Pic of the Day--'Choko Nishiki ('On Stage')

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--On Stage is located in a spot in our garden that visitors are bound to see. It is also a plant that would draw attention to itself if it was planted off in an obscure corner, particularly for the first half of the season. The pic you see was taken in late June, when On Stage is still showing off its bright yellow colors. It's color gradually becomes a less flashy chartreuse as the season progresses. On Stage is often the last hosta to emerge in our garden. We have had it since 1995. It receives at most an hour of direct sun. It had an average growth rate as it reached a size of 52x24, in line with Zilis' listing of 48x22. This gorgeous plant also attracts the attention of slugs and needs to have bait applied. On Stage is the same plant as Choko Nishiki.

Registry - http://hostaregistrar.org/detail.php?id ... On%20Stage
MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/On+Stage
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/o/on.html

On Stage 6-24-02c 272.jpg (51.39 KiB) Viewed 2922 times

[Tigger]

Stunning, Hank. I think I'm finally buying this one this year (now that I have a small cream-edged montana, 'Ginrei,' to match).

For the uninitiated: this is often the LAST hosta to emerge in the spring, in great contrast to montana 'Aureomarginata,' which is often the first one up.

[ademink]

Gorgeous! Okay, so this IS the same plant as Choko Nishiki and not just "similar", eh?

Good to know since I'm on a "tear" to collect as many montanas as possible.

Thanks for sharing, Hank!

[renaldo75]

On Stage was the last hosta up as usual in my garden again this year. H. montana Mountain Snow is almost as slow, but it's usually up a couple of inches before On Stage finally makes an appearance.

Mine has been crowded into a holding bed since the fall of 2003 so it's never gotten very large. It'll be moving soon - maybe even today. It is an amazing plant in the spring. I've seen quite a few in other gardens & it always catches my eye & leaves me smiling.

Andrea - I think On Stage/Choko Nishiki is another case of a hosta being imported from Japan by different people at different times. One is given a new name while the other importer keeps the original Japanese name. It seemed to happen quite a bit back in the day. There are a number of expamples - King Michael/H. montana v. macrophylla [as you just discovered] is another. Some people still think On Stage/Choko Nishiki are different plants, but I imagine that if they were grown side by side, you wouldn't be able to detect any but very minor differences.

Here's a pic of mine taken a few days ago.

[oldcoot]

Will add that to my Want List Thank OC

[Patrushka]

It's beautiful Hank.

[wingnut]

Oh my is that beautiful Hank. Mine is in one of those gardens that need to be reworked so its not so big. Thanks for showing me what Im missin.

Pat

[party_music50]

WOW! I might need to get On Stage -- hate to hear that it's another slug magnet, though.

[Hank Zumach]

I don't think of it as a slug magnet any more than the majority of hostas. At least in my experience, most varieties will be bothered by slugs and benefit from slug poison. The varieties that are really magnets such as Kabitan and Invincible, I try to describe as such. The poison I use is Deadline MP.

[irawon]

Something is puzzling me. On Stage and montana 'Aureomarginata' are both sports of the species hosta montana but everyone says that MA is one of the earliest to emerge in the spring and OS is the latest to emerge. Does anyone have an idea as to what could account for this difference? And by mid-summer my OS is tattered by pests and wind whereas my MA is virtually untouched.

I'm moving my OS next spring to keep my MA company. Hope it makes a difference. On Stage was added to my garden in 2010.

June 9, 2012

[ViolaAnn]

Good question. I hope someone knows the answer. I don't have MA, but I do have OS and as you say, it's very late - usually the last to emerge.