I need the help of one of the hosta experts here. I got several gallon potted hostas at the Big Box Store today at what I considered a great price. They are the thick leafed type with the heavy ribbing that I am hoping will be resistant to slugs. The photos are not good because of the time of day I took them, but maybe they will help. I am curious if the nursery double planted the pots or if this variety has both solid blue leaves like the label or do they grow varigated? I couldn't find this variety online with a google search, but maybe someone out there is more in the know and have the info. Thanks for any help The label says "Blue Vision? and the photo is a solid green/blue leaf ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) The hostas had multiple stems with both solid and varigated leaves ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) lots of different plant starts? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )
It looks to me like there are 2 different varieties in those pots Jewell! Are the leaves the same size/shape? It the plant has different leaf colors during the year, the plant tag will usually say something like 'green leaves with creamy margins fading to a blue green by seasons end'.
I have some variegated Hosta that, over time, have reverted back to their original plain green leaves but that took years. You just bought yours. Perhaps a nursery divided some old stock. Jerry
Here is a closer look at the leaves. The texture is the same and to me the leaves look like the same shape, but someone else might know better. The varigation is different on the larger leaf (than the smaller leaf) I broke off planting up lilies in the same bed. closer comparison of leaves ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) Jerry I like the idea of dividing old stock. More than half of the pots mark were the blue green pictured on the label. The plant starts around the larger stems are varigated on some pots. Netty they do look like two different stocks also and that is what I first thought. Like the idea of getting two varieties for the price of one. Especially since this was all that they had. Guess I am still guessing but I am very happy with my purchase....if the slugs don't mow them down.
Well Jewell, I just checked the Hosta Database for your Hosta and it said nothing about variegation http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Blue+Vision I think I would try to separate the different colors and plant them as 2 different Hosta's.
Deja vu!! That looks like my plant!! I will take a picture tonight as I have a meeting at noon. When I planted them from an area that was overcrowded the leaves were variegated, now, most are green. Jerry
OK Netty, your reply was just enough to spur me to dividing a couple to see what the roots looked like (at four in the morning??? God only knows what the neighbors think) Hose in hand I started washing the dirt off. The first pot seem to have a natural place to do the cutting. I was feeling like you were right on Netty with the first statement...probably. The second pot posed more of a question in my mind. OK where to divide ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) maybe here??? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) I could see where the bulb/root was definitely one piece with two different sprouting leaf colors. looking like it is coming from the same center root??? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) Where once there was 2 now there are 6 ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) Note how the plant in the bottom left corner has much less varigation and a different pattern than the other varigated plants. Where I had 2 gallon pots I now have replanted each divide into its own and have 6. I think I will put them in my plant nursey to watch and regrow some roots for a while. Jerry, so you have seen these wonders before. Want to see them. Curious minds you know. Now my next question is do I divide them all and plant as groupings or do I leave them whole and undivided??? Decisions, decisions. Well it is 6 AM and time to get around for work. It has been a fun morning. Netty and Jerry, Thanks both of you for the input!
Thirty five years ago when we bought our house, several hosta grew in one area, a crowd of seven plants. Throughout the summer there was a lot of pushing and shoving, it was not a happy group. I relocated four plants the following summer and a fifth a couple of years later. Over the years, 3(Moe, Larry and Curley), of the original 4 have lost most the white in their leaves. I divided the fourth with mixed results. The fifth has remained true..... interesting. The changeover started out as one all green leaf. I remember thinking, "Oh, an odd hosta in with the variegated plant." Over several seasons the solid green leaves took over as the 'original plants' disappeared. Plants that never left home, one has reverted, the other has remained unchanged: IMG_6434b ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Moe and Larry are now green: IMG_6441a ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Curley has a few white leaves, I expect those will soon follow Moe and Larry IMG_6437a ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden )IMG_6436b IMG_6436a ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Number four and an one of its offspring: IMG_6444a ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Number five has stayed true......so far.: IMG_6435a ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) There are others but they are shrouded in the fog of time. Young, small plants seem to stay/remain variegated At some point plants grow larger,mature and stop producing variegated leaves. Jerry
Thanks Jerry for posting. It was very interesting seeing how your hostas changed. The similarities are striking. I have had stargazer lilies revert to one of the parent plants and change bloom colors over the years. I never thought about other plants possibly doing the same. Your beautiful hostas and the differences have encouraged me to go ahead and divide out the variegated starts. I Will have two beds of hosta instead of one. Your hosta areas are spectacular.
I have so many Hosta I now plant them in the 'woods.' Also in the "woods collection' are Rhododendrons, daylilies and Euonymus. As the neighbors cut down trees the woods now bloom with many 'extra' flowers and bushes. Hosta blooming season should prove interesting. Jerry
Good morning Jerry, yes I will look forward to 'hosta blooming season'. Hostas dont do well here, it is very hard to get them up the following year.I have one with stripes in the leaf, but not real good specimen, but I like variegated foliage so I was 'sucked in'. Looking forward to seeing yours, to me they look lovely already even without flowers.
Maybe it is naming the plants that helps, Jerry. I'll give it a try and see if my luck can turn with growing hostas. Can't wait for photos of the woods plantings. Sounds like you are greening up your part of the world.
Those are pretty hostas regardless of leaf colour! As mentioned above some of the hybrids tend to revert to whatever sort of hosta they first sported from. I've got a Hosta "Undulatum" and an "Univittata" that frequently give me some green-leaved pieces. I've also got a rather big, white-and-green variegated one (the name escapes me) that occasionally sports nearly all-white leaves, some white with green streaks and some solid green ones. The next year everything has changed again without me doing anything. I've got a hosta called "June" that needs watching. She's yellow-centered with green edges but will revert to dusty dark green unless I divide her as soon as I spot solid green leaves. Also, one called "Revolution" is infamous for reverting to green, and can do so in two years if I don't mind it. Sometimes I wonder if they're worth the trouble, but deep down I think they are.
