plantaginea vs. plantaginea 'Grandiflora'

[loisf]

Okay, I'm confused. Zilis says that plantaginea 'Grandiflora' is one of the scientific names that has been assigned to plantaginea through the years; the Hosta Library has no listing for it at all; and Grenfell said it is a separate cultivar with laxer leaves and even longer flower tubes than plantaginea. Which is it? Thanks for any info you can give me.

[scootersbear]

It's all of them because nobody will agree one way or the other anyways. By rule it should be H. plantaginea 'Grandiflora' just like it would be H. plantaginea 'Aphrodite' (by rule). Basically it's the name of the hosta not the species but like I said nobody agress anyways. Either way still a great hosta.

[Chris_W]

Hi Lois,

I've grown plants that were labeled both and can't tell even the slightest difference, so I think they are just different names for the same hosta. The correct name should probably just be Hosta plantaginea. We see the same problem with other older hostas that are given multiple ways to name them.

[planwerk]

I 100% agree with you Chris.
But written word is more powerful and some people still think there are two types of plain green plantagineas.
Some people even don't buy the plant at my nursery because the tag says Hosta plantaginea. What about splitting the bunch in two and label them with both names? That might help!

[nanny_56]

What ever it is I love mine...it is still blooming!

[Chris_W]

What about splitting the bunch in two and label them with both names? That might help!

That might help with quite a few plants!

As examples, customer asks for:

Avacado - sorry, don't have it, but have the Guacamole sport called Holy Mole. Nope, they want Avacado...
Satisfaction - sorry, don't have it, but have the identical Piedmont Gold sports Piedmont Special and Tyler's Treasure. Nope, they want Satisfaction...
Clifford's Stingray - sorry, don't have it, but have the identical Loyalist sport Americana. Nope, they want Clifford's Stingray...
and on and on...

I suspect that some sellers would just quickly make a tag with the alternate name and attach it to make the sale. It is tempting, but no I won't do that.

[loisf]

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I was given both as gifts this summer. I guess I'll just grow them and see if I can tell a difference. 'Grandiflora' is blooming now, and the flowers are 5.5 inches from the base of the flower to the tip. I think my plantaginea will not bloom this year, its first with me. It will be fun to watch them next summer and compare.