Question about margins

[Noreaster]

My question is, does the width of the margins ever change from year to year, or as the plant ages? I have two Tokudama Flavocircinalis, planted in two different spots, one of which is kind of a focal spot in the garden. They have both been incredibly slow to grow, I think because I moved them a lot when they were babies, but just started to take off last year. The thing is, one has lovely wide chartreuse margins and the other's are much thinner. Of course the one I like less, with the thin margins, is in the primo spot. I am somewhat tempted to dig and swap them, but I'm afraid to do so because of how painfully slow they were to grow. I don't want to rock the boat. Is there any chance the the one with thin margins will magically widen with more time?

[thy]

MINE WAS STUNNING AFTER 7 OR 8 YEARS

They are slow, very slow. Try to give it one or 2 more years if you can and if you must, dig it up with the entire rootball early fall
Pia

[Noreaster]

Yes, if had had known just how slow, I probably never would have bought it! Mine will be going into their fifth season, I think. The thin margined one jumped from 2 to seven eyes last season, so that WAS a major improvement....I just wish the margins would widen.

[R. Rock]

Hi,
I do get wider margins w/ more light. However, every garden and gardner is different. It sounds like you have a lot of distinction between the plants. I have several T.F.C.'s in different light levels and locations. The margins are all similar.
You might check out 'Tootie Mae' at the hosta library. It is described elsewhere as having a wide margin.
I tried to purchase it last year from Plant Delights. It had crown rot terrible and was sent back. It is really hard to send something back you really have anticipated for a long time. The plant was sliced and diced and put back into production. A good place to stay away from. Probably the most bizarre and frustrating experience I have had w/ a nursery. I don't have the plant or the money.
Let's hope you have something.
Good Luck

p.s. You may watch to see if it may actually be Olive Bailey Langdon. I received some of both; not really, back in 2003-2005. In actuallity, they all turned out to be O.B.L.. I have had a difficult time telling them apart in young plants.

[Noreaster]

Thanks, Nut House. I don't think it's OBL, because I bought both the Tokudamas at the time from a local nursery...I suppose it's possible that the whole batch was mislabelled, but I'm pretty sure I have Tokudama F. I just looked up Tootie Mae at the Hosta Library and it is interesting....I also looked at the pics for TF and was interested to see that while most of them had the wider margin that I think it's supposed to have, there was one pic of one with a very thin margin that resembled mine. So I don't know what to think or expect. I have this one in pretty good light, I think.

Here's a pic of mine from last year. A couple of the leaves have a wider margin, but most of them are pretty thin.

[R. Rock]

Hi Noreaster,
It looks like a normal, healthy T.F.C. to me.

To answere your question about moving them to increase the margin, If it were "mine", I would leave it alone. Perhaps, someone else has had "hands on" experience in the move.

After seeing the picture, maybe I don't know jack. I think Maturity will look "similar" to the Hallson picture.

[Noreaster]

I just looked at the picture and description on the Hallson site, and it looks nothing like it! LOL, well, time will tell. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does this year.

[jgh]

It looks like a nice, healthy TFC to me. (Am I the only one who thinks that is a gorgeous hostas and deserves its prominent place?!) As I look back through my photos, I do see some variability in the margins, although yours looks normal to me - if you have one with wider margins, that may actually be sporting.

Just in case somebody new to hostas reads the comments about slow and thinks maybe they shouldn't plant Tokudamas... I love Tokudamas. I think they are among the most elegant, reliable hostas around. Yes, they are slow. In fact, the golds are so slow I don't recommend them as I think there are better options. But TFC and Tokudama Aureonebulosa and Bright Lights and the plain ole' Tokudama (blue) are beautiful plants.

I've always said that if TFC was renamed H. 'Elegant Beauty' it would sell like hotcakes when people saw mature plants... but the combined Japanese-Latin just doesn't "trip off the tongue."

I think of it like trees... when you start gardening in a spot where you will be for a while, plant your crabapples and such - fast growing and quicker gratification - but also plant an oak for the future. In hostas, put in your quicker ones, but also get your Toks established - eventually they will be showpieces.

[Spider]

I love the stone work on your bed! Very nice! The pots blend in well.

[Noreaster]

Well, guess who decided to grow up? Not only did it jump from 7 to 15 or 16 eyes, but the margins are definitely wider than last year. It should be really wonderful when it unfurls

jgh, I also think TFC is a really beautiful hosta deserving of a prominent spot. Probably not the best choice if one is as impatient as I am, but I'm glad I purchased this one.

Spider, thanks for the compliment on the stonework and my hypertufa pots.

[Chris_W]

Yup, and there is the proof that Tokudama Flavocircinalis just gets better with age

I have a couple clumps here that are about 10 years old now and they are going to be beautiful, though they've really looked good for the past few years. After they made that leap to the wide margins I would see them and say to myself "I don't remember planting Frances Williams there?" and then I would remember it was TFC On the other hand, Frances Williams in the same bed often gets spring desiccation burn, plus it is shrinking, probably from a lack of water. TFC has continued to get larger. I'll try to get an updated picture for the catalog this summer too since it deserves a better one.

[Noreaster]

Chris, when I first started gardening, somewhere I saw a hosta that I loved the coloration and texture of- Frances Williams. So I bought it and ,luckily, I also bought Tok F soon after. Every year, FW gets the dessication and looks lousy, close up. Doesn't matter if it's in total shade, wet or dry, cold or warm, ground or pot- it just gets it. I know there are people out there that don't seem to have that issue with FW and they are so fortunate! My FW will forever live in one of the dark, distant Corners of Shame in my garden.

How large are your ten year old Tok F's? Would you say the size description on your site is pretty accurate? This one seems to have a lot of size discrepancy from site to site.