One more.

Deleted expletive! That's awesome!

Kathy

Just gorgeous! A new appreciation for the flowers.

Sherry

How beautiful! I'll have to go out and check mine tomorrow.

I like them in big groupings like that. It shows how pretty hosta flowers can be. I bet your hummingbirds are enjoying them, too.

BOOM purple blast!!!

Very nice, 'even' for hosta flowers ; )

Don B.

P.S. Pics like these often make me hungry; Reminds me of fruit, or maybe a sorbet, something like that. Great pic!

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 2:13

Insert expletive!!!! Lol Wow will have to do! A m a z i n g colour expanse!

Please, please submit pics to Hosta Library! More people need to see this! Seriously!

Jo

Hi all,

Wonderful. But we should note that this is not the more common Fortunei Aureomarginata, but rather ventricosa Aureomarginata. I have one lonely scape in bloom right now on my single plant, but the purple is unmistakeable. Hostanista's display is stunning. I've always loved this particular hosta, not only for the blooms but also for the beautiful shading of the leaves.

Steve

Steve - why don't you think that they are Fortunei? Edge is yellow - shows better on 2nd pic.

Great pics ' Nista! I loved the flowers so much this year that I put some in a vase.

Agree with ConnieMay, pretty sure these are fortunei aureomarginata. The flower pics were taken at dusk and just before a thunderstorm rolled through, sky was very dark. This is the same plant of many in this area before blooming.

O.K. Mea culpa. That last pic is certainly Fortunei. My Fortunei has finished blooming, and the blooms were lavender. The ventricosa blooms are a magnificent deep purple (which is as your first pic appears, but a pic taken at dusk would certainly give a darker look).

ConnieMae: You are right. The edge is yellow. But that is what Aureomarginata means in Latin, so ventricosa Aureomarginata also has a yellow edge.

Glad to meet you fellow Canucks here. The number of Canadians on the forum has increased substantially this year. I guess we are all discovering that our climate is highly suited to hosta-growing. And the forum is a great way to share our discoveries with friendly people from both sides of the border (and occasionally beyond).

Steve

I was wondering how to tell what species it comes from. I have a ventricosa Aureomarginata. I have a plain old Aureomarginata called that and nothing else on the label....got that one from Lowes. As far as I know, it has yet to bloom this year. I'd have noticed such a spectacular display as those purple flowers.

My ventricosa family has very bright purple flowers with a touch of white in the petals, like Holly's Dazzler has. They are all high energy.

So which one is Fortunei Aureomarginata?

Hi Mocc,

You have asked the key question, one we probably should take up on a separate thread. The quick answer is that Lowes is not a reliable source of information about nomenclature. They regularly mislabel hostas. Consider, for example the ones labeled: Plantain Lily.

Every hosta has both a species name (like Fortunei) and a cultivar name (like Fortunei Aureomarginata). When the cultivar goes by its Latin name, the name actually means something. Aureo means yellow or gold, marginata means margins or edges. There are several species with yellow-edged hostas, so we have venusta Aureomarginata, Fortunei Aureomarginata, ventricosa Aureomarginata, etc.

There is no hosta named simply Aureomarginata. We need a campaign to fight back against Lowes and the other big box stores who have no demonstrated interest in getting it right.

Sorry to sound like the old professor, but you asked.

Steve

Hi Steve,

I was going by the descriptions & pictures in the Hosta Library so zeroed in on the edge colour - in my effort to determine why you thought they were Ventricosa. In the library Ventricosa Aureomarginata is described as having a cream coloured edge whereas Fortunei is described as having yellow/gold edge lasting the whole season. I didn't realize that the flower colour was darker...