Hi I'm pretty new at posting to these forums so please excuse me if I make mistakes. Over the past few years I've really developed a liking for hostas. I have eleven varieties in my garden now (six are brand new roots I just put in this spring), of the other five, I only know the names of two. I was hoping that maybe once I got a little more familiar with these postings, I could attach a picture of my hostas and someone could tell me what they are. I've searched the internet and found some pretty good hosta sights, but I'm not good enough at identification to pick the ones that I have out of the masses that I've seen. I'm not sure when I can post my pictures, maybe someone could help me there as well. Maisie
Hi Maisie, Here's help on how to attach images. There is a Hosta expert who spends time on the forums once in a while - post your pics and I'll see if I can send him a private message (PM) to have a look at them.
Hi Thanks so much. Sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been out of province and am only just now getting back and checking things out here. I'm attaching my three pictures. I've been searching around on the web trying to find pictures that look like mine, but there are so many different varieties that look similar, it's quite difficult to identify if you don't know what characteristics to be looking for. Maisie
Hi Maisie, you know you are into hostas when you can no longer identify the specimens in your garden! I have found the best thing to do is go someplace with a big hosta selection for sale and try to figure it out. You can take your photos along to see if the staff are up on their hostas too! One good place is Raincoast Gardens, in Langley, at roughly 127th (which runs north/south) and 16th (which runs east/west). There are also some great hosta books out there with lots of photos. Warning: you will then learn of hostas you want but don't have and your collection will get larger! Now when I plant new hostas I put a copper tag next to them so I can see what they are! But all my older hostas...who knows!
Western Wilson is quite right that going to a place that sells hostas in season is a great way to ID your own plants. If they were your first plants they are likely fairly common varieties and may be quite easy to spot. And although being in Newfoundland you are unlikely to end up at the place in Langley, which does have an excellent selection, I will just note that its name is Rainforest, not Raincoast. And books, yes, I'm a big fan of using those. Online, you have many options. One is the many online hosta vendors, of which there are several in Canada and more worldwide. If you google the name of a specific hosta your search will usually turn up a list of vendors, and you can scroll through their offerings if they have pictures. Another is the Hosta Library, at www.hostalibrary.org. It is a resource of staggering proportions for ID purposes but it can be helpful. Finally, the hosta forum at gardenweb http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/hosta/?21010 has a lot of hostaholics who have hundreds of plants in their gardens and can give very expert opinions on your photos. A couple of tips for getting the best possible help and the most certain identification from either the internet or books or local nurseries. Note some things about your hostas other than just taking a photo at a random time. Although just a photo may net you some suggested identifications, to be positive it may help to know: Do the leaves emerge late or early, how tall are the flower scapes, and what colour are the flowers? Are the flowers fragrant? When do they bloom? Take photos of both the flower and the leaves. Note features like (on your first photo) overlapping ends of the leaves, the degree of cupping or puckering, and whether the colour of the leaf is accurately represented in your photo. If you get really obsessive about identification you will be starting to count the number of leaf veins and note the shape of the leaf stem, but by then your family will have you under restraint anyway :-) As for identifying your three plants, they aren't ringing bells with me at the moment but something may yet occur to me.
Ooops, sorry for those mistakes...but great advice from KarinL By the way, that hosta on the bottom could be the ubiquitous "AureoMarginata" that you see for sale on the bulb racks every spring.
I thank you both very much...I will certainly follow up on the advice that you gave me. One of the hostas was a gift from my Mother-in-law that she bought while she was visiting in Ottawa several years ago. She said that she remembers buy 'blue' hostas, but I haven't seen any 'blueness' yet. I've checked out both the sites that you mentioned KarinL and have come across some that are extremely similar. I will look up "AureoMarginate" as well.
Hi WesternWilson & KarinL Do you think the hostas could be 'Pearl Lake', 'Sagae' and 'Antioch'? I've been searching the Hosta Liberary and these look similiar to the ones I have. Maisie
Not Sagae. Sagae has smoother leaves, not puckered, and a characteristic waviness to the leaves. I think Western Wilson is right on this one, or maybe it's a Frances Williams. I don't know Atioch personally, but what I see of it on a quick search doesn't match. There is a picture in the Aden book of undulata Albomarginata that looks quite a lot like your third photo. Your first photo, if it supposed to be blue something, might be growing in a little too much sun to show its blueness really well. I would look through the "blue" section of the hosta library for that leaf shape and flowers if it has them yet. But seriously, if this is really bothering you (and it obviously is :-) and I sympathize), your best bet is to post photos on the GardenWeb hosta forum. I would snap new and current photos though, so those people with hundreds of hostas in their garden can use its stage to find possible matches in their own collections. It is possible you'll never know for sure what they are. That is the hosta hazard - happens to all of us!
Hi Maisie, Your first one (left) might be Pacific Blue Edger. I don't find this variety to be particularly blue - more green with a slight blue cast. The leaf shape and growth habit seem to match. Your second (middle) hosta looks like Fortunei Aureomarginata. Your third (right) is probably Undulata Albomarginata, though it might be Shade Fanfare (I say that because of the yellowish green in the picture) WCG
