Dancing in the ...what?

Talk about hostas, hostas, and more hostas! Companion plant topics should be posted in the Shade Garden forum.

Moderators: ViolaAnn, redcrx, Chris_W

New Topic Post Reply
ademink
Posts: 576
Joined: Jul 29, 2006 12:42 am
Location: Indianapolis
Contact:

Dancing in the ...what?

Post by ademink »

I just saw 'Dancing in the Rain' at a nursery the other day and thought that I didn't have it. I couldn't remember if I had "singing" or "dancing" so held off - though I didn't remember seeing a hosta like this in my garden.

I just ran across my DITR photo from late August/early Sept. when I bought it (from an AHS display garden nursery, btw...not Lowe's or something LOL).

What the heck is THIS? Is this a mostly reverted plant or one w/ a misty sport or.......????

I only see one leaf that looks "right".

Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.ph ... the%20Rain
MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Dancing+in+the+Rain
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/d/dancingintherain.html

Image
Help! I'm being held hostage!

My Hosta List
User avatar
jgh
Posts: 5135
Joined: Oct 14, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Plymouth, Minnesota zone 4

Post by jgh »

Dancing In The Rain is a Walter's Gardens registration (and PP) Walters is a large wholesaler out of Michigan, so when they put something like this into the market you can expect 10,000+ available in a season.

I haven't grown it yet, so I don't know for sure... but that sure looks like an unstable one you've got there. The pics in the Walters catalog are really wide white centers. The description does note that the centers tend to green up in extreme heat, so maybe that's all that is happening with your plant. Looking closely, you can see the top leaf has two tones...

DITR is a sport from Blue Umbrellas - a good parent, so if this plant proves dependable it could be a good white center in a largish leaved plant... if it grows well, it could fill in a niche (big blue type leaves, good white center) that has so far been dominated by troublesome plants.
User avatar
Chris_W
Administrator
Posts: 8465
Joined: Oct 05, 2001 8:00 pm
USDA Zone: 9
Location: Co. Roscommon, Ireland
Contact:

Post by Chris_W »

Although you might have a couple solid green leaves there, Jim's speculation that the center turns green in the heat of the summer is correct. This one can green up during the heat of the summer, and it seems to occur more often when potted.

When it comes up you will be able to tell if there are any reversions that need to be taken out, but I bet most if not all if it will look right this spring.

With a plant like this I recommend putting it in a cool, shady location. Because it has so much extra white I also recommend keeping it moist and feeding it a few times during the summer to keep it vigorous. Some would say put it in more sun to let the chlorophyll do all the work, but when they have this little green on them to begin with, along with the tendency to not look all that great if it gets hot, I say just keep them in the shade and feed them more often :)
Image
User avatar
thy
Posts: 9047
Joined: Sep 23, 2002 8:00 pm
USDA Zone: 7
Location: Denmark - 7B/8A Lat. 55,23

Post by thy »

Think Chris is right... as usual :lol: ...about the sun and shade

Planted mine in full nordic sun to let it have the benefit of growing fast and clorphyle.. it didn't grow much the first summer and didn't survive the first winther here :evil:

It is told to be special here..seams like the same is in US
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
E-mail for pics hostapics@gmail.com
User avatar
renaldo75
Posts: 10306
Joined: Jul 15, 2002 8:00 pm
Location: SW Iowa Z4b

Post by renaldo75 »

I've had kind of the opposite experience that Chris suggests. Only because my DITR got planted in a holding bed on the east side of the house that gets sun from 11am to about 2:30-3pm. And it's a very hot summer sun for a couple of months. Mine has gotten very little of the fading to green centers that happens with other DITR plants. I got it from the AHS convention auction in Des Moines so I'm reasonably sure that it came directly from Walter's Gardens, but it was a large single division that looked like it came off of a mature plant. I know DITR was available then as a TC, but I don't know how long it had been available in 2004.
This was from 2005 - I don't have a pic of it from last summer, but Eskimo Pie is right next to it & EP's centers green up a lot more than DITR's do.
This was from 2005 - I don't have a pic of it from last summer, but Eskimo Pie is right next to it & EP's centers green up a lot more than DITR's do.
GO HAWKEYES!!!

Renaldo's Hosta List
Latitude: 40° 59' 17.6676"; Longitude: -94° 44' 28.014"
ademink
Posts: 576
Joined: Jul 29, 2006 12:42 am
Location: Indianapolis
Contact:

Post by ademink »

I'll be curious to see what this one does! If it's unstable, it could be fun. I'm unstable so I can appreciate that quality! :o :lol: :lol:

I'll keep you posted as it comes up - this will be fun! :D

Thanks for your input!
Help! I'm being held hostage!

My Hosta List
Mary Ann
Posts: 2105
Joined: Oct 22, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Chgo

Post by Mary Ann »

Mine came from the DesMoines convention too. I had not heard of it until I spotted it on NC vendor's table.
Attachments
DancingInTheRain 1.JPG
DancingInTheRain 1.JPG (37.1 KiB) Viewed 3525 times
My Hosta List

The Best Things in Life Aren't Things
User avatar
renaldo75
Posts: 10306
Joined: Jul 15, 2002 8:00 pm
Location: SW Iowa Z4b

Post by renaldo75 »

I had seen it there at the vendor's tables too & thought it was pretty :cool: - I bet I paid a couple $$ more for mine than you did for yours, Mary Ann. :wink: :lol: It was my consolation prize after losing out on the Witches Brew I had been lusting after earlier in the auction. DITR only cost me 1/2 as much as WB would have. :roll: I got to thinking today that the woman sitting w/us that Marlys was talking to is one of the main Walters Gardens people, but I didn't know that DITR was one of their plants until later.
GO HAWKEYES!!!

Renaldo's Hosta List
Latitude: 40° 59' 17.6676"; Longitude: -94° 44' 28.014"
Mary Ann
Posts: 2105
Joined: Oct 22, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Chgo

Post by Mary Ann »

Mine was the only one they had on the table, maybe the last one? About $12 I think. Convention money is like casino money, doesn't matter, you're there to spend it. :lol:
My Hosta List

The Best Things in Life Aren't Things
User avatar
renaldo75
Posts: 10306
Joined: Jul 15, 2002 8:00 pm
Location: SW Iowa Z4b

Post by renaldo75 »

Mine was $45 - so I only paid 3 times more than I should have. :wink:
GO HAWKEYES!!!

Renaldo's Hosta List
Latitude: 40° 59' 17.6676"; Longitude: -94° 44' 28.014"
Linda P
Posts: 6212
Joined: Oct 15, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: N W Illinois, zone 5

Post by Linda P »

Mary Ann wrote:Mine was the only one they had on the table, maybe the last one? About $12 I think. Convention money is like casino money, doesn't matter, you're there to spend it. :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I'll have to remember that. :D
My DITR greened up quite a bit last fall. It was getting a couple hours of mid-day sun in a holding bed. Mine came from FreakyCola in the secret trade, so it's doubly special.
I needed to have it because it triggers a precious childhood memory involving my mom and brother, who are both gone now.
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne

Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"


My Hosta List
User avatar
redcrx
Posts: 4872
Joined: Jun 23, 2008 4:39 pm
USDA Zone: 7
Location: Camden, New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Dancing in the ...what?

Post by redcrx »

My Dancing in the Rain over the years:

Here is 2009:
Attachments
Dancing in the Rain - May 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain - May 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain - May 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain - May 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain flowers - July 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain flowers - July 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain seed pods - July 9, 2009
Dancing in the Rain seed pods - July 9, 2009
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
ImageMockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
User avatar
redcrx
Posts: 4872
Joined: Jun 23, 2008 4:39 pm
USDA Zone: 7
Location: Camden, New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Dancing in the ...what?

Post by redcrx »

Here are some shots from 2010 and the last shot is from early this season:
Dancing in the Rain - April 21, 2010
Dancing in the Rain - April 21, 2010
Dancing in the Rain - April 21, 2010
Dancing in the Rain - April 21, 2010
Dancing in the Rain - June 15, 2010
Dancing in the Rain - June 15, 2010
Dancing in the Rain with an odd leaf - June 15, 2010
Dancing in the Rain with an odd leaf - June 15, 2010
One photo from early this season:
Dancing in the Rain - April 13, 2012
Dancing in the Rain - April 13, 2012
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
ImageMockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
User avatar
redcrx
Posts: 4872
Joined: Jun 23, 2008 4:39 pm
USDA Zone: 7
Location: Camden, New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Dancing in the ...what?

Post by redcrx »

There was another thread about Dancing in the Rain with some "misted" leaves:

http://www.perennialnursery.com/forums/ ... =1&t=49263
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
ImageMockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
irawon
Posts: 129
Joined: Oct 02, 2010 1:34 pm
USDA Zone: 5b
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Re: Dancing in the ...what?

Post by irawon »

Hi Ed, your DITR is very pretty and looks vigorous. I think there might be two versions of DITR out there. I'll tell you why I think that. In 2009 I bought 2 DITR from one nursery, that's all they had left. I found a 3rd DITR at another nursery but when I got it home I found that it had a wider green and darker green margin than the other two. Because they weren't doing that well where I planted them, I moved the two that survived the winter to another spot. Only the one that has the wider margin has survived. Hope it survives this winter.

There's also a sport from DITR called Dancing Stars but it has a much smaller white center. When I found out about DS I assumed that the DITR with the wider green margin might be DS. Now that I've looked at DS at the Fransen Hosta website I'm not so sure because I think my 3rd DITR has a much bigger white center than the Fransen hosta.

I also have White Elephant, another large white centered hosta. It's performing much better than DITR.
New Topic Post Reply