H. 'Emerald Tiara'

As you may have noticed by now as you're browsing my site, I'm always game to trade Hostas, be that with someone local or out of town or province. The trades I have been involved in have mostly been initiated on my part, but I have also been an eager participant in so-called 'secret trades' in one of the Hosta forums I frequent, Hallson's. Early August 2008 I contacted a lady in Brandon, MB, about doing some trading, and these are what arrived at my doorstep on August 14th. They were soaking in rainwater when I got home that day -Waita put each division in its own container with water from our rainbarrels- and after supper it was potting up time. Some were smaller than others and the largest of them is actually missing from this shot, it hadn't been potted up yet when I took the picture, I couldn't make up my mind what size container to put it in. I was the lucky recipient of a total of 8 Hostas, 7 of which were new to me and a fair number of those were on my 'most wanted' list.

While 'Emerald Tiara' may not have been on my 'most wanted' list, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to add another member of the Tiara family. This now makes #4. All the others have been vigorous growers and I'm looking forward to see this one mature quickly.

I actually ended up with this variety from 2 different sources in 2008, which in retrospect proved to be a blessing: you see, one of the 2 showed as HVX infected in 2009, the other shows clear and is growing nicely. Thank goodness.

Just for fun, here in late July '09 are all the member of the Tiara family we have. We have, top right 'Golden Tiara', the longest lived member in our yard and found in many spots in the front, back and side yards, bottom right is 'Grand Tiara', now in its 3rd year in our yard and has been divided into several divisons, some of which are potted and some are in the side yard. Bottom left is 'Amber Tiara', a new addition for 2009 and still looking a bit scrawny, top left is 'Platinum Tiara' which is now into its 5th year in the yard, and finally in the center is 'Emerald Tiara', this one in its 2nd year.

A couple of weeks later, August 6th to be precise, here's that surviving one, showing nice growth and as is now evident, 3 scapes are developing. It's settling in very nicely and by next summer I'd think I can start contemplating doing some division of it.

By mid-July 2010 it's doing quite nicely. It's showing much lighter variegation than last year, and you can see some of the earliest leaves actually showing dessication, but I think that's largely because of a watering issue, specifically a lack of it.