Lakeside Black Satin

MollyD · Post by **MollyD** » Jul 10, 2007 1:49 pm

I purchased this plant in May this year from a source I won't identify. It arrived with others in a semi dormant condition. I planted all of them immediately and all but this one began to grow. It took almost a month for the pips to finish emerging and another two weeks for it to unfurl. Sensing that the plant was not happy I dug it up and potted it. In the process one eye fell out of the clump so I potted that one separately. Both pots were then moved to a spot with deeper shade. This was early June. It has now reached the spectacular size of 3.5" in width (larger piece), the single eye is .5" across by 2" long. I researched the plant and it should be a medium size plant. This was not suppose to be a plug either. I paid for a full size division. I contacted the seller who told me to have faith, that it was slow growing and would take off . Kinda late here for growth like that now! I then contacted Mary Chastrain (spelling?) and she told me it should not be slow growing. She felt it might have been ill when I received it. Since it's clear the seller has no interest in backing the plant I need to know what steps I can take to help baby it along?

Suggestions? Photo below was taken 6-20-07

MollyD

Hosta Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.ph ... ck%20Satin
MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Lakeside+Black+Satin
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/l/lakeblack.html

planwerk · Post by **planwerk** » Jul 10, 2007 2:06 pm

Mary Chastain

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 10, 2007 2:48 pm

I dunno, Molly...mine is in it's third season and it still looks like that...

ckp · Post by **ckp** » Jul 10, 2007 3:41 pm

My Black Satin is aabout 5 in. in 5 years. I hear other complain about it. ckp

hostalady · Post by **hostalady** » Jul 10, 2007 4:28 pm

And I thought it was just me.....mine has been the same size for about 5 years now.

Canadian-hosta-girl · Post by **Canadian-hosta-girl** » Jul 10, 2007 4:34 pm

i dont know what mine likes here but as done well , i bought it last year it was one eye peeking out of the 2 gallon when i brought it home , and this is it this past weekend , (it is the green one in front of stained glass)..it get sun in the morning till 11 am and the rest of the day is very bright where he is....and the soil is always humid there.....it will bloom for me this year too i cant wait to see the flowers .....lakeside hostas as done been good performers here this is the only one that as done well so far.

MollyD · Post by **MollyD** » Jul 10, 2007 8:25 pm

Well Mary Chastain not withstanding it sounds like most of you have the same problem I'm having. Canadian Hosta Girl you must have perfect conditions that it likes! Wish I could get mine to look like yours!!!
It gets some filtered morning sun where it is, then shade (not a heavy shade) the rest of the day. It doesn't seem miserable but something is lacking for it there. Maybe it's the moisture you mentione C-H-G ? It's under walnut trees and we've had a drought since May. Maybe it wants more water than it's getting or I can give it??
I had a bit of a fright this morning. I was watering my daylilies (hostas were done yesterday) and I was almost finished when the pump shut off. I thought oh no I've drained the well dry!! I finally managed to get it running again but now I'm scared to do much of anything using water. Pray we get some rain soon.

MollyD

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jul 10, 2007 8:30 pm

Here's a pic of mine from 2005. It is not much bigger today. Probably about 12-14" across and not very tall. I just assumed it was a really slow grower or maybe it's competing with tree roots?? I'll bet I've had this one for at least 5 yrs. in that spot.

MollyD · Post by **MollyD** » Jul 10, 2007 8:45 pm

Joan yours looks beautiful! I'd settle for 12-14" any day! I got this from the HL:

"'Lakeside Black Satin' grows into a large, mid-sized clump. Its very deep green, heart-shaped scalloped leaves tend to cup downward, and the clump is further enhanced by the contrasting coloring of its flowers. The nice sized white flower displays a rich rose-purple on the inside. It was one of the first recipients of the David Van Fleet award. The plant came to us in 1993 and is a ventricosa hybrid.
Submitted by Mary Chastain"

She must have the same growing conditions Canadian Hosta Girl has! I want so badly to see it grow and flower!

MollyD

jobranch · Post by **jobranch** » Jul 10, 2007 9:10 pm

Lakeside Acre Hostas are located near Chattanooga, TN, so extremely different from Canada...

Jeff

MollyD · Post by **MollyD** » Jul 10, 2007 9:15 pm

Not necessarily Jeff. Some parts of Canada are quite mild. Aside from that what I had in mind was more the amount of shade, moisture and nurtients in the soil. Those might be the same or similar enough for LBS to thrive in both places.

MollyD

jobranch · Post by **jobranch** » Jul 10, 2007 9:31 pm

Good point.

Canadian-hosta-girl · Post by **Canadian-hosta-girl** » Jul 10, 2007 9:47 pm

MollyD wrote:Not necessarily Jeff. Some parts of Canada are quite mild. Aside from that what I had in mind was more the amount of shade, moisture and nurtients in the soil. Those might be the same or similar enough for LBS to thrive in both places.

MollyD

humm mild winters huh in Quebec province where we get
-30 degrees celcius

hehehehe

i am in zone 4b here...

but this past winter was milder , we had alot of rain when we wore suppose to have snow , we had no snow for december and january almost and mild , and we got snow till very late in the spring ..i was afraid to have lost many peranials and hostas because of the lack of early snow in the winter...and now well we have no summer , pretty much cooler then normals , rain , rain rain ,.....hostas like it but alot of my perannials want dry soil a bit and more sun right now

Mary Chastain told me 2 years ago when i inquired about ordering from her when i asked if her hostas would perform good here she said yes because we have good winters so the dormancy period is longuer and better for them....so far black satin (not ordered from her directly) as been the only one that showed improvement here ....i have lollypop that as 2 eyes instead of one this year , and love affair looks like it is disapering each day and iron man is very very small still this year but better then last year...

digs57 · Post by **digs57** » Jul 11, 2007 7:58 am

LBS is a dark beauty. One must remember it's a very late riser - the very last one in spring - thus patience is required. Also, like many of the very dark varieties, it does benefit from more sun than others.

That said, the variety's a survivor. Last fall a backhoe churned up a couple of large sections of my garden, LBS along with some others. When I found the root system, it disintegrated into 3 pieces. I left one in the ground & potted the other two, and all three have now turned into nice & healthy (though small) plants. I don't mind - I'll be more than happy to have 3 LBS specimens at different ends of th garden, its colour goes beautifully with all other hostas.

BTW, LBS is, I understand, a ventricosa seedling selection - sort of a runt of the litter, seeing as ventricosa is a large variety. And indeed, LBS and ventricosa share the very dark, glistening satiny leaf. (the hint is, if you're not happy with LBS, buy its mom!)

Digs.

MollyD · Post by **MollyD** » Jul 11, 2007 11:19 am

Thanks Digs I may just have to get it's mom!

On the question of sun I was always told that the darker the leaf the less sun it wanted to look good. On LBS I was told it really didn't like direct sun! Was I misinformed? I have it where it gets a small amount of dappled morning sun and then shade the rest of the day.

MollyD

Hallson Gardens

Lakeside Black Satin

Lakeside Black Satin

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