Daily Hosta #1 - 'Fujibotan' - Add your pics

[Tigger]

I guess my 2nd plant (from LOTG) is a dud, too. Outer petals just won't un-stick, even with some massaging. Buds are pretty, though.

David

[Chris_W]

I have had a huge cluster of this plant in the front lawn garden for years. Sadly it is the one with the genetic defect that stops the flowers from opening. I took it out this season and planted a good one I got from Chris and it is coming along.

Is this the one you got this spring, Ed?

[redcrx]

Yes Chris, I think I ordered two to fill in the huge spot the other one was taking up. There are 2 good spikes on one and one spike on the other. So this is looking good now.

Just for reference I went back into my old photos to show what a "bad" one can look like. The plant looks great and the flower spikes look great (whoops make the scapes - my orchid interest is showing). They bud up but don't open - BUT they can get really ugly as they try to open. These are from the 2012 season - the plant has gotten a lot bigger since then. (I may have shown these before.)

Fujibotan - July 23, 2012

Fujibotan - 2012

Fujibotan - 2012

Fujibotan - 2012

Fujibotan - 2012

[redcrx]

Here are some more photo of the defective plant in 2013.

Fujibotan - July 31, 2013

Fujibotan - August 1, 2013

Fujibotan - August 12, 2013

Fujibotan - August 12, 2013

[Chris_W]

I think your experience further supports my theory that it is a problem with the plant genetics and not the growing conditions. You took out a defective plant and planted new ones in the exact same spot which then opened fine. These plants you received are divisions from plants we had here that have always opened well so we have simply propagated from those exclusively. In tissue culture it would be hit and miss for you to know if you had good ones or not until they flowered.

[redcrx]

It's funny, I have had two others in my back gardens that did pitiful (lack of good sun my guess) but when they flowered it was a good flower. This great looking plant gets tons of sun and has the bad flowers. Oh well, in a year or two these new ones should be spectacular when they flower.

[redcrx]

More photos - the data base calls this a "double" flower - to me that would be 12 petals but this seems to have 18 petals. Looking-up the word "botan", the definition says "peony" in Japanese. I'm guessing it refers to the way a peony has many, many petals on the flower.

Fujibotan - August 11, 2017

Fujibotan - August 11, 2017

[ViolaAnn]

2017 update - August 20 and blooming well.

[redcrx]

My fujibotan started to open today. Just for "fun" I tried to cross it with what I thought was pollen in the middle of all those petals on to one of my volunteers that is right next to it.
This is the plant I got from Chris last season. I do still have one of the duds around.

fujibotan - July 27, 2018

fujibotan - July 27, 2018