I need some Hosta help.
Looking for a medium, small or mini very fragrant hosta(It's going in a space that's kinda narrow).
Anyone have the following?
Miss Saigon
Stained Glass
Inniswood
Iron Gate Delight
Emily Dickenson
Sweet Innocence
Tortilla Chip
Frosted Dimples
Fragrant Tot
Please chime in on these and any other recommendations!!!!
or how about these?
Cathedral Windows
Daisy Dootlittle
Sugar and Spice
Invinsible
Venus
Shady Affair
Jen, I have three of those, but they have only been here for a year now and none have grown quickly.
Jen, I have several of those you've listed. 'Stained Glass' is at the top of my list, gorgeous foliage with a sheen that holds its color well right through until frost. We picked up 'Cathedral Windows' (photo) this summer at Plant Delights' Open House and I think it's going to be a beauty as well. It was a huge plant so Rick divided it when it was planted so it will probably take another year before it adjusts to its new home. It looks like it's going to be a large Hosta and maybe too big for your "narrow" space? I really like 'Iron Gate Delight', for most people just another "green and white" Hosta but I like the narrow, wavy foliage and it's a fast grower! Another plus for me are the shorter flower stalks of IGD. I'm not a huge fan of Hosta flowers, especially if they bloom on 3'+ tall stalks! There a few Hostas that bloom so tall I just whack them off but IGD flowers just above the foliage and keeps the plant looking "tidy" :) I'm pretty sure one of the Hostas I was looking at in the gardens a few weeks ago is 'Frosted Dimples'. This is its 3rd year in the gardens and even though it doesn't have the 'Wow' factor the foliage is clean and doesn't seem to attract slugs. 'Venus' is on my wish list as is 'Aphrodite' :)
Thanks for the info.
I have some very fragrant white flowering hosta but they are quite large, 3 to 3-1/2 ft tall. Their foliage is light yellowish green. I do not know their name because they were here long before we moved in. Their scent is so divine that I pick the flower bud and put it in a bud vase to scent a room.
I can save divisions for you if you want any.
Foxy, Could that be Fried Bananas?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2938/
Here's my Fried Bananas. But it is a large Hosta and I think Jen is looking for a small one. Jen I have 3 small ones about to bloom that are in pots. Today I lined them up on my potting bench to remember to smell the blooms when they open to let you know what they are. They are all small to minis. Yesterday I was down on hands and knees sniffing a few of the tiny one's blooms. It's amazing how many hostas bloom this late in the year as so many of my Hostas are taking on their fall colors now.
Stormy, that pic doesn't quite look like mine. They're as wide as tall, and the leaves more rippled, or at least those pics in PlanFiles look too smooth.
I know my hostas don't qualify for size, but they do for fragrance!! It is delightful! I will search to see if I can ID mine. They are an old variety and tough. Bugs don't seem to bother them much.
Foxy, Is this it?
Or what about this?
Stormy, not too sure because the foliage appears more neon green in your pics while mine are more yellowish olive green, but the 2nd picture is closer. The difference may be that the leaves in your picture are more pointy/spear-ended.
The flower spikes of mine are another foot or so above the foliage, and usually are multiple spikes. Habit is upright, with a girth of about 2-3 feet wide. I have a picture but I still can't pull them off the drive because the thumbnails won't work. I haven't tried working on that issue since early spring. Winter project, perhaps?
Foxnfirefly,
Maybe you've already considered this, but since you say your hosta has been in your garden for a long time, wonder if it might be 'Royal Standard'? I've got a lot of it, and the foliage is not exactly chartreuse, but not dark green either, it can get fairly large, and the white flowers smell absolutely divine. Definitely an oldie and a goodie.
In any case, it doesn't fit flowerjen's needs - no way is it medium, much less small or mini!
Thanks, DaylilyDiva! Yes, I went to PlanFiles to compare image and info and it seems to fit--Royal Standard. If you also have them, that is probably what mine are as many houses around here seem to have them, also.
Story: An old couple lived in this house since 1946, and I think they were planted at some point before the 1990's when the couple moved out to a nursing home. They were covered with ivy for the next 6 years when a young family with 4 small kids moved in and let the place junglize. We removed the ivy and lo, and BEHOLD!! A bed of hostas sprang up. It was planted with shorter earlier blooming blue ones in front. Those come in July, a nice wave of blue-violet. Then, the tall white ones in August. I went around looking for the plant responsible for the smell and never thought it was the hosta until a few of years ago. We moved here in winter of 2000 and I found out about the hostas in 2003.
So Jen, Did you end up finding some Hosta that you want?
Not yet....I'm being so indecisive and I don't know why.
FnF, Glad that might have been your answer. What a great story about how you "found" your hosta garden!
Royal Standard definitely smells almost intoxicating. I got mine from my former neighbor and good friend, who was the Manager (at the time) of Green Springs. RS does indeed bloom late in the season too, and it's certainly worth waiting for! They took a hit this past winter due to a vole invasion - entire rows vanished, but ones on the other side of the lawn did OK. Weird and upsetting, but there was no more damage over the summer, so I hope the varmints have moved on. Grrrr.
We've had an increase in destruction this year from both ends of the animal kingdom spectrum - deer and voles!
Neat to learn about smaller fragrant cultivars. I'll have to check them out too.
Barb
OH NO Barb! Time to dig one or two of those lovely hosta up, divide them and plant the divisions in hardware cloth pots. Even if you don't want to divide and make the cages this fall, dig up several of the hosta and put them in large pots to overwinter. Voles do most of their damage in the winter.
Thanks, Stormy, that's a good idea. It was so disturbing to make that discovery this spring. We've lived here since 1985 and I have hostas all over the place. This was the first time this has ever happened.
Diva, They can move in at any time. I would dig up at least 1 or 2 whole hosta of each variety from any area you think might be infested. That way next spring, you can divide and replant them in pots. Better to save some now than to lose them all over the winter.
