Hi All--Aardvark is an object lesson in the fast moving world of hosta pros. As I mentioned when I posted 'A Many-splendored Thing', Aardvark quickly lost it's status at the head of the alphabet when AMT was introduced. Then AMT was replaced by 'A 10 Hut'. Now Aardvark has slipped all the way to 6th on the alphabetical listings in the Hosta Library but is even further down the "official" listing. That is the one where only registered varieties are listed : http://hostaregistrar.org/searches/sear ... r_name.asp
Growing in a spot that gets very limited sun, my Aardvark has none the less been providing a nice bright display of foliage. Our plant is much brighter than the plants shown in the Library. Once again, there seems to be some confusion in Hostadom. Can anyone say whether or not I have an incorrectly named plant?
Aardvark has Tokudama heritage and therefore is very slow growing. It has an expected mature size of around 48x24. Or is there some confusion about its expected mature size? Since being added to our garden in 2002 its measurements in its first four years were 11x6, 14x8, 18x12, and 19x10. The pix are from 2002, 2004, and 2005.
Looks like a twin to 'On the Edge', the green-edged sport of 'Aspen Gold' (NR; not a seedling as is Aardvark). OTE has grown quite well for us. Not fast, mind you, but not bad. We planted it next to its all-gold parent, and now (more chlorophyll?) they are about equal in size.
I wish I could rename it Aardvark. I don't like 'On The Edge' as a name, because it's so dang hard to search for on the internet! (think about it)
Here's a 2007 photo of my plant. I didn't show it in the original post because the plant is one of many in our garden that was vandalized with a herbicide in the spring of 2006. The plant is recovering and you can see how part of the clump is much smaller. However, the photo does a better job of showing the detail of the leaves appearance.
Aardvark 6-25-07c 021.jpg (49.96 KiB) Viewed 2620 times
Hank
Better Gnomes & Gardens
zone 4B-5A
Latitude: 43° 48' 51" N
I just noticed that my plant has white flowers so it is not Aardvark. So, Tigger, I'm going with "On the Edge" until someone proves us wrong. Thanks for the suggestion.
Hank
Better Gnomes & Gardens
zone 4B-5A
Latitude: 43° 48' 51" N
I like it! I went to the HL to compare it to the pics there and my first thought was that it looked exactly like the first pic. The first pic is yours Hank.
I like On The Edge too Tigger. I can see how difficult it would be to do an internet search for it.
Hard to be sure, isn't it, Hank? Yours seems to have a slightly darker edge than On The Edge. (in the spring here the edge is barely visible, but darkens with the season) Aspen Gold/On The Edge always has short bloom scapes for me. Although Aardvark is registered with pale lavender blooms, it may be one of those location things (Elegans has pale lavender blooms in some climates).
And how does an Aspen Gold hybrid come up variegated, anyway?
Pat--I had not noticed the attribution to me at the Library. That is NOT my photo.
Tigger--Let's not confuse the issue with facts and such. My mind is already on the edge with confusion over discrepancies in registration sizes vs. my own measurments, registration descriptions vs. my own plants, etc. So let's just go with On the Edge and begin to breath in....breath out....breath in....
Hank
Better Gnomes & Gardens
zone 4B-5A
Latitude: 43° 48' 51" N
Edit: I just noticed that we posted at the same time yesterday. I didn't see your post saying that you were going with On The Edge. I was referring to the first pic of Aardvark in the HL.
I went to the HL to compare it to the pics there and my first thought was that it looked exactly like the first pic. 
The first pic is yours Hank.
It looks exactly like your 2005 pic.