i just spent 10 mins there. and i cant for the life of me.. figure out where or what you are referring to ...

can you link us???

ken

Okay, let me say we go to the HOSTA SPORTS, and you choose from the list on the left, GOLD STANDARD (97).

It shows the family tree of sports from Gold Standard, with the little color letters being like for example,
Captain Kirk (yg)

I know that means "yellow green"
But which part is yellow and which green? Is the first letter an indicator of the middle (or leaf) color, and the second the margin/edge color? Like yellow leaf green margin?

That's part one of the question. I could not find a KEY there to explain their lettering system. If you go into the descriptions of the names of some very changeable hosta, there are a bunch of letters which HAVE to mean something. WHERE IS THE KEY? What do these mean, when they are used one after another to explain the pattern of color change for the shape-shifting hosta?

Let me give you an example of the complicated hosta, such as one I was puzzling over today:

I was checking sports of FRAGRANT BLUE.
specifically, SECRET LOVE.
It's leaf color is shown with the abbreviations:
bl,(y>w)e

Now that just blows my mind!!
I got Secret Love in a pot in my garden, but I could not look at it and with this abbreviation know what the heck to expect, or even figure it out...

I can see that bl = blue?
y = yellow
w = white
but they put the ( ) around it, and then wind up with the e = _________ what.....????

So if there was a key somewhere on the website, I could make a stab at learning it. Someone put a whole lot of time into adding that tiny little box of information for a whole bunch of hosta, and I know it could be useful, if I knew what it indicated.

So do you need a link to MyHostas.BE Sports?
Thanks, Ken.

Here is a link that might be useful: myhostas.be sports index

Okay, let me say we go to the HOSTA SPORTS, and you choose from the list on the left, GOLD STANDARD (97).

It shows the family tree of sports from Gold Standard, with the little color letters being like for example,
Captain Kirk (yg)

I know that means "yellow green"
But which part is yellow and which green? Is the first letter an indicator of the middle (or leaf) color, and the second the margin/edge color? Like yellow leaf green margin?

That's part one of the question. I could not find a KEY there to explain their lettering system. If you go into the descriptions of the names of some very changeable hosta, there are a bunch of letters which HAVE to mean something. WHERE IS THE KEY? What do these mean, when they are used one after another to explain the pattern of color change for the shape-shifting hosta?

Let me give you an example of the complicated hosta, such as one I was puzzling over today:

I was checking sports of FRAGRANT BLUE.
specifically, SECRET LOVE.
It's leaf color is shown with the abbreviations:
bl,(y>w)e

Now that just blows my mind!!
I got Secret Love in a pot in my garden, but I could not look at it and with this abbreviation know what the heck to expect, or even figure it out...

I can see that bl = blue?
y = yellow
w = white
but they put the ( ) around it, and then wind up with the e = _________ what.....????

So if there was a key somewhere on the website, I could make a stab at learning it. Someone put a whole lot of time into adding that tiny little box of information for a whole bunch of hosta, and I know it could be useful, if I knew what it indicated.

So do you need a link to MyHostas.BE Sports?
Thanks, Ken.

Here is a link that might be useful: myhostas.be sports index

bl,(y>w)e

Blue, with a yellow edge changing to white. Just open another tab and look at a library pic. You can figure it out. Yes, you can,

Steve

HMMMM, WELL, okay,
but what is that final "e" after the rest of it?

Were you able to find a key code anywhere?

And there are some way more complicated that that example.
I like to understand the formula they are using.

Thanks, Steve....

No key that I can find. I agree it would be nice to have one. "e" stands for edge. "mot" for mottled. I'm not sure what "gag" is. Maybe green/aqua center with a green margin.

Steve

Thanks, Steve.

You know, the person who is filling in that information has the key, knows what s/he is doing, and they are including the information on just about every hosta.

So why not share that info? I think I'll try to contact the website people and ask if they could add it to the site.

I gotta go. My parrot is in there cussing and carrying on a phone conversation with somebody!!

This is what they have describing the H. 'Vermont Frost'

Any idea what it means?

w>(spe,bl,w)

I get the white > changing to.....

"spe" = ??
bl = blue
w = white again
spe = speckled?

Now. read it in plain English to me please. I do not get the hang of translating it.

I'm guessing here...White that goes to speckled blue and white. I think the caret means "changes to" then the part in parentheses refers to the leaf color.

Spent a lot of years guessing at knit/crochet pattern abreviations, that use brackets, and stars.

-Babka

being an infant regarding describing hostas on my homemade spread sheets, etc. I had only gotten as far as DGn/CW as an example of a hosta with a dark green center and creamy white margins. So now if my made up hosta begins with yellow margins that turn to creamy white I can show it as DGn/y>CW. Cool! My margins are cluttered with scribbled notes so thats nice to know. Thanks moc for asking and for everyone for replying. You are pretty right I am sure but regardless everything you suggest works for me! I can now spend a couple of hours tommorrow cleaning up descriptions for my photo library. LOL.

Time to collect some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Les

Yes, Les, I think it is a good system, just have to understand the symbols and abbreviations.

Babka, those crochet things are very puzzling. My grandmother was a wizard at crochet and tatting, I just bequeathed a bag full of her work to my nephew's wife. Done many of them pre WWII before I was born even, gifts to my mother for her wedding. All those ladies had little formal education, but they knew their geometry for making quilts, and other things like crochet for ornamenting an otherwise basic and challenging lifestyle before there was electricity and running water, or indoor plumbing for that matter.

It appears that this db uses the same convention as Mr. Greene's 'Hosta Finder', and there IS a 'key' to be found there.

fwiw,

hh