What a shame! Thanks for the warning. I've never seen that before -- thank goodness.

Did you buy it at PTFP? Have you checked with them a) to ask about a refund and b) to let them know they may have some infected stock?

I sent Jason Powell there an email telling him to look out for the possibility
of infected hosta. He's a great guy and runs a great nursery, so of course he told
me to throw the plant away and I can come get something else in exchange any time.

From what I've read online, big suppliers from Holland and elsewhere have unknowingly flooded the market with infected plants recently.
A couple of hostas introduced as new cultivars had color streaks only because of the virus, it turns out. so I guess its another example of the down side of
agriculture and horticulture done on a massive scale. Mistakes spread everywhere.

Ouch! That's rough for everyone from the poor buyer through the retailer, and on up the chain to the grower. I figured Jason would make it right for you.

So very sorry. At least you are educated enough to recognize the virus. I am a mini(as opposed to MANY:) collector of hosta, only a couple of dozen. I find myself at the big box stores examining their hosta and carrying on an internal struggle. Hands vs brain. You KNOW you're not supposed to buy hostas here! But look how big they are! they could fill up that empty spot immediately. Put the pot down Kabby!
This spring I pulled up a whole clump of jagus Christopher crinum and tossed it, virused. I have almost eliminated my entire canna collection, I had more than 40 kinds at one time. Virused. At least my daylilies only get rust in the fall which is a fungus but still unsightly.

i stopped by that nursery on my journey back from florence on sunday afternoon and noticed that the hostas have not been pulled from the stock. thought to myself that it looked like the virus but did not say anything to him. if i had read your message i would have mentioned it to him at that time.

I went down to PFTP again today, as it was a day off, I could could get an exchange for the sick hosta, and nothing better to do! I didn't see any more hostas with suspicious markings. I talked to Jason again, and he said he did throw out a whole batch, and says he won't hesitate to toss more and is very aware of the problem. He also really wants us to come back again any time for our swaps, if we want. Such a nice guy. Really takes his time to talk even though he's so busy. For the size of his place, I think he has a great variety of
good plants.

thanks for the picture - I have a lot to learn and the photo helps. I assume the virus kills? or is it just unsightly?

If you google "Hosta HVX virus," lots of info. comes up. I thinks it does eventually kill the plant. The sad thing I read is that a hosta can have the virus and not show any signs for a couple of year. So I guess the only 100% surefire way of knowing you are getting a healthy hosta these days is to get a division from somebody you know who has been growing it a long time.

I sent them a email two years ago about how bad several of their hostas look. Several of them had symptoms of HVX. The owner said he was going to send them to the Bham Botanical Gardens for testing. I stopped by about a month or so later and they were still there for purchase. I won't buy anything from them.