The Flavocircinalis is VERY suspect, and I very much doubt that it is that.

The 'Whirlwind' is very much one of my faves, and I'm glad you have such a vibrant example. I envy where you shop !

hh

yeah you might want to run that toku flavo by some pros... mine doesn't lose its beautiful, contrasting, lime edge... and yours doesn't have any corrugation...
John

There is a new hosta named Happy Hippo that is a tokudama.

http://www.northeastnursery.com/plants/hosta.html

Paul

Thanks HH and Paul...The tag read Happy Hippo with Tokudama Flavocircinalis underneath in small print. Happy Hippo wasn't listed in the HL so I thought it was TF. I did see HH for sale by following your link.

I'm going to re-comment, if for no other reason than to 'bump' this back up to the top of this list, since this list is so active that things get bumped off of the first page so fast.

I did a quick www.dogpile.com (a search engine that searches several other search engines for results, so why would anyone use only one search engine, my personal Google, et. al. rant).

So little returned that I'm still suspicious of this Hosta name.

mbug, thanks for posting, we may learn a new cool thing about a new cool Hosta!

After all, at least two of the Tokudama are really unique cultivars, huh?

hh

Happy Hippo tag

This is the only info from google search for Happy Hippo from link Paul povided. Anyone know anything about it?

HOSTAx tokudama �Happy Hippo�
Frosty, blue-green large 8-10" variegated leaves with irregular chartreuse margins. Slug resistant Height:16-18". Spread:44-48". Large Specimen.

An FYI for us pedantic ones. This would appear to be a trademarked name and technically should be referred to in CAPITALS without the use of quotation marks, like this: HAPPY HIPPO TM.

Pieter

OK. Not quite the info I was looking for but thanks anyway.

I don't know about the Happy Hippo,but you'll like the Whirlwind. Yours is a large,though immature plant,so it has a headstart on growing. I bought two,very small Whirlwinds from K-Mart way back in 2002,and they are still growing really well in my garden.(Note to all you HVX fanatics,no HVX on the plants even after 12 years in the garden)! Phil

Whirlwind taken last week. It was purchased in late spring of 2010 and planted in my Theresa's Angel Garden under an American Black Walnut giving dappled sun.

The same plant photo taken in late May showing its lighter spring colors.

Les

Mine is new this year and started out with the lighter coloration. It is now such a dark, beautiful rich forest green that you can hardly see the colors. I still love the shiny leaves and the changes in coloration - right now it is the darkest colored hosta in my garden!

I'm sorry the picture isn't the greatest.

I am hoping mine does as well as you all say it will!
BettyLu

I think Whirlwind shows better with a bit more sun Betty Lu. Mine will eventually darken to almost, and I repeat almost, solid green by late season.

Visual perception is always a matter of personal ability. I had a gorgeous Husky that was so white that we named her Snowball. Yet, in good light, we could still see the trademark husky "mask" aroung her eyes. Late in the year last year my Whirlwind showed that subtle variegation late in the season. I think you might be happier if you moved yours to where it gets slightly more sun.

Les

Too hot to take pics lately, this was from June (?) last year. My Whirlwind gets full shade except for about an hour each day and the center stays pretty creamy, maybe a touch of green.

tj

Where mine is right now it gets NO direct sun (it is on the north side of the house).

With the terrible heat/sun we are having, any of my hosta that get direct sun, no matter what the time of day, are getting sunburned. It is 103 degrees right now and even though I am keeping everything watered, only those hosta that are in full shade are safe from sun scald and crispy edges :-(

Even my giant Blue Mammoth that only gets early sun (before 10:30am) has sun scald white patches!

I will wait until late summer/early fall to move Whirlwind - it is so small (two single eyes that I planted separately) that it will be easy to move!
Thanks!
BettyLu

mbug-your Whirlwind is a very nice pickup. You did good. As you see in my pictures it has taken me two seasons to get what looks no more developed than your purchase. But I am thoroughly pleased with my Whirlwind. Right now it is sharing my garden with a drift of Albos, a Blue Angel and PUDC. It is front row though and it really shows well. I will probably have to move it in a year or so.

Les

Thanks Les....in spite of the heat I hope to get it in the ground this week end.... I am working on a new bed....I am intrigued by the contrasting dark colors on mine. Hope they hold up.

This is mine, new this spring. Where it sits in the allee between a fence and the back of my Teahouse, it gets some bright light but not direct sunlight. I had another one, which was breathtakingly beautiful, but it was from Lowes and I had second thoughts about keeping it....so out to the trash it went, and I ordered this one. Not a full plant yet, and it is very dark. But I love those dark shiny leaves.

mbug, I am envious of the size of your new plants!

tsugajunkie, I really like how your Whirlwind has kept its cream center.

Here was mine last April, when I put in the garden:

In May, already growing more leaves:

And then recently this month, greening up. It grows in dappled shade, but I guess not enough shade to stay creamy:

My Whirlwind has darkened so much in the last couple of weeks that it is now a very dark, nearly black, shiny green. It started out this spring. It started out this spring with a nice creamy center. It is planted under a black walnut with a group of other smalls and minis, does well there after moping in another spot for two years before I moved it. Too dark right now for a picture, tomorrow if I remember it.

Sandy

Beautiful whirlwind! I confess, I don't understand the whole happy hippo naming thing...how in the world do you get "happy Hippo" from Tokudama Flavocircinalis.!?! Lol. Nice hostas either way. My Whirlwind is still pretty small but is still fairly pale in the center in morning sun here in Maine. same with Golden Meadows.

My Whirlwind always turns dark, but the most beautiful deep dark green of all my hostas.

And my Tok. Flavo. looks very much like your Happy Hippo.

-Babka

I really don't mind when mine turns dark. It is one of the richest dark greens among my hostas, and still shows a bit of its variegation. I find this part of its attraction.

If you don't already have Whirlwind I hope you will soon.

Les

My Whirlwind is one year old. It has gotten much darker since May. Gets morning sun. Does it need more shade to keep the lighter center, or do they all just get darker through the season?

My Whirlwind, turned dark in the heat. I love this stage of its coloration!

Sandy

I don't mind the color change...makes it interesting. Here is mine from today. Direct morning sun, then shade

I really like the color changes that Whirlwind goes through, however the ones like tsugajunkie has, which don't turn all the way to dark green, are not true to type. Some people like those, but he ones that stay light cream in the center are sports of Whirlwind and not true to name. I just label it "Sport of Whirlwind".

Thanks for the info on the trademark name given to tokudama flavocircinalis. When I saw that one mentioned the other day I wondered if that's what someone did... Very dumb, please don't ever call it "Happy Hippo" :(

Thank you, Chris, for weighing in on the insanity of someone trademarking a name to replace Hosta 'Tokudama Flavocircinalis'. Absurd and assumptive. Pure crooked marketing hype theft.

This sort of reminds me of the Hosta 'Geisha' (Ani Machi) debacle, similar yet different circumstances.

Both really wonderful and unique Hostas, I don't believe either needed renaming to become popular.

fwiw,

hh

Here is my H.'Whirlwind'. The leaves do not open up sufficiently how I would like it and how tj's does. Originally it was in more sun and the leaves turned green quickly, now in only morning and evening sun it keeps the whitish centers for a while.
Bernd

Bump. Related to the Centerton Nurseries post in 9/2012

Blew should fire that person who can not spell correctly on their labels. It should be 'Tokudama Flavocircinalis', not ..cirinalis. And as written before, the x should go.
Bernd

Bernd, they did the same with another TM shown as Hosta x Irish Diamonds.

Do not know what that is supposed to mean.

Shadows of the variegation are there, if you look closely at the dark leaves. This one had a hard time this summer, in the area of my garden which was dryest. I'll repot it before it goes dormant so the roots will be in looser soil.

FWIW, our 'Whirlwind' plants have never gotten as dark-centered as some of the pics shown here. None of them get any direct sun. One is right against the north wall of the house (near my gas grill so I can enjoy while cooking ;-), and the others in 'dappled light' under the thick pine grove.

Knowing Mr. Chris' knowledge level, I'd sure like to know what information source he uses to say that ones that don't go dark in the middle are not 'true to type'. Just curious for my own education purposes, please?

Judging by the size of some shown here, especially the first pic by original poster, I should really move one of them to more light !

Thanks for all the posts folk.

hh

HH...FYI...Pics are of the whirlwind in the original post taken today. It gets little direct sun but is not in a dark shaded aea. Leaves stayed dark all season. Still looks good at this late date.
{{gwi:1069697}}

Other than the stitching around the margins, your Whirlwind color and pattern reminds me of Golden Meadow. How lovely a variegation it has too. I cannot take my eyes off Golden Meadow as it looks good every day.

And I sure wish my Whirlwind looked like yours.