newhostalady, I wouldn't give up on them yet. I have 2 GMs, pic below is the 1st year on oldest when I purchased thru MN Hosta Society - leaf at 2 o'clock seams similar colors. Subsequent years have come up with white/cream at first unfurling.

First year I got War Paint as a bare-root from someone who digs and refrigerates for the following spring - it came up with barely any light center and went green right away. Last year it did real well holding the light center till summer.

Where did you get your GM's?

Paul

if you can ID a plant in spring.. while still furled.. you got me beat with my 35 years of practice..

you MAY be right.. but you are pushing it..

at least wait until those leaves unfurl.. and mature.. before you go chucking them..

BTW.. they remind me of GE.. but i am not sure i have seen GM this young .... and this early in spring ...

NEVER compare your plants to pauls.. he lives in a different hosta universe.. than most of us.. lol .. and dont get me going on babka.. she is probably on her second flush already.. lol ...

should i ask who you are getting bare roots from??.. you think you are saving a buck or two.. but you arent getting what you want.. so you end up not saving the buck.. and if you have to have GM.. you end up paying twice.. i agree.. its time for you to give up on such.. you are apparently enabled enough.. to not be 'saving a buck' .. lol ... time to cash in a CD ... lol

ken
PS: whats missing on yours.. is the big wavy edge ...

Hi NewHostaLady :)

I have to agree with Ken, it is most difficult to ID any hosta as they are unfurling. The fever is strong with you, but it will pass and patience is always rewarded. :)

Give this one time to unfurl and ripen its leaves and you will be able to tell for sure if it is Golden Meadows or not.

First thing is, GM has a bit of a crinkly edge where the blue/green margin is, almost like bubbling. I think the technical term amongst gardeners is quilting ?

The second big indicator is that GM is Viridescent, meaning the lighter center variegation will slowly turn to green over the growing season.

This process of greening up is reported to be slower in cooler climates so maybe keep him in a bit more shade if you want to try and hold the color ?

Here is my GM last year fresh from Naylor. I bought him after Paul seduced us with his. A couple of us forum goers ran to the Hostalibrary auction and grabbed the last of what Gary had for the season. :p Good times.

If you don't get bumpy crinkly edges and your center variegation stays creamy all season then you most probably have a Great Expectations.

Either way they look healthy. Keep us posted as they grow up :)

Ludi

NewHostaLady.....Don't give up hope that it's 'Golden Meadows', Yours are SO young and little yet, there's no point stressing out about it, I'd bet they are what you paid for them to be......That plant was fresh from Naylor when you took that pic, Ludi? Wow, I like what I see from Naylor Creek!

Don B.

'Paul's Universe' sounds like a good Hosta name...Write that down....!

Don B.

Paul, I do see similarity in the hosta I have and your first year Golden Meadows! (Wow, you've got a great picture bank---something I was hoping to begin when I lost hundreds of pictures because of a defective memory card.) I got my GM from the Toronto National Home and Garden Show. It was from a Canadian nursery selling lillies, hostas and other bulbs. They sell online, at garden shows and from their nursery.

Ken, as you say: "you MAY be right.. but you are pushing it.." I hear you. I must find some patience! It's hard to do when most of my hosta are still sleeping and I only have those two to look at. As for chucking them---never! I think they are looking very cute. I just had my heart set on GM. My other bare root hostas came from Costco bags. Neither of the two bags were what they were supposed to be and a couple of hostas were virused. So those ones I chucked. So I gave up on the Costco bags and moved on to this nursery because I thought I had a better chance to get what I paid for. As for the wavy edge, I think I see it developing. But, I know, I know, patience is the key!

Ludi, "The fever is strong with you." How could you tell! LOL!
Thank you for some great tips. I am LOVING your GM. It is beautiful. I dream that mine might look like that one day.

Don B. thanks for the encouragement!

Another view. But---I'll wait and muster up some patience and see what develops.

last two pics above.. are GE!!! ... i should know ... i bought 10 or so over they years ... POS ...

ken

I think your Hostas may be Golden Meadows.

Here is a link that might be useful: More Golden Meadows photos

Oh boy, Ludi you must have a Naylor Creek Golden Meadows? That is where mine came from too. Here it is just potted up last spring:

Then in July 2012, it had even more apparent the sewn on look of a dark ruffle on the dark green edge.

And then in October 2012, it was showing dark streaks within the lighter mid-leaf area

I might suggest that your hosta looks more like Orange Marmalade and its sport, Forbidden Fruit. What think ye?

Wow Cowboy, you have your own personal Hosta Library.

Don B.

If it is NOT GE, will Ken eat his boot? Stay tuned.

Don B.

I bought a GM from Naylor last year. Here it is right after planting in August. Sure hope it comes up and looks good this year. Bought it after seeing gorgeous pics on this forum!

Another Naylor Golden Meadows bought after seeing hh's (link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: hh's Golden Meadows

Hahaaaa . . . so that is four of us now who have fessed up to being charmed last year.

Anyone else out there snag one of these after seeing HH or Paul's posts ?

I wonder what hosta it will be this year that makes us all run like mad ?

Ludi

Five. After seeing Paul's in 'The Hosta Alphabet' I ordered one from Hosta Patch in December. :)

Don B.

EDIT: Ordered in January, not December.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Mon, Apr 8, 13 at 21:17

Wow. Looks like a lot of people bought GM within the last year.

Thank you all for giving me your opinions about whether this is a genuine GM.

tsbccowboy, your "hosta gardener" is a delight to view---and so many different photos of GM! Wonderful site.

moccasinlanding, you are becoming quite the photographer! Your Naylor Creek GM is looking very nice.

johnnyb023, thanks for the link. It is sometimes difficult to find previous threads on a particular hosta.

Not sure how long to wait before "reporting" back with a new photo. But I'll give it some time before reposting.

WHAT? You are holding pictures of a HOSTA and keeping them for a "decent period of time?" Like say TWO SECONDS? Come on, the interval is over......................

NHL, oh yes, a lot of folks did fall in love with it.
I think of all the ones which arrived last year, I was most impressed and EXCITED to see Golden Meadows.
Gorgeous.....UNIQUE.......COLORFUL.......strong....and BEAUTIFUL.....

Before I got it out to the garden, I took many more pictures of it still on our deck than any other hosta! It was a real stand-out.

Just posting an updated photo. No expectations for identification---I am doing the patience thing!

I, too, fell in love with her last year.

Purchased from Naylor thru the auction.

This post was edited by monet_g on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 10:23

Just a question....
WHEN does Golden Meadow begin to wear her ruffles?

NHL, Maybe it's a 'Golden Meadows' but whatever it is, it's a little beauty, eh?

Don B.

When looking at monet_g's photo, the leaf in the six o'clock position is very similar to the leaves of my hosta. I think there is hope!

Moccasinlanding, I don't know when Golden Meadows begins to ruffle. I hope I get to find out some day.

Don B., I agree "whatever it is, it's a little beauty." I don't know whether I will love it later, but I am loving the look right now---and I am hoping that that continues!

Shot a picture today with two miniature african violets.

Well lookee that; baby's growin' up! :)

Don B.

Don B. your posting of Golden Meadows made me think of my "unconfirmed" Golden Meadows. Here is a new picture. It has a white flower so that is another indication that it may indeed turn out to be GM. It has now changed color to a blue tone.

NHL, where is DonB's picture you mentioned? I do not see one, only his April 25th reply here.

Is that photo a good color and leaf shot? Where is the pattern?
I'm really in a time warp here, because I've no idea if that is a Golden Meadows or not. Beautiful plant, whatever it is called.

Here is mine as recent as I've taken......and it isn't at the scaping stage, much less an open bloom stage.

This taken two days later on 5/8....about time for me to shoot it again. What makes yours go so totally blue? Very confusing to me.

Hi NHL, and hi Mocc, This is the pic NHL mentioned, from a recent thread. I just looked down at it in the light of breaking dawn, and darned if it isn't looking a bit different than this pic! I'll snap a brand new pic, and post it on the aforementioned thread later this morning.

Have a great day, everyone!
Don B.

Hey Moccasinlanding and Don B.---I love your Golden Meadows photos! Aren't those Golden Meadows so nice looking.

"Is that photo a good color and leaf shot? Where is the pattern?"
I have posted here another photo taken this morning and after the rain last night. The color is pretty much true to life. (I have added to the photo my gold euonymus to compare to.) I am thinking that since it was a bare root and started indoors, then that is why it has flowered early. I also thought that Golden Meadows loses its variegation as the season progresses, so I just figured that this is what happened to mine, but at an accelerated pace. The leaf in the 7 o'clock position looks to have a bit of a pattern developing, don't you think?

Here is a link to a posting last year. Newhostaaddict shows a picture of GM in August and it is blue.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Golden Meadows Doesn't Look Like Yours

The 7 o'clock leaf appears to have the fluting or ruffled margin that mine had originally. It arrived here last year with every one like that, and a light mid-leaf. Pardon me if I am repeating myself....

and it held on to that lighter middle way into November 2012, when it turned rather golden for fall.