I don't have experience with streakers, but Guardian Angel's misting is interesting to watch through the season.

I'm surprised to hear that June looks too much like something you already have. Curious to know what your lookalikes are for her. If you poke around the forum, you should find a list of hosta that fit the "ten foot rule" of being distinctive for their uniqueness.

I just didn't think it was that impressive and unique is all. The shape of the leaves is similar to several I have. And the colors are too. Maybe not exactly but just not something I found appealing... I might spend $10 but not $24... I couldn't believe their prices!! (Wickman's were outrageous, not Hallson's. Hallson's were good prices, more like I am used to paying.) Talk about proud!!! Dang.

Have you seen one in person? I would have a tough time walking away! But I also paid $12 for mine. I've never paid more than that for a hosta, and unless this forum really gets to me, I can't imagine I ever will. (Don't mean to make you feel bad for not buying June, btw.)

Brandy, curious which ones of yours look like this?

After you buy one and grow for a couple of years, you will wonder why you waited......not kidding....really....lol.

Paul

Look I didn't mean it to be offensive. Yes I saw it in person. I was going to get it until I saw the price! Then I put it back down and tried to look for a smaller one for cheaper. But there were none. They were all $24! No thank you! I might still get it but I am not paying that much for it! I do have bills and have to eat and put gas in the car!

Haha, I don't think anyone is offended...just impressed you were able to walk away from June's charms! :)

Seeing a graceful, mature June was what really drew me into hostas. Then I went to the nursery looking for one and, like you, I found the young version to be less stunning. Maybe because they put Touch of Class right beside her...the lovely mother next to the stunning daughter! I bought them both, but if they were $24 I too would have walked away (with difficulty! ;) That blue/chartreuse variegation is a personal favorite of mine.

This post was edited by jadie88 on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 23:54

It was in a big enough container (2 gal) which I guess is what I was paying for? But the plant itself didn't look any bigger than my fortunei aureomarginata right now. :( Then I saw the price! I asked if that was right, too! Oh well. I did see Touch of Class... It was a little bigger but still $24. I wanted to walk away with 2 for that price not just one! So I figured I would wait and get Luna Moth in and settled and then probably order those two from Hallsons, at least Touch of Class.

Luna Moth and Touch of Class are two winners too. Get them.

chris

If I was about to be raptured and could grab one hosta to take to heaven with me, it would be June.

If I could grab 3... I'd grab 3 Junes!

It sounds like you are still pretty early in the addiction process and you are, wisely, trying to limit the number of lookalikes and "just OK" hostas.

In case you are not familiar with the June story, there is a neat origin tale... which I won't tell here. But since I've been growing hostas for 35 years, I've got a little history not everyone would have observed.

When June first came into the American market in strength... I believe I bought my first dozen tissue culture from Shady Oaks in 1996... it was known for its subtle shades. The fact that it came from a blue parent - Halcyon, from Eric Smith's famous "tardiana grex" - gave it a nice layer of wax. There were lots of green-and-yellow and yellow-and-green hostas around... but blue and muted yellow, changing to bright yellow in a lot of light and later in the season, was a real eye-catching combination.

As more and more people tried tissue culturing June... and different people were doing the culling on the production line, differences began to creep in. One smallish tc concern, Winterberry in Georgia, actually sorted their into I believe four categories, June I, II, III, and IV depending on how light the center of the tc plant was.

A few years later, these plants were coming to market... lots of them... because all sorts of folks told all their friends and all their customers that the most beautiful hosta on earth is - June.

At this point I believe, from my observations, that something happened in the market. I can't prove it, but I believe it.

Hostas are marketed in retail centers primarily in the spring. If the plant doesn't look good in a pot at the right time... May in Minnesota, for example... it just doesn't sell. The old Junes - I call them "Historic Junes" - tended to start out with very muted contrast, then develop more as the season progressed. They would get buttery yellow in really bright light later in the summer and stay subtler if kept shaded.

Those plants were harder to sell than the plants that started with a brighter center. Those also brighten up even more as the season goes on... even going parchment in really bright light.

I believe the marketing selected for brighter Junes. I've bought and sold a lot of Junes since that first batch of tc, but I still have one plant from that group and another from a couple of years later. They are subtler than most I see in nurseries and in gardens.

Folks will tell you June is very variable, depending on the amount of light it gets. I agree. But I also believe that there are "strains" and today's strain, though dramatic in the spring in those nursery pots, is not as cool as the darker ones.

So, Brandy... you sure don't need to pay that kind of price and you sure don't need to add June right now... but I'll encourage you to keep an open mind on it and try to see some mature plants. There's a reason its been at the top of the popularity charts for many years.

idiothe-
I agree with you and it is my favorite Hosta............mine being picked up pretty early in the game too, I think, about 12 years ago (?). Brandy that is a lot to pay, but hopefully you can get one cheaper later, or trade for on with a forum member. Now streakers..............I love streakers but the variegation is unstable. They do need maintenance to stay as streakers.......cutting off eyes that revert to solid colors or stable variegation.............they are a bit more work than most cultivars (and that is why they are more expensive).

I got a couple of June tissue cultures a couple of years ago...and I'm not feeling the love for June, either. I ended up buying Touch of Class because that's the hosta that I wanted June to be. TofC was new last year and I divided it at the get go, so it's still small...but it is lovely. A must-have, IMO.

Now, if my Junes looked anything like Idiothe's (which they don't), I would tumble head over heels in love. (Mine has too much yellow & it's too brassy for my taste.) But I completely understand where you're coming from, Brandy. Save the money and get something you really, really love. (I only got June because they were cheap--TC's--and it was on everyone's list of favorite hostas. OTOH, 'everyone' was spot on about Montana Aureomarginata...Mine was also new last year and it already takes my breath away every time I look at it!)

Got these two youngsters at Lowe's last summer on clearance for a buck each. Actually I intend to get more and plant them in different degrees of sun and shade and get as many variations as I can. I love 'em.

Regards,
Don B.

Offensive, nah....

Misguided, perhaps (no offense).

June is unlike anything else in the garden. Those that are hosta ignorant tour my gardens and point out both, wanting to know what they are. The others that may have similar variegation do not get second looks.

There is a reason that it's consistently at the top of the the AHS popularity polls for years on end. And that poll is conducted from Hosta Aficionados!

Grow it in sun, the center is gold. Grow it in shade, the center is a medium green.

Doesn't matter where you grow it, so long as you grow it.

Your Midwest Magic looks like mine, just smaller and further along in the season. It should start green, then color up. Guess that's the "magic" part.

Hosta prices can make no sense at all. Our local store got in some very nice hostas this spring- Rainforest Surprise, Delta Dawn, Revolution, Invincible, and Love Pat among others - all nice, big, multi-eyed plants in 1 gallon containers for $7.00. Two weeks later they got their "special" hostas in two gallon containers - Frances Williams and Regal Spendor - for $12.00. You can guess which pile I was looking at.

Yes, my new friend has had hers for just over a year (Midwest Magic) and it looked like mine now in the pictures she took after she got it. It looks more like yours does now... Except the coloring is more light on the inner part and brims are more dark. The leaf shape is just like yours too. So I feel better that it was named correctly.

No, all of their hostas were $23.95 so $24 pretty much after tax of course!! It didn't matter their name or their color, whatever, all were the same price! I am feeling bad for my friend who bought my Midwest Magic there now! I can't believe she paid that much!

Well, I know buying at big box stores can be dangerous, but I recently picked up a good sized June with darker coloring at Walmart for $5.50. Mine was planted in half sun and I wanted to see what one grown in shade looked like. I figured it's planted in a spin-out bag. If it should happen to be virused, I can just carefully dig up the bag and toss the whole thing.

I wouldn't say it's "dangerous" MadPlanter. All of mine, including my first hosta ever, from big box stores have been very healthy and stunning plants. And for the most part, about a 90% correct label I would say. I wish my Walmart had June or Touch of Class... I was impressed that they have Pauls Glory tbh. But, I have my eyes on Touch of Class and as soon as I can, I think I am going to get her!

I've gotten lots of plants from big box stores, too. The "danger" is losing a planting spot to an HVX plant. Now that I'm using bags, I'm more willing to take a chance.

Had to cross one place off my shopping list after getting an HVX infected hosta and several mis-labeled ones. I swear their supplier just shoves whatever tag he has handy into the pot; they've had entire flats come in with the wrong label. It used to be Wide Brim, now it's something in the Dream Queen/Thunderbolt line, but he'll call them anything.

Touch of Class is lovely, and shouldn't be hard to find.

Walmart can get stuff I'd never expect. Ours had gorgeous Melting Fire heuchera and Blue Mouse Ears, both less than $6.00.

Our Walmart(s) (as in all of them in the surrounding area- more than 1 or 2) have always had beautiful and healthy plants and a pretty good hosta selection. How often can you say that about a Walmart product? I am not impressed with Home Depots selection, though. Mostly they look "sick." Lowe's look pretty good but lately when I've been in there... They've looked TERRIBLE. I heard they switched suppliers to a cheaper supplier? If so, I wouldn't buy or take a plant from there right now! Yuck!! But, I have always been very lucky and very happy with my big box store hostas.