Gray-green hosta list, please

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 10, 2008 12:56 am

I'm seeking recommendations for gray-green foliage, either solid or variegated, to keep my 'Moonlight Sonata' from looking so alone after it changes to gray-green.

Would love to see a list of as many as you know and then suggestions for the most interesting and reliable ones on the list.

Looking forward to your replies!

Linda P · Post by **Linda P** » May 10, 2008 7:51 am

Welcome to the forum!
Gray Cole, Gunsmoke, maybe Reptillian. It's been such a long winter that I'm having trouble remembering which ones have that gray cast.
Linda P

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 10, 2008 10:13 am

Welcome to Hallson's, Pitkin!!

A couple of gray-green hostas with white edges that I have are Heartsong and Decorata. They definitely contrast with the true greens. And I believe that Phantom is another solid colored that would be in the range you're looking for. I don't have it, but the ones that I've seen in other gardens aren't really blue, but they're not really green either.

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 10, 2008 5:28 pm

Thanks for the suggestions and the warm welcome! Goes to show why a forum like this is so valuable. Gray Cole is the only one of these I'd come across already as a possibility, but even so the descriptions and photos vary enough that I couldn't be sure.

I noticed that Gunsmoke was listed as having Grey Piecrust as a parent. (However, the *catalogs* all seem to say that Blue Piecrust is the parent - oh well.) But it doesn't really matter to me who the parent is - at least it got me on the trail of Grey Piecrust and I'm totally enamoured of piecrust edges these days. Does anyone have experience with Grey Piecrust? Does it also provide that gray-green I'm looking for?

Thanks again,
The other Linda P

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 11, 2008 10:50 am

I'm not familiar with 'Grey Piecrust' at all, but found this on the Hosta Registrar site [since I was already there]:

http://hostaregistrar.org/detail.asp?se ... 20Piecrust

Not much info about it except that it sounds like the color you're looking for and that it's a seedling of 'Green Piecrust'.

Here's the link to it at Hugo's Database:

http://myhostas.net/db/hostas/Grey+Piecrust

Unless you find someone who can share a piece with you, I'm afraid you may have quite a search for this one. I'll keep my eyes out for you when I'm out and about. Have someone with a Hosta Finder check it out. There may be a few that still offer it. [I'm thinking Van Wade would probly be your best bet, but he doesn't do mail order.]

flowerchild59 · Post by **flowerchild59** » May 11, 2008 10:53 am

I think you might want to look at krossa regal, nigrescens, and hypoluca. Mine sorta have a grayish cast and it might work for you.

Linda P · Post by **Linda P** » May 11, 2008 12:14 pm

I've thought of another variegated one that has a gray cast; Unchained Melody. Don't know why I didn't think of it before, as it's one of my very favorites. I'll try to get a pic of it when the rain lets up. I have a pic from last year, with a leaf or two of Unchained Melody on the right. I see now that I look at the pic that Zippity Do Dah, on the left, appears to have some gray between the edge and center.
Linda P

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 11, 2008 12:32 pm

Linda just made me think of another I have that is gray-green with a white margin - Gay Blade. It's a medium-sized hosta that has always grown well for me & makes a nice mound.

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 12, 2008 12:43 pm

Wow! your great ideas sent me scurrying all over the internet in pursuit of these and leads on others. I think at one point I had over 20 windows open.

Tried a leaf color search at the Hosta Registry and concluded that gray-green, other than as streaks in a green-to-white or white-to-green margined leaf has been out of vogue since the late 1980's. There were quite a few registered as gray-green (or grey-green) back then and not many recently. Because a number of your suggestions did not show up in the search, I can only assume that the registrants didn't see a commercial need to mention their gray cast. Usually they were simply referred to as a medium or dark green, occasionally blue metallic, or other more trendy description.

Hopefully, the breeders will see that, in a never-ending quest for the latest thing, old is new again and more gray options will start appearing. Hint, hint breeders: the grays go nicely with all the pure white-leaved cultivars that are being put out in the marketplace these days, which don't fit in too well wiith the all the beautiful blues and yellows that are so popular.

So, I thank you again. Not only have I gotten some wonderful suggestions, which I will follow through on, but I seem to have become a budding hosta social historian in the process!

flowerchild59 · Post by **flowerchild59** » May 12, 2008 9:29 pm

i was in the garden today too and Elvis lives has a grayish cast too. Check that one out.

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 13, 2008 1:07 am

Thanks, Cheryl. Elvis Lives kept coming on and off my radar screen because sometimes the photos appeared gray, and sometimes blue, and sometimes a true green. I like the look of it and am very pleased to hear it has that grayish cast. Another one for the list!

I was looking at one of my non-hosta gardens today (yes, I was a generalist at one time - but it might also have had something to do with being an area of full sun!) and realized that there's a great deal of gray foliage out there in the rest of the world. Tulip leaves, especially, caught my eye today. I started to rediscover my somewhat-neglected front garden with its color scheme of white and purple blooms with silver, burgundy, and gray-green foliage accents. I find this a very restful, yet visually interesting, color combo that sets a nice tone for the front yard. I also realized that this garden was the one that started my hosta addiction when I began tucking green and white foliage hostas in the shade created by the shrubs. It probably explains why I'm now happily planting hostas under the high canopy of trees at our summer cottage - this same color scheme translates so easily into a hosta garden. My back yard at home is a riot of bright colors, chartreuse foliage, and more adventurous combinations, which I'm also having a wonderful time reinventing with hostas.

Hostas are such glorious plants!!

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 13, 2008 3:14 am

Here are some more I've seen described at various locations as being "gray-green" or gray in some way. Has anyone had experience with any of these? Are they gray in the "real world"? Are they worthy plants?

Kiwi Midnight
Kiwi Hippo
Komodo Dragon
Majesty
Mountain Snow
Silk Kimono
Chopsticks
Lakeside Old Smokey
Crowned Imperial
Flower Power
Fortunei Hyacinthina
Pilgrim
Shazaam
Tambourine
Veronica & Pearl Lake

flowerchild59 · Post by **flowerchild59** » May 13, 2008 8:30 am

In my hosta garden, veronica, pearl lake and komodo dragon have a grayish cast, but if you do plant the dragon boy, give him plenty of room.
Have you thought about white salvia (sl gray foliage) and lamb's ears as a part of your gray garden? I did an all white garden flower garden once and it was fun to do but hard to find the flowers for something on that scale.

Pitkin Cottage · Post by **Pitkin Cottage** » May 14, 2008 3:22 am

Cheryl, Love my salvias and lamb's ears! I use both white and blue salvias. The idea with that particular garden was to have the blues dominate during the day and then the whites take over in the early evening. I even tried to complicate things further for myself by going for fragrance as well. And, of course, using the foliage to define the garden day, evening, and thoughout the growing season. It's even designed to be appealing during the long winters here with the shapes of the shrubs and the interesting seedheads. Working on all this kept me quite happy for several years but, once fully planted, I kind of lost interest in it. (I'm the sort of person who feels the need to go househunting just to find some new garden space!) Thus it was a real pleasure to "rediscover" this garden the other day. I'm thinking now that I might try an 'Aphrodite' or similar hosta to help me fall in love with it all over again.

I quite agree with you about the difficulty of finding enough bloom variety to do an all-white garden. That was what I was going to do originally with my front garden. It was also tricky for me because I love dark blue blooms more than any other color, so I found myself opting more and more for blue when I had the choice between white or blue of the same plant. And when I did purchase whites, they started becoming annuals more often than perennials...

You've just given me the idea of creating an all white-blooming hosta garden at the lake. Should be a fun challenge to keep the bloom times stretched out as long as possible, keep the foliage coordinating nicely, and still keep the big picture of the overall landscape in mind. I'll have to locate it so any fragrant blooms can be appreciated and the dusk light hits it just right. Oooooo - gets my creative juices flowing! Thank you for the idea, you've helped me again.

But first I need to finalize my gray purchases. Linda, Renaldo, and Cheryl, you've all offered suggestions that will make the cut. I really appreciate it.
The other Linda P