Fragrance is a genetic trait... you have to read the descriptions or refer to lists to determine which ones are fragrant.

Though there are exceptions, most of the popular fragrant hostas share a heritage - the species plantaginea.

Plantaginea is light green, shiny, emerges late, tolerates more sun than many hostas species, and has large (like 5-6 inches) white very fragrant flowers. We're not talking "I can smell something when I stick my nose down in it" fragrance - we're talking an excellent perfume that permeates a whole area of the garden.

Plantaginea has been bred into lots of today's most popular hostas. The traits of sun-tolerance, shiney leaves, and fragrant (near-)white flowers seem to be linked.

The most dramatic family of fragrant-flowered hostas started with Fragrant Bouquet, which led to many generations including Guacamole, Stained Glass, Cathedral Windows, Hole Mole, Avacado, and lots of hostas with the word 'Fragrant' in their names.

For a complete list of fragrant hostas, go to Don's lists:

http://hostalibrary.org/misc/don/hosta_list.php

Copied from the link above.

'Abba Fragrant Backscratcher'
'Abba Fragrant Centennial'
'Abba Fragrant Cloud'
'Abba Fragrant Sentry'
'Abba Ready'
'Abba Shalimar'
'Abiqua Ambrosia'
'Academy Flora'
'All Jazzed Up'
'Aphrodite'
'Aqua Velva'
'Asuka'
'Austin Dickinson'
'Avocado'
'Bennie McRae'
'Bette Davis Eyes'
'Big Bl00mers'
'Black Mamba'
'Blaze of Glory'
'Blue Hawaii'
'Buckwheat Honey'
'Calamity Jane'
'Cathedral Windows'
'Chelsea Ore'
'Color Parade'
'Crystal Moon'
'Daisy Doolittle'
'Diana Remembered'
'Double Trouble
'Emily Dickinson'
'Essence of Summer'
'Flower Power'
'Forever Green'
'Fragrant Blue'
'Fragrant Bouquet'
'Fragrant Candelabra'
'Fragrant Dream'
'Fragrant Fire'
'Fragrant Flame'
'Fragrant Gold'
'Fragrant King'
'Fragrant Queen'
'Fragrant Star'
'Fragrant Summer'
'Fragrant Surprise
'Fragrant Tot'
'Fried Bananas'
'Fried Green Tomatoes'
'Frosted Dimples'
'Frozen Margarita'
'Garden Bouquet'
'Gary Rolls'
'Gene's Joy'
'Ginsu Knife'
'Gleaming Glory'
'Great River Sonata'
'Green Summer Fragrance'
'Guacamole'
'Heaven Scent'
'Heavenly Green'
'Hogyoku'
'Hole Mole'
'Honeybells'
'Hoosier Harmony'
'Invincible'
'Iron Gate Bouquet'
'Iron Gate Delight'
'Iron Gate Glamour'
'Iron Gate Special'
'Iron Gate Supreme'
'Jade Stone'
'Joanne Johnson'
'John Kulpa'
'Julia Gaede'
'Kirishima'
'Kunpu'
'Lederhosen'
'Liverpool White'
'Marbled Bouquet'
'Mardi Gras'
'Mexican Dip'
'Milk and Honey'
'Ming Treasure'
'Mirage'
'Miss Saigon'
'Mistress Mabel'
'Moonlight Sonata'
'Morning Angel'
'Nioi-no-mai'
'Old Faithful'
'Otome-no-ka'
'Paul Aden'
plantaginea
plantaginea var. japonica
'Prairie Angel'
'Precisely'
'Preferred'
'Redolent Nosegay'
'Richland Yea'
'Rippled Honey'
'Rosedale Daisy Mae'
'Royal Accolade'
'Royal Standard'
'Royal Super'
'Savannah'
'Savannah Emerald'
'Savannah Supreme'
'Seventh Heaven'
'Shady Affair'
'Shalimar'
'Shangrila'
'Shiho'
'Showtime'
'Snow Flakes'
'So Sweet'
'Sombrero'
'Stained Glass'
'Sugar and Cream'
'Sugar and Spice'
'Sugar Babe'
'Summer Fragrance'
'Sun Kissed'
'Sunny Delight'
'Surfer Dude'
'Surprise'
'Sweet Bo Peep'
'Sweet Christy'
'Sweet Dreams'
'Sweet Innocence'
'Sweet Jill'
'Sweet Marjorie'
'Sweet Serenity'
'Sweet Standard'
'Sweet Sunshine'
'Sweet Susan'
'Sweet Thing'
'Sweet Winifred'
'Sweetie'
'Sweetness' (Livingston)
'Sweetness' (Zilis)
'Tortilla Chip'
'Triumphant'
'Twenty Four Carat Gold'
'Venus'
'Viette Eighteen'
'Walden'
'Warwick Essence'
'Whipped Cream'
'White Knight'
'White Shoulders'
'Willamette'
'Winter Bouquet'
'Yea'

Idiothe,the flowers may emerge late,but the plant is always one of the first to emerge here in the spring,as do all of my other fragrant hostas. I have to cover it every spring because it may get frozen. Phil

Has anybody ever tried putting Plantiginea in a container and move them inside some time in January or February. Is this possible?

While Bob appears to still have most of the lists on the HL, he has not updated them with Don's latest ones. You'll find Don's most uptodate lists @ my website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Don Rawson's lists

hey maxi.. dont recognize the name... welcome ...

you should start your own post.. rather than hijacking this one ...

regardless .. hosta have a requisite dormancy .. so if you potted it.. left it outdoors for the needed period .... then yes ... they could be brought in ...

of course.. they will not be in bloom.. and will not bloom until summer anyway ... some have suggested that flowering is keyed into the inclination of the sun ...

indoors .. you will have sunlight issues ... as well as humidity issues .. most of us.. in the great white north.. will have trouble with forced air furnaces.. and the ambient humidity in the house ...though babe seeds can handle it.. a large plant will have a harder time ...

give it a go.. what do you have to lose??

ken

Not to prolong the hijacking too long, but I have heard of using hostas as a houseplant in Japan...where the climate is markedly different in winter, but read this from the Cielidh Forum (I tried to paste a link but the GF wouldn't let me....)

(somebody named Eelien wrote)>In one of my garden books, the author mentioned that in Japan, hosta are often kept inside year round as potted house plants. Has anyone tried this? Would any hosta work this way?
No, they do not make good house plants. They need down time, atleast six weeks, however they do make good temporary house plants. A lot of us like to bring in potted hostas from the garage or wherever we have them sleeping for the time being before spring.

Late in the fall when the foilage has dided down but before the ground freezes dig up a clump the needs to be divided that you might like indoors. (Smaller varieties are better for indoors). After splitting take a clump or two and pot it up. Leave pot outdoors at least two months during the winter, keeping it watered if needed. After it has been out and dormant for at least three months (Nov - Jan) bring it indoors and water well. It will send up shoots within weeks. Now where in my house could I put a six-foot wide H. sieboldiana elegans to wow my friends....

The problem with Hosta is that inside there is not enough light for good growth and they resent the even temps, producing week soft leaves. Even in a green house they do not devople into great looking plants. The spring growth is nice but plants fall apart.