Re: color blue in June
- Subject: Re: color blue in June
- From: A* W*
- Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 22:05:36 -0400
Here in Vancouver I have seen in any one garden that may have hostas at
least two to three different kinds of Hosta 'Halcyon'. Besides different
degrees of blueness I have been able to observe rounder leaves or longer
leaves. Looking back at old English books that had pictures of H. 'Halcyon'
in which most cases the leaves were not quite round. In my own garden I have
three destinct versions of 'Halcyon' of which only one matches the
description of the plant in Diana Greenfell's Hosta- The Flowering Foliage
Plant. In her description she warns,
"Many seed-raised plants offered for sale under this name are merely poor
imitations. It should be propagated vegetatively if the true plant with its
very distinctive shape and colour is to be maintained."
Because the tardianas are the quintessential English hostas and therefore
also Hosta 'June' I would stick to English descriptions of these plants and
consider all others as impostors (no matter how nice they may be).
In my Vancouver (Zone7/8) garden my best Halcyon is root bound in a large
pot on a pedestal that is in open shade. I gets little overhead rain fall
since it is under a Camellia japonica and a Thuja plicata. It retains its
extraordinary blueness well into the end of July. The only other plant that
competes in colour is Hosta 'Hadspen Blue'. The pale blue edge and light
yellow center of my English 'June' has almost the same colours as a nearby
Hosta 'Super Nova' given to me by Glen Draper a few years ago. As a matter
of fact since they are close together they make a fine pair.
Alex Waterhouse-Hayward
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