Pic of the Day--Blue Plate Special

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--The term "Blue Plate Special" refers to a meal, usually served on a single plate in a diner, that might be described as hearty but certainly not fancy. It might be the meal for the common man. Today's variety, Blue Plate Special, lives up to that name. The plant can be described as a good, versatile variety that does not draw much attention to itself. It also has problems passing a 10 foot rule, maybe even a 5 foot rule, since its blue, rounded, puckered leaves could belong to a number of varieties. Even its expected mature size is listed as "medium". Since getting the plant in 2002 and putting it in a spot that gets little direct light, its measurements have been 9x5, 16x6, 23x12, 25x12, 36x13 and 37x14. Even the slugs pay no special attention to this one. The pix are from 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Registry - not registered as of November 2012

MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Blue+Plate+Special

Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/b/blueps.html

[wishiwere]

This is one of several that I received last year in the secret trade #2. It was planted in full shade last year, but we lost our patio roof and it's been in full sun this entire hot and dry summer! Surprisingly, it's done well, except for the color is more green with some yellow cast in it, it has faired remarkedly well and has a grown a little to nearly 15X9. So it IS something the 'common' gardener can enjoy easily too!

[VThosta/daylilylover]

This is very nice. It does remind me of my 'Love Pat' (new this year). I'm just learning so am not too up to date on sizes, just recognize general shapes somewhat. Thank you for your postings. I've learned a lot from them and try to note the differences between what you show and the plants I'm aware of. It's so good to see the progression each plant makes!

[Spider]

Some of those leaves do resemble dinner plates. (I've not eaten all day, can you tell?)