Hosta, Hosta, What is Your Name?
Hostas ... a favourite shade loving plant that can be seen in many gardens. My hostas finally got replanted this past weekend after the basement renovation work. They did really well in their temporary pot homes. I only lost 1 plant out of the 5 I dug up. Most gardeners refer to them as hostas, but they all have specific names, which unfortunately I do not know. There are some great sites online for identification but there are so many varieties to go through I find it impossible to find the ones I have. So for my Monday Mystery post, I'm hoping that some of you will be able to give me the species name for these hostas. The first 3 were gifted to me from another gardener's garden several years ago. I tend to refer to them by colour.
This is the green leaf with the white edges.
Then there is the white leaf with the green edges.
Then there is the all green leaf.
This is one I actually do know the name of because I just bought it last year. This is the Bressingham Blue hosta and according to the plant tag the blue-green leaves can get as huge as 38 cm. (15 inches). It produces white flowers in summer.
So put your thinking caps on, check your plant lables, and help me with the identification of my hostas. Edit: almost 2 pm. Thanks to those that have given me some names to look up. I'll be checking the Hosta Library and a couple of other good sites I have. And on the plus side, the hosta that I mentioned I had lost is still going. I was about to dump the pot of soil and low and behold I spotted about 4 shoots of hosta poking through. It has been carefully transplanted into the garden and hopefully in week or so I'll have another hosta to post for identification. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.
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hostas,
Monday mystery,
The Gardener Side
Oh my goodness Linda !
ReplyDeleteThe only one I was sure of is the one you know what it is girl ! LOL
There are so many cultivars of hosta it is mind boggling .. I'm so glad yours survived the disruption and hopefully some host people will know what ones you have .. fingers crossed .. it is going to be a HOT one today for Victoria Day .. fireworks tonight , but I will be in bed by then ? LOL
Joy
Hi Linda, Hard to name from a picture of a hosta, so many look the same, but leaf size would determine one from another: first pictured I think is H. undulata 'Albo-marginata', second picture could be H. 'Squiggles (small, variegated, cream base with irregular, two-tone green margins, twisting leaves 1 in. wide, 4 in. long.) third picture could be H. 'Invincible' or 'Honeybells' both have shiny leaves but Honeybells can grow very big with large leaves while the leaves of Invincible are 4" long and 2 1/2" wide grows in a 10" high mound.
ReplyDeleteYep, a hot one for sure today Joy. I'll be outside this morning but inside enjoying the air conditioning this afternoon. I'll be in bed by the time there are fireworks too.
ReplyDeleteWow, some names already for me to check out. Thanks very much Garden of Threads. I'm copying the names down and checking that out at the Hosta Library (online site)
Hi Linda - I just did the same thing with my hostas but found that trying to figure out their name is hard from photos. Googled around and think I found most of the names. And some of the bloggers out there have helped me identify them too. I think your first one is Marginata also. Have no idea for the others. Thought the second one might be Patriot - but I'm not sure. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather, I'll be checking out all the suggestions given by my blogging friends.
ReplyDeleteCan't offer any help (I think I have the two greeen and white ones myself, hah) other than to say I love hostas, which I never believed I would when I first started planting my garden.
ReplyDeleteFunny about the weather--it's hot in the Valley, a few miles from here, but we're in the fog zone--very thick and wet, so I'm inside working (and reading blogs) when I would normally be outside playing in the dirt. Just too soggy for that today, though.
I love Hosta, I have one I'll be planting in the front yard soon! I have a thing for all shades of green. The first photo you posted look like the one I have, it's an edged Hosta Plantain Lily. Try this website http://www.hostalibrary.org/
ReplyDeleteHi Jodi, hope that fog clears so you can get outside for a bit.
ReplyDeleteHi Priscilla, I have the Hosta Library bookmarked, but found it difficult to look up varieties unless I know names. I've got a few to look up now thanks to my blogging friends.
Oh Linda: I hope there is no prize involved because I have a couple of those and don't have a clue what their names are. Valerie
ReplyDeleteHi Linda
ReplyDeleteJen from 'A Garden of Threads' is probably right on with her guesses - that woman is a walking encyclopedia of gardening.
Sure is hot today!
Judith
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ReplyDeleteNo prize Valerie, just the thrill of identification. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Judith, yes I think Jen is very close with her ID's. I love having blogging friends.
Sorry, I can't name them, but they are lovely and I have ones that looks similar. I'm eager to get some of the new red stemmed ones. Cool.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. Check out 'lancifolia' for the second one.
ReplyDeleteIf the leaves on the third one are kind of 'wavy' (hard to say in the photo) check out 'undulata' on that hosta website that the others mentioned. (hostalibrary.org) It's an amazing site, but you have to have a name to compare it to.
I have those two here and they look kind of similar. There are SO many different kinds of hostas though....
Post when you find out!
Thanks for stopping my my blog,
Diane
I have had to move my hosta 3 times - the last time I buried the tags with the plants....seemed like a good idea at the time. Another clue for hosta id is the flowering time and colour. I've been fooled into thinking I've got two of the same thing only to realize because of when they bloom and the colour of the bloom that the twins came from two different parents.
ReplyDeleteRed stemmed ones, eh Stevie. I'll have to look for some like that. Since I posted this I've been looking at hostas in lots of gardens and online ... wow, so many different ones.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good tip Barbara, and I'm going to be keeping track of bloom times and colours to help me better identify them.