Pic of the Day--Wolverine

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--Wolverine has been a problem variety for me. That is not the case for many other gardeners, however, as many report it to be free of any problems. Apparently there is more than one strain of Wolverine being sold. Our plant was purchased in 2001 when we decided to re-do a bed in an area under some Black Walnut trees. It appears to be susceptible to insect damage that other hostas avoid and its white edges start to fall apart rather early in the season. Slugs are also attracted to it. Since starting out with a size of 18x5, Wolverine quickly grew to a size averaging about 36x16, right in line with Zilis' listing of 34x18. I am posting a photo from late June 2003 showing the plant at its best and then a photo taken one month later, and another photo taken in late June 2006, showing how the plant usually looks by the middle of the season.

[renaldo75]

Sorry you have the problems you do with this one, Hank. After you showed Wolverine last year I remembered to ck on mine later in the season to see how it was doing & it still looked good. [Mine is on the north side of a 'young' oak that has gotten quite a bit bigger in the nearly 20 years I've lived here.] Maybe lots of shade is the answer for this one - it seems to be with mine anyway.

[jgh]

Sure sorry you've had issues with Wolverine, Hank. I'm another of those folks who haven't had any problems with it... in fact, I'd list it with my "easy, even when ignored" hostas.

Interesting heritage on Wolverine. Way back when, Eric Smith did a whole bunch of breeding with blue plants. A whole group of them are referred to as the "tardiana grex" - meaning an interelated set of plants derived by crossing and recrossing. The hostas from this grex are denoted by a number that looks like TF 3 x 5... which would mean it was the fifth plant from Smiths third generation of tardianas.

Dorset Blue is second generation - TF 2 x 4. Its a nice, but slow growing smallish hosta. I don't know how many people grow it, but it certainly isn't on the bestseller list. It is still in some catalogs and one description describes it as one of Smith's best.

DB has been used in breeding a bunch of hostas that are "in the trade." Blue Chip, Blue Clown, Blue Jay, and Salute are all DB x DB seedlings. Blue Ice has DB as pod parent.

Wolverine is a Wilkins registration from 1995, obtained as a cross of a seedling x DB. Nursery folks like Wolverine because it has a great growth rate and it looks good in pots even at a young age. I like it a lot!

[LucyGoose]

Hi Hank!!

I have no problems with my Wolverine either! Janet, jmboyer, sent me this one. I have mine over by the black walnut side of my hosta bed, and it gets a lot of bright light and some sun....It's a beauty here....I really love it and think of Janet when I see it!

[thy]

Hank

What about moving it to an other area

You know you need one exeption for a real stereotype

[Hank Zumach]

Pia--That is what I have been thinking about. But should I give it more shade or more sun? It would seem odd that this particular plant would be that sensitive to location but, who know when it comes to hostas?

[thy]

From my little knowledge... try more shade first, mine loved it after the first moving year ... do not look at it the first year if it act like mine

But next spring mine was georgeous

MIne only get a few morning hours of my nordic sun now- speaking of midsummer- but do have a lot of light

Need an expert here

[redcrx]

Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.ph ... =Wolverine

MyHostas - http://www.myhostas.be/db/hostas/Wolverine

Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/wx/wol.html