Spilt Milk Sport?

largosmom · Post by **largosmom** » May 26, 2007 9:46 pm

Is my Spilt Milk sporting to a solid edge version? I think most of the medium green edged leaves are from the same eye.

Laura

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 26, 2007 9:54 pm

Interesting - kinda looks like it could be.

Post by **Chris_W** » May 26, 2007 9:55 pm

Hi Laura,

Yup, that's what it looks like to me too. I didn't know it was that common, but I have one of these versions of Spilt Milk too and I think its a neat looking plant.

But yours is larger than the one I have, so I'm sure you found it before I did

Heck, they call the solid, non-streaked version Hosta 'Green Milk' and this is a lot cooler than that plant so maybe this one deserves a name too?

fenceberry · Post by **fenceberry** » May 26, 2007 10:06 pm

How about Buttermilk?

Kent · Post by **Kent** » May 26, 2007 10:18 pm

Sorry it's not a sport...

As Spilt Milk matures it will get a wide green edge. It is a sign of a well grown plant!

Cheers,
Kent

Post by **Chris_W** » May 26, 2007 10:39 pm

Thanks, that's news to me Kent. I'll have to take a closer look at my older plants to see if those are developing this yet too. My stock plants are now in their 5th and 6th growing seasons and I hadn't noticed it, but the one that I did notice it on is a 3rd year TC. Perhaps do you think if these show a wide blue/green margin at a young age they will then have an even wider margin when they mature?

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » May 27, 2007 12:19 am

Whatever it is, it looks

Patrushka · Post by **Patrushka** » May 27, 2007 1:26 am

Very hosta!

How interesting Kent. Thanks for sharing that info.

largosmom · Post by **largosmom** » May 27, 2007 10:16 am

I learn something new here every day! Thank you.

Hmmm, I wonder if this is in any of my hosta books.

I don't know if this one is one I would call "well grown", unless neglected is "well known". It is is about 5 years old and not all that large. I've heard it can be a slow-grower, however.

I planted it originally down on a slope near my road and it had about 2 eyes for the first couple of years, and seemed to be regressing from its original size. I moved it last fall into a different spot still in the shade and it seems much happier now.

I'm gradually moving hostas out of that bed altogether so that they can get better soil with fewer roots to fight. It's under a pair of large oaks at the moment.

Laura

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 27, 2007 11:54 am

Yours sure looks good, Laura.

Until I get another one, having wide green margins on a well grown specimen won't be a problem for me. Crab apple tree roots took a huge toll on mine over several years - kept getting smaller & smaller even after I dug it up & moved it. Then it got zapped by the cold this spring. It still had 3 tiny eyes starting to send up tiny leaves when I moved it to another spot. But when I looked the other day, they've all dried up. I'll dig it up & see if anything's there, but I'm doubtful. It went from very shaded to significantly more sun & that's not been good for several I moved there.

poppi · Post by **poppi** » May 30, 2007 12:38 pm

I also have a SM that looks just like that. I thought it was a sport too. Oh well, I really do liike it though.

I do have a SM that I believe is unique. The margins are quite wide with just a narrow marking in the center. Some of the leaves don't have any markings at all. I'll have to post a pic of it...both last year and this year.

cheers!

Kent · Post by **Kent** » May 30, 2007 6:37 pm

poppi,

The all green form of Spilt Milk is called Green Milk. It was sold on the market quite a few years back but I haven't seen it listed recently.

Kent

largosmom · Post by **largosmom** » May 30, 2007 11:09 pm

Hmmm, a green form of Spilt Milk should have been "Spoilt Milk", I'm thinking.

Would love to see photos of your mature clumps.

Laura

Post by **Chris_W** » Jul 01, 2007 1:16 am

I finally got a picture of that odd Spilt Milk I mentioned before. This is a 3rd year plant from TC, so it is younger than most of our Spilt Milk, but I thought the pattern was unique and thought it was different from the norm. Some of the older ones show a little bit of a margin, but others have streaking all the way out to the edge so I maybe they are just really variable from plant to plant?

largosmom · Post by **largosmom** » Jul 01, 2007 6:28 am

Looks a lot like mine. The leaf margin is pretty variable in width. I looked a Jody's when I toured her garden and if I remember correctly, hers had a margin as well.

Here is another picture of mine. It is a brighter color than yours, could be lighting or sunshine differences.

click to enlarge

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 01, 2007 7:56 am

Again, y'all, whatever it is....

poppi · Post by **poppi** » Jul 01, 2007 8:21 am

I couldn't resist posting a couple of pics of 2 interesting SM. One exhibits the same characteristics as Chris' and the other has an even wider margin.

largosmom · Post by **largosmom** » Jul 01, 2007 12:24 pm

Wow, what a difference!

Laura