children (he had option to buy) wanted the plants and all the metal stakes in the back yard gone for the safety of his children. By the time I made contact many of the metal plant markers were gone. I salvaged what I could, trying to keep markers with the plants I was able to dig. At the time there was barely a half inch of plant above ground. I had no idea what I was getting, just happy to have hostas and also a few martagon lilies. So, it is probable that he had both Decorata and Lorelei as that is where the plant markers came from. I have tried searching him online without success. His name was George Weiss or Weitz or ?? I have considered stopping at the home to ask questions of the present owners but have not. One more thing, most of the plants seem to be only 12" or so but I found a few (probably older) that are more like 16 to 18" tall. Any further suggestions are certainly appreciated. Diane

Can you post a picture of the entire hosta, top down and sideways?

ken—-I am doing My research........

Mark Zilis in his book ”Hostapedia” describes Decorata as “15” high by 42” wide mound of blunt-tipped, white-margined (green-centered) foliage; rhizomatous habitat; leaves 6 1/2” long by 4 1/2 wide (6-7 vp) with a 1/4” wide margin; leaf blade oblong-ovate to broadly elliptic-shaped with a blunt tip and rounded base; leaves also dull on the top surface, very shiny on the underside, and average-substance;” AHS registration 2003, beta much older species.

Zilis says “Lorelie is a low dense mound of foliage that is green- centered with a narrow margin that changes from yellow to creamy white; mound size 8” high by 17” wide; leaves 4” long by 2 1/2 wide (7 vp);purple petioles; many lavender flowers from late June into July on 17” scapes”. AHS registration 2003.

So given all that information from the “Hostapedia” I am thinking you may be able to decide which one it is or if it’s not either one. The big clues to me are for Decorata regarding the leaves as described and dull on top but very shiny underneath.

For Lorelie, do the margin’s emerge yellow and turn white.

Good Luck!

debra

P.s. I searched for George Weiss, associated with Minnesota horticulture. He is listed as an author of St.Paul, MN Quarterly Bulletin of the North American Lily Society.

you can tell I had nothing better to do today.......... :-)

debra

D

Deb and Ken,

That is a lot of information. I dd some more searching and found that George Weiss died October 29, 2004 - which means I acquired my hostas in early spring 2005. He was a teacher at the U of M we were told. He sold plants (lilies and hostas) from George's Gardens for 30 years. His lilies were most likely donated to North Star Lily Society. So now I know that my hostas are 15 years old.

I took more pictures and will attach. The leaves on my hosta are too small to be Decorata. The leaves are not oblate, however, they are very shiny on the bottom. Vein pairs are six if my count is correct. Do not know regarding flower color. Edges are white now, do not know if they were yellow. All the hostas are growing under a 150 year old oak tree so they get light but not much for sun.

I have dug out about half of the hosta cluster to put it where it will get more light. Maybe I will have more answers come spring. In searching in the area I found a barely alive hosta (under big hostas) with similar colorations and oval leaves. I will dig it out also and put it where it will get some light. Maybe it is Decorata. i found the metal name tags which were in George's garden, picture attached. i see that both hostas were registered in 2003. Is it possible that he had them much earlier and/or was cross pollinating? Just a thought.

Several hours ago I tried posting a response - much longer than this. Hit "submit" and it apparently went to cyberspace. Moving forward I will make a copy before I submit. this has happened before and it is very frustrating.

Any further comments are appreciated. Thanks, Diane

This has been a fascinating read, with great utilization of references, examination of physical evidence, and peer collaboration. I have nothing to concrete to add, as I have never seen either plant in real life. Decorata seems much more likely in that it is/was more common. I bet you have both, which would be evident in ideal growing conditions. I also think you could be on to something with the idea that it could be a novel plant, either as a hybrizer’s novel seedling or one that formed in your garden. It seems to be a gardenworthy plant, like a lancifoliate Queen Josephine. I look forward to your observations, photos, and flower pictures next year.

Dianefw- Kudos to you for re-typing a long message that went into outerspace. I have often made long responses here and when they go to that outer space place I toss in the towel.

I admire your patience and perseverance.

-Babka

The tag says L Lorelei - is it possible that could be from Lilium lorelei? I only found 1 reference for it online.

Steve, I bet you're right. "Hosta Decorata" and "L Lorelei". Dr. Weiss indicated the genus and cultivar!

Diane, I really like the beds you've created. It already looks great, and will fill in nicely over time. Well done!

Steve, a great perception on your part ........ I agree, diane, your hosta beds look great!! I will be interested to see what the top two hostas look like next spring and summer. Check out Lilliam Lorelie to see the picture.

debra

Steve, I must admit, I think you are correct. I had wondered why the "L" but did not connect it to lilies. I am sure George was extremely precise. So, my hosta is probably Decorata and needs to show me how it really looks once it has some decent light.Spring cannot come too soon.

I have so many crowded hostas to relocate. The ones from George were put onto a small hill as a holding area (15 years ago) but are still there. I just took a couple pics, shows how crowded everything is.

Thanks again to everyone for your brainstorming, research and knowledge. You have made our conversations a great learning experience.

Diane

While the tag indeed shows L LORELEI it's hard to imagine a Lilium in a Hemerocallis breeder's garden.... It more than likely referred to Lily, as in Daylily/Hemerocallis, Lorelei and when you google that you'll see how lovely it is....

Pieter

It is beautiful, especially the throat colors.

Diane

I really like the peach colored Lilium Lorelei. If George was extremely precise and a daylilly breeder, I wouldn't think he would label any daylily as L xxxxxx. And most breeders I've seen have other plants around. I spent two minutes and haven't been able to find a pic of the daylilly.

Corollary thought to Steve and Pieter's comments...did the nomenclature/genealogy of daylilies change? If so, when? 20 years ago, 30 years ago? I have found tags in my garden from plants planted 30-40 years ago from previous owners.

I must admit I googled Lillian Lorelie as steve suggested and found that lovely flower.

debra

You're right Steve, I spent a bit more time following the Googled Hemerocallis Lorelei images and didn't see one! The Lilium 'Lorelei' is indeed a lovely flower...

Pieter

P.S. Guess indeed George meant Lilium rather than Hemerocallis/Daylily/Lily...