Beautiful Hosta Bloom Cluster

[GrannyNanny]

Haven't posted pics on this forum for months -- maybe several years -- but I'm back at it again. This is one of three clusters of hosta blooms that appeared right down next to the foliage of H. Camelot this year. I suppose they were meant to be strung out along a tall petiole, but somehow they all just got clustered at the base. I don't remember if this plant ever did this before, so I'll have to watch out for its bloom habit next year. Meanwhile, they sure were gorgeous! Have a look....Phyllis
PS The clusters made tons of seeds, too! What a cute plant Camelot is -- rounded blue leaves, and very bushy.

[renaldo75]

That is pretty amazing, Phyllis!! It almost looks like an agapanthus bloom.

[Pieter]

Phyllis, I suspect this is a form of fasciation. Take a close look at the scape and see if there is evidence of longitudenal ridges perhaps, possibly with a twist, or a scape much thicker then what you'd expect it to be... I've certainly seen lots of unusual things in the way a number of my perennials have flowered this year, not just Hostas, but I've seen fasciation in Lilies and several samples of Sedum. In Hostas they covered the gamut from twisted scapes to flowers right at soil level to conjoined scapes, it's been a strange year for flowers for me.

[eastwood2007]

Gorgeous photo, Phyllis!

[audre]

wowow, those are awesome. i love the bunched effect with shorter scapes.

i bought a halcyon from a nursery this year just because it had one of those mutant flower stalks on it with a blob of flowers, much like yours. i am hoping it's not a one-time thing and next year we'll get the midget blooms again.

[Tigger]

Crazy fasciation. I posted a pic of a lily doing the same thing in the Lily forum ("Freak of nature").