H. 'Blue Sliver'

When I acquired an additional 5 Hostas on July 6th 2008, I had done all the dividing I wanted to do in my donor's yard when she took me to a somewhat hidden sideyard where I spotted a pot with this lovely in it. Problem is/was that there was no tag in the pot and the guessing game began. 'Salute' was suggested as a possibility and while I'm not convinced -these don't show the heavier waviness shown by the cultivar of that name, plus these do not have 'Salute's' upright, vase like growth habit as well as the difference in size, but no-one has come forth with an alternate suggestion, so for the time being that's what we'll stick with.

The division I took home yielded a total of 3 divisions, but all have very small and short roots. It'll be important over the next 6 weeks to make sure they stay well hydrated, best done by placing the pots in a tray that holds water and making sure they do not get subjected to too much direct sun.

Well, I may have gone along with the gag for a short while, but I'm now coming to the conclusion this is NOT 'Salute'. What leads me to that conclusion is the flowers. What you see here is what shows on my plant, but a picture on a recent posting on Hostapix of a 'Salute' flower looks totally different. So, the identity search continues. That search has me now taking a closer look at 'Blue Bikini' and 'Blue Sliver'. Look those up in the Hosta Library and see if you agree that what is shown here looks closer to either of those two than to 'Salute'. Care to perhaps when you have done so? I must admit that the more I look at it and compare it, the more I'm leaning towards this being 'Blue Sliver'. It has the right vein count, the right size, for me it all points in the 'Blue Sliver' direction.

I recognize that March 20th 2009 is just a tad early, even for us in Canada's banana belt to start looking for leafed out Hostas, but, it's such a sight for sore eyes to see these noses inching their way out of the soil. Looks as if Blue Sliver is a fairly early riser!

Well, it's now late February 2010, the balmiest of winters in a hundred years, and it look as if one of the divisions is en route to a bit of a growth spurt, which is nice to see. There are 7 nice-sized shoots poking up their noses here. And if it was an early riser last year.... I saw the first signs of noses the first week of February this year!

And by May 28th, 2010, it had turned into what you see here, a charming, somewhat unruly mass of leaves, quite unlike anything else we have.

Some more info on Salute in Hugo's Database and some on Blue Sliver, he shows nothing in details on Blue Bikini.