Pic of the Day--White Christmas

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

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Hank Zumach
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Joined: Oct 11, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Stoddard, WI

Pic of the Day--White Christmas

Post by Hank Zumach »

Hi All--My White Christmas has split personalities and none of them impress me. It starts the season looking OK, (the first photo, taken in late May) but quickly starts to deteriorate. By late June it looks like what you see in the 2nd photo. Then it starts to produce a second flush of leaves so that by early September it looks like the 3rd photo. I have had the plant since 1997, growing in a spot that gets up to about 3 hours of afternoon sun. On top of everything else, the plant just doesn't grow very well. In the last six years it's measurements have been 12x9, 19x10, 20x9, 22x15, 24x12 and 21x11. Zilis lists it at 35x15 and he claims to have actually seen some attractive specimens of this variety. The one good trait of the plant is that slugs have seldom bothered it.
Attachments
White Christmas 2nd flush 9-3-03c.jpg
White Christmas 6-26-06c.jpg
White Christmas 5-29-02c.jpg
Hank
Better Gnomes & Gardens
zone 4B-5A
Latitude: 43° 48' 51" N
eastwood2007
Posts: 3517
Joined: Jan 25, 2007 12:51 pm
Location: kansas, usa zone 5b

Post by eastwood2007 »

EEEwwww! Just added White Christmas to my "don't buy" list. Everything is so wild and woolly here in the woods, that if it won't grow in a semi-controlled environment, it won't have a chance here. Too bad...nice name.

Again, Hank, I appreciate you sharing this info with us. :D
Charla
Latitude 38.57N; Longitude -94.89W (Elev. 886 ft.)
Rookie_Green_Thumb
Posts: 190
Joined: Jun 06, 2007 10:51 am
Location: Zone 6 KY

Post by Rookie_Green_Thumb »

Hmm...it starts off looking like it will be a great looking plant.

Thanks for the heads up, that may be one that doesnt go on the 'wish list'. Too bad it doesnt do well...that first pic looks promising.
Jaime
Arlene
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Post by Arlene »

White Christmas was the first hosta I ever lost . . . I was SO intrigued by its whiteness, and couldn't resist . . . I think it lasted 2 years. This was way before the forum, and I just couldn't imagine what I'd done to kill the poor thing.

I stopped feeling guilty long ago . . . admire it in pictures, but not in my garden.
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Ginger
Posts: 3097
Joined: Jun 15, 2004 12:13 pm
USDA Zone: Zone 7
Location: Luther Oklahoma, Lat: 35* 35' 23.5284

Post by Ginger »

Is it all the white that causes it to do that? I wonder because of the Enterprise I have. I have already seen it does not like the heat much, it wilts easily. It also seems to want more water than most of the other hosta I have.

Ginger
Hank Zumach
Posts: 3262
Joined: Oct 11, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Stoddard, WI

Post by Hank Zumach »

Ginger--The white tissue in a hosta leaf does not have any chlorophyll. So, that tissue can not contribute to converting the sun's energy to the plant's use. Because of this, many, probably most, hostas with a lot of white in the leaves do not do well.
Hank
Better Gnomes & Gardens
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Latitude: 43° 48' 51" N
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renaldo75
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Location: SW Iowa Z4b

Post by renaldo75 »

White Christmas is one that I don't have, but I do have its sport with wider green margins, Night Before Christmas. It's a much larger hosta than WC & much better growing too since it has more chlorophyll. It's really an excellent hosta, & it can take quite a bit of sun with no problem.

It in turn sported to a couple of newer hostas with more white which you'd think would be the same as White Christmas, but apparently they aren't. From the pics I've seen of them & last year seeing them in person, Christmas Cookies & Christmas Candy look virtually identical [different TC labs once again], but they're purported to have better substance & grow better than White Christmas.

I haven't rushed to get either of them since I have plenty of white centered hostas that I'm still not too sure about... :???: :wink: Maybe others can tell you if they're really improved versions of White Christmas or not.
GO HAWKEYES!!!

Renaldo's Hosta List
Latitude: 40° 59' 17.6676"; Longitude: -94° 44' 28.014"
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redcrx
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Re: Pic of the Day--White Christmas

Post by redcrx »

Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
ImageMockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
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