City of Tyler, Cooperator
BY: Keith C. Hansen, County Extension Agent-Horticulture
Tyler, Texas, Smith County Precinct 4
The hosta variety trial was established in 1997 with 22 varieties, and 14 more varieties were added in 1998. Like many perennial ornamental plants, it takes several growing seasons for plants to become established and show their potentials and limitations.
PROBLEM:
There is an increasing need for plants adapted to shaded conditions as trees in urban areas mature and cast increasing amounts of shade. Hostas are attractive warm-season perennials adapted to shady locations. There are several species and hundreds of varieties with varying characteristics including plant and leaf size, leaf color, leaf variegation, flower color, fragrance, season of bloom, resistance to sun scorch, and degree of pest resistance. Most nurseries offer only a few varieties to the consumer.
OBJECTIVE:
- To grow, compare and display the most commonly available varieties.
- To grow, compare and display less well-known but commercially available varieties with outstanding characteristics.
- To determine which, if any, varieties grown are more resistant to slug, snail and pillbug damage when only minimally treated with bait.
In May, 1997, the following hostas (three each unless otherwise noted in parentheses) were obtained and planted at the Tyler Rose Garden in Tyler, Texas: 'Patriot', 'Invincible', 'Francee', 'Great Expectations', 'September Sun', 'Sugar and Cream', 'Aphrodite', 'Blue Cadet', H. montana 'Aureo Marginata', 'Emerald Tierra', 'So Sweet', 'Colossal', and 'Blue Angel' (Tawakoni Plant Farm in Wills Point, Texas); and 'Elegans' (2), 'Hyacintha', 'Sun Power' (2), 'Albo Marginata' (6), 'Undulata' (5), 'Royal Standard' (2), 'Lancifolia' (6), 'Gold Standard', and H. fortunei 'Aureo Marginata' (Whitehouse Gardens in Whitehouse, Texas).
On June 25, 1998 three each of the following hostas were obtained and planted in the same area: 'Honeybells', 'Grand Tierra', 'Krossa Regal', 'Big Daddy', 'Halcyon', 'Fragrant Bouquet', 'Sum and Substance', 'Daybreak', 'Hadspen Heron', 'Bold Ribbons', 'Summer Music', 'Resonance' (Tawakoni Plant Farm);'Shade Fanfare', 'Gold Edger' (Whitehouse Gardens). Also, a few of the 1997 varieties which either had only 2 original plants or had lost one of the three original plants were brought back up to three of each variety - 'Invincible', 'Sun Power', 'Great Expectations' and 'Royal Standard' (Tawakoni Plant Farm).
The bed, amended with aged pine bark, is located under a mixed canopy of pine, oak and blackgum on the southern side of the Tyler Rose Garden. The plants were treated, as needed, with Deadline to control slugs, snails and pillbugs.
RESULTS:
Second-year hostas were evaluated every 6 weeks beginning on May 4, while first-year hostas were not evaluated until July 23. Several Smith County Master Gardeners evaluated the hostas on five dates (5/4, 6/15, 7/23, 9/10, 10/19) and were asked to judge for overall attractiveness. Hostas were assigned a number from 1 -10 with '10' being the best, and '1' being the worst (almost dead). This was based on the qualities of individual varieties (rather than comparing varieties with one another). General qualities included appearance, fullness, compactness, flowering and pest damage. Since this data is considered preliminary, it was not statistically analyzed and is offered only to give a general indication of the performance of the varieties during the initial establishment phase.
Results are summarized in the attached graph by averaging the data over the 5 evaluations in 1998. Of the two-year old hostas, seven varieties averaged over the 5 evaluation dates a rank of 7.5 or above (see Table 1). 'Royal Standard', 'Blue Cadet', 'So Sweet', 'Albo-Marginata', 'Sugar & Cream' and 'Blue Angel' were the overall outstanding varieties. However, within this group, all varieties except 'Blue Cadet' went down in ranking between the September and October evaluation. 'Blue Cadet', a small, blue-leaved variety, held its color and showed no leaf yellowing or other defects the entire year.
It is interesting to note that many varieties looked very good early in the growing season. 'So Sweet', 'Blue Angel' and 'Royal Standard' looked very good through the middle of summer, but by September, 'Blue Angel' had deteriorated significantly, while 'So Sweet' dropped slightly in appearance.
By the end of the growing season, only two 2-year varieties ranked 7.5 or above at October evaluation: 'Blue Cadet' and 'Francee'
Some hostas were very slow to emerge from dormancy, namely 'Francee' and 'Patriot', which emerged 1.5 to 2 months later than the early varieties.
Of the 2-year hostas, 'Sun Power', 'Great Expectations', H. montana 'Aureo Marginata' (not to be confused with H. fortunei 'Aureo Marginata') and 'Hyacintha' averaged 3.6 or below. These varieties also did poorly in 1997.
All of the hostas planted in June 1998 survived, and some actually looked very good through the end of the growing season. 'Fragrant Bouquet' and 'Resonance' ranked above 7.5 in October, while 'Bold Ribbon' and 'Halcyon' ranked 7 in October. It is anticipated that the hostas planted in 1998 will perform differently in 1999.
Table 1. 1998 Hosta Variety Evaluation
| 5/4 | 6/15 | 7/23 | 9/10 | 10/19 | Average Attractiveness | |
| Royal Standard | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 8.6 |
| Blue Cadet | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8.4 |
| So Sweet | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 8.2 |
| Albo-Marginata | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7.9 |
| Sugar & Cream | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 7.7 |
| Blue Angel | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 7.5 |
| Undulata | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7.2 |
| Lancifolia | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7.0 |
| H. fortunei 'Aureo Marginata' | 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6.6 |
| Elegans | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6.6 |
| Francee | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6.5 |
| Aphrodite | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6.4 |
| September Sun | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6.0 |
| Emerald Tiera | 9 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5.2 |
| Colossal | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5.2 |
| Patriot | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5.1 |
| Gold Standard | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4.5 |
| Invincible | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4.4 |
| Sun Power | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3.6 |
| Great Expectations | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3.4 |
| H. montana 'Aureo Marginata' | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2.2 |
| Hyacintha | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.6 |
| Fragrant Bouquet | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8.7 | ||
| Bold Ribbon | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8.0 | ||
| Resonance | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6.7 | ||
| Halcyon | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6.7 | ||
| Honeybells | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5.7 | ||
| Summer Music | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5.0 | ||
| Shade Fanfare | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5.0 | ||
| Hadspen Heron | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4.7 | ||
| Gold Edger | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4.0 | ||
| Grand Tiara | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3.7 | ||
| Daybreak | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3.3 | ||
| Krossa Regal | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.7 | ||
| Sum & Substance | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2.7 | ||
| Big Daddy | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
It is anticipated that many of these ratings may shift over the next several years as the plants become established. Once overall attractiveness of the trial varieties has been firmly established, the trial in future years will shift to determining slug/snail/pillbug resistance, if any.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS:
Hostas are one of the most popular perennials for landscaping shady areas. There are hundreds of varieties on the market, many with outstanding leaf color. There is a perception that hostas are not well-adapted to Texas, and that they are readily decimated by slugs and snails. This hosta variety trial was established to evaluate varieties both commonly grown and newer or lesser known varieties with attractive foliage. Growers can use this information to grow and offer varieties which exhibit the most outstanding characteristics.
CONCLUSION:
It appears that there may be many hosta varieties with very good potential for shady sites in northeast Texas. It remains to be seen how they will do in the long term and which varieties prove to have higher levels of resistance to slugs, snails and pillbugs. This trial will be continued for several more years.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
City of Tyler, Cooperator
Keith Mills - Tyler Rose Garden Center
Smith County Master Gardeners
Tawakoni Plant Farm, Provided Hostas
Whitehouse Gardens, Provided Hostas
ESTES, Inc., Provided Deadline
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