multi colored hosta...

Okay, I love the hosta plant. They have always been at my cottage, my parents and now, the new house I am in. I have never seen them just coming up at this time of year (ya... odd). Why are some bluish/purple and others white??

 

Do you mean the flowers? Or the emerging tips?

I'll assume flowers. There are several species of hosta, for example H. ventricosa, H. plantaginea, etc. Each has distinct characteristics, including flower colour. Most domestic hostas are not straight species but crosses or selections derived from one or more of the species, and will have the flower colour of their dominant parent plant.

 

No flowers yet. They are just little emerging tips at the moment.

thanks!

 

lots of plants have one color when they start to bud out and then that changes over time - sometimes it's a sun issue and other times it's just the nature of the plant that it changes color as it matures.

 

I should have guessed... that is just the product of the leaf/petiole colour, I would guess.

 

The colour of the emerging shoots varies with the cultivar, some being decidedly purple, others reddish, some green and you will find that a great many variegated ones you will see those first emerging outer leaves that end up being the outermost ones will show distinct variegation. The attached pictures will show you some of the range of colours they can be.

 

Thanks everyone! Ill post pics of mine. Some are purple and the larger ones are all white.

p.s Pieter... great signature!