Moccasins..those beautiful flowers actually have an aura around them..love that song...thanks for a lovely goodnight!
Jo.

What a treat for you, Mocc! And for us, thanx to your pics!

Yup, Doubled Up appears to be a Must Have

Are you taking notes on how intense the fragrance seems on each hosta? I know it's a subjective thing and probably tied to all kinds of variables like weather, site, age of hosta, humidity....but still, if you don't mind, I would like to get your impressions.

Interesting that your 'August lilies' are blooming in the middle of July. I'm thinking that it might be worthwhile to record 'length of day' for when the first bloom opens. I just checked the LOD for Mobile Alabama ...sunrise 6:00 am; sunset 7:55 pm. I couldn't remember xactly where you are so chose Mobile for an approximate. 13 hours, 55 minutes.

For my own reference, length of day here central Wisconsin...sunrise 5:28 am; sunset 8:39 pm...15 hours, 11 minutes. I'll need to check closely today to be sure but I don't think I have even hint of a scape on any of my fragrants.

Lovely series of pix, Barbara. That halo you see around most of the flowers could well be due to a dirty/smudgy lens on your camera.

Pieter

Pieterje, about the "dirty smudgy lens."

Yes, when I step outside, the lens fogs over because of the humidity here. Even though it was cooler at that hour, the moisture is there. It is quite a problem to keep it off. During the day it goes away quickly. But I did not see it when I took those pictures. That might be one reason I cannot get good clear pictures of my flowers, besides my trembling hands.

I have a table tripod which is easy to use, little folding thingy about 8-10 inches tall. Then a monopod easy to use in tight places, if I can find it.

I'm thinking the moisture might also be playing tricks on my auto exposure settings as well. Something like a frosting on a glass, or condensation on a window. If it is on the outer lens surface I can deal with that. What I'm wondering is, does the moisture reach any of the internal workings of the camera. Our house is kept about 78-80 degrees inside, not an especially cold setting.

Thanks for speaking about this problem. It might also help other people with auras in their photos. :)

I thought Doubled Up had a double flower. I guess I thought that because of the name.

Although I have lots of scapes, of the fragrants, only Guacamole is blooming.

Great pics, Mocc.

bk

Thanks, Ci and BKay.

Ci, you can just about pin point my location, within 2 miles, by noting where I-65 terminates/junctions with I-10. The LOD could be a useful bit of information to have available. Until you mentioned it, and gave your own LOD for the same day, I never thought our days were shorter than yours....at this time of year.

Looking at it that way, the night blooming hosta have a much longer night period than day. I'm looking at the present temperature, at 9am local time, and it is 78 degrees. We had rain again last night, but not a stormy downpour.

To encourage the night pollenators to reach ALL the large-flowered fragrants, I think I'll move the bloomers together. If by chance one or some are fertile, I'll be happy to get some seed. Precious commodity when they could be selfed or both parents are fragrant.

And Pieterje, why is the pollen on Doubled Up yellow? Does that mean it is a fertile hosta? The other flowers do not have so much yellow inside the flower structure, some end in white, some end in a grayed color, the pistils or stamen tips (anthers?).....guess I really need to get out the book showing parts of a flower's reproductive system. Then call it the proper name. So much to learn.

BKay, I thought the name Doubled Up meant the flowers would be double too. Perhaps later they will be? I'll have to call Bob Solberg and ask him about it. I wish I could get a bloom for Mama plantaginea as well as Doubled Up at the same time, to compare sizes. I'm pretty sure that Mama's trumpet is broader across the opening than DU's opening. The length of the blossom might be similar. DU's buds are huge.

Ci, as early in the evening as it was, I did not notice fragrance. So I'm thinking it wasn't there at that time. Why, is a good question. Too early in the night? What strategy is at work with the flower scent I wonder. The Moonlight Sonata had a fragrance in the daytime which I noticed before I discovered which plant it came from. I'm new at this, and cannot say what is going on yet. You'll be the first to hear when I have any ideas or observations.

Never in my life have I been so fascinated with plants in the garden, as I am now with HOSTA. Fantastic!

And Pieterje, why is the pollen on Doubled Up yellow? Does that mean it is a fertile hosta? The other flowers do not have so much yellow inside the flower structure, some end in white, some end in a grayed color, the pistils or stamen tips (anthers?).....guess I really need to get out the book showing parts of a flower's reproductive system. Then call it the proper name. So much to learn.

Barbara, I haven't the foggiest -no pun intended- but I would think it's more related to its family tree. Having said that, it's worthwhile to try your hand at hand pollinating by removing all the stamens and liberally rubbing the pollen off the anthers onto the stigma. That way you'll know who's your daddy, whereas if you move all of them closer together and let the moths do there business you will get cross pollination. With the plantaginea family members that open up at night you are best off to do the hand pollinating the first night they open up when the stigma still has some moisture on it.

Be forwarned, starting do your own crosses and to collect seeds is a slippery slope and it'll be hard to stop once you start.

Pieter

'Doubled-Up' is at least supposed to have double-blossoms. You're right, Bkay.

Don B.

Mocc, thank you for all these great pics of beautiful flowers from your fragrant hosta. I can almost catch a whiff of them...

Oh, lookee what I found 'Fried Bananas' sending up today! Can the rest of the bed be far behind? Yay!!

Regards,
Don B.

I think Doubled Up gets its name because it's a tetraploid sport of plantaginea, a diploid. i.e., it has four sets of chromosones vs the usual set of two.

AFAIK, Fujibotan, Venus & Aphrodite are the only double-bloom hostas.

All of the flower pix of Doubled Up, that I've seen, have been single blooms.

I think you're correct, ci lantro...Trying to think, if there is another fragrant that has double-blossoms?

Don B.

Ci, thank you for that reasoning because it now makes sense.
Tonight I sat out beneath the MoonWalk canopy and watched for my new solar powered lights turn on for the first time at dusk. I was there to see the sun striking Doubled UP, Avocado, Cathedral Windows, and Fragrant King entertaining bees and wasps a little early. After dinner, back again to see, yes, a few came on....but I was aware of something dusky and swooping, and I thought, ah yes, perhaps the bats are coming back, as night pollenators. Hmmm, don't they like figs? and large blossoms?

Pieterje, I know you are right about hard to stop once i start. Add to that the certainty that my DH is the perfect partner in crime for this.....he has the scientific mind to complement my more intuitive mind. I so look forward to sharing this magic fantasy of fragrant hosta with him and others.

This post was edited by moccasinlanding on Wed, Jul 17, 13 at 23:05

Thank you, ci lantro. 'Aphrodite' was what I was trying to think of.

Regards,
Don B.

An interesting fragrant hosta saga:

At about 2:00 this afternoon, Invincible was FRAGRANT. I could barely smell Guacamole.

At 8:00 tonight, Guacamole was FRAGRANT. Invincible was barely noticeable.

Can't wait for others to open.

Interesting.

bk