Does this look like Red Alert?
Moderators: ViolaAnn, redcrx, Chris_W
Does this look like Red Alert?
When it came in (in late April) it was labeled Summer Fragrance. And it looked similar to a small Summer Fragrance. I was getting pictures the other day and noted the speckles in the leaf. My Summer Fragrance doesn't have spots and is a lot bigger now. I do have Red Alert and they look alike. Any opinion or suggestion of other options? Thanks.
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
Mockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
Mockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
- Chris_W
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Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Hi Ed,
Yup, that does look like Red Alert. You may have gotten a better deal out of that mixup
Yup, that does look like Red Alert. You may have gotten a better deal out of that mixup
Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Good news, bad news...
Good News
I agree... looks like Red Alert... a plant with a lot of potential... the margined sport of Katsuragawa Beni. KB has been a reasonably good grower for me, attractive, with red up onto the leaf surface.
Bad news - I was talking to Hans Hansen today at the convention and mentioned the problems Walters had getting going with hostas in the Elle plugs and how a few cultivars had gotten pretty screwed up - Ken't Clovellly and Red Alert being my two best examples of it not working. (This was in the context of telling him how well most of the hostas from Walters were coming through this year in the Elle plugs...)
Bad news...
Hans says they are disappointed with Red Alert and removing it from the catalog...
Good News
I agree... looks like Red Alert... a plant with a lot of potential... the margined sport of Katsuragawa Beni. KB has been a reasonably good grower for me, attractive, with red up onto the leaf surface.
Bad news - I was talking to Hans Hansen today at the convention and mentioned the problems Walters had getting going with hostas in the Elle plugs and how a few cultivars had gotten pretty screwed up - Ken't Clovellly and Red Alert being my two best examples of it not working. (This was in the context of telling him how well most of the hostas from Walters were coming through this year in the Elle plugs...)
Bad news...
Hans says they are disappointed with Red Alert and removing it from the catalog...
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Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Hmm, I wonder if they are just having too much trouble with Red Alert in TC? It seems to be a good grower overall for me.
And here is my addition:
Good News: Walters is no longer producing hosta liners in tiny elle plugs. That means future large sized Elle plugs won't have the double layer of paper, just one outer layer. I'm really liking this change, and hopefully that means better luck with their other larger sized plugs. Echinacea, Heuchera, and many other plants in the larger plugs have arrived with two layers of water holding paper and mostly rotten roots and crowns, forcing me to stop buying much of their larger plugs the past two seasons.
And here is my addition:
Good News: Walters is no longer producing hosta liners in tiny elle plugs. That means future large sized Elle plugs won't have the double layer of paper, just one outer layer. I'm really liking this change, and hopefully that means better luck with their other larger sized plugs. Echinacea, Heuchera, and many other plants in the larger plugs have arrived with two layers of water holding paper and mostly rotten roots and crowns, forcing me to stop buying much of their larger plugs the past two seasons.
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Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Glad I got my Red Alert last year!
It seems to be a pretty good grower here, but had closed flowers last year. Very disappointing as the reason I bought it was for breeding. Nice looking plant though. Maybe since it is older this year, it will bloom...
It seems to be a pretty good grower here, but had closed flowers last year. Very disappointing as the reason I bought it was for breeding. Nice looking plant though. Maybe since it is older this year, it will bloom...
Charla
Latitude 38.57N; Longitude -94.89W (Elev. 886 ft.)
Latitude 38.57N; Longitude -94.89W (Elev. 886 ft.)
- Chris_W
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Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Hi Charla,
I haven't had mine long enough to see them flower. Last year they were still too young. That would be a bit disappointing if they all have that trait...
I haven't had mine long enough to see them flower. Last year they were still too young. That would be a bit disappointing if they all have that trait...
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Re: Does this look like Red Alert?
Chris, FWIW, it's NOT on Don Rawson's list of closed flowered Hostas. This year.
Having said that, I have a 'Venus' that never goes beyond buds. And it didn't make the list. Nor should it. My experience is simply a reflection of the environment the plant finds itself in. Things never get hot enough in my neck of the woods to get it flowering early enough before it goes into senescence. Could be the same situation with 'Red Alert'...
Having said that, I have a 'Venus' that never goes beyond buds. And it didn't make the list. Nor should it. My experience is simply a reflection of the environment the plant finds itself in. Things never get hot enough in my neck of the woods to get it flowering early enough before it goes into senescence. Could be the same situation with 'Red Alert'...