Steve,I thought Stingray was a centrally variegated hosta? It looks more like Lakeside Ripples. Phil

For me it has to be June

She sat in full sun all summer including four weeks of high 70's temperatures and no rain. She kept her beauty with the exception of throwing a few blue leaves till late October.
I've had her a good few years now and this is the biggest she has ever been.
Can't wait for next year

Hostafreak,
You must be thinking of 'Clifford's Stingray' not 'Stingray'.

My top gun hosta is Foxfire Palm Sunday.
Each year it puts on great growth. We got this one in 2010.

Vanessa

Phil,

Stingray is a green Hosta. You're probably thinking of Clifford's Stingray.

Steve

Vanessa, I've never heard of your hosta before today. It is an unusual beauty with much going for it! I actually see a diamond pattern in the seersuckering on one leaf, left off centre and it seems like each leaf has its own interesting pattern. . . Narrow....elliptical...nice choice!

Tiddisolo - that is a very beautiful, perfect June!

Steve, Stingray looks huge. . . Love the loooong thin pointed ends and ripples...it's a lovely semi upright (in my eyes) hosta!

Paula, you said it! I could eat that one up, it's so scrumptious. . . What a beautiful On Stage!

McTavish - I can appreciate your choice! I am crazy for blues, all blues, but I really gravitate towards that grey/blue soft tone which your Lederhosen has and the shape of those leaves. . . Aahh wow factor! Your leaves actually have a ripple in them where your sister's does not....isn't that interesting?

Jan - ditto! I love mine too...this year it really hung onto its creamy edge for quite awhile before finally going white...the leaves get bigger and bigger each year . . . Yours is a stunner and I applaud your choice - some hosta just never get "old" :-)

Don, aka Mr. 'G' aka Guacamole Don! I'm envious of your Big Daddy! You seem to have a prime example of a perfectly grown BD in my opinion. It is the most attractive one I have seen . . . Beautiful cupping, lovely colour and a pleasing shape overall. How did you do that??? Mine is true to rumour, a slow grower.

Hostahillbilly 1, your Golden Gate is superb! I have admired Rascal for the past two years for its subtle variegation but your GG takes the cake! I really like the light golden sheen on yours...truly gorgeous!

Jo, I will share my secret for growing 'Big Daddy'...

1. Dig hole
2. Plant 'Big Daddy'
3. Water often and generously during growing season

Don't tell anyone! : )

Don B.

I'm afraid my top gun for this year is not going to help you choose for next year because you already have it!

It's a beauty in the spring. The colors tone down mid season, but it still makes quite a statement. And then if we are lucky, the fall colors are fantastic. A definite beauty for the whole season from start to finish!

Great Expectations

This post was edited by newhostalady on Sun, Nov 3, 13 at 0:35

And for fall coloration, here it is:

NHL, that is a 'Great Expectations', yes? It's beautiful...

Uh-ohh! Did I just jinx it by saying it's name?? : P

Don B.

Pssst, Don...your secret's safe with me! ... Nyuck, nyuck...thanks for sharing, eh?

NHL...that one fall leaf should win a prize - it's just so amazing! Your favourite and one of mine, any day! :-)
Jo

Steve, your 'Stingray' looks fantastic. What a great plant. Why don't I have one yet? Truth is, I've had a little trouble finding it.

Don B.

Thanks, Don. I think I got mine from Jims. Wade and Gatton has it also.

Steve

Thanks, Steve, that's great enabling! : )

Don B.

Jo, thanks for the compliments on 'Big Daddy'. It's really not a very big plant yet, but I'm really happy with it's growth over two seasons. I'm really most pleased that it's getting a mature look to it, and hopefully it'll do another size leap in the spring.

It's greener than it 'should' be because it is in more sun than I would like, but it's obviously happy where it's sited, so I won't be transplanting it in the forseeable future. : )

Did I talk you into one? Maybe another pic...

I'm 100% certain Steve has talked me into 'Stingray' for next season.

Cheers,
Don B.

Yes, Don, you are right. The plant is Great Expectations. Sorry I forgot to add the name.

Great thread Jo. Thanks for the compliment on the photo. I took the fall leaf photo on a rainy day just before I left for the day.

These are all wonderful hostas. I am loving all of them!

I hadn't heard of Golden Gate. You seem to have a very nice one, hostahillbilly!

This post was edited by newhostalady on Sun, Nov 3, 13 at 9:45

I think, for me, it would have to be Wishing Well. I have never seen a hosta stay so very blue as this one. This pic was taken on September 7th! This hosta never missed a beat all year!

I'd have to go with Lakeside Shoremaster also. Here's mine from May,Phil

Oooohhh, be still my heart! What a beauty .... mine aspires to be one too in say, maybe two years to get all those dimples? :-)

Funn...another beautiful blue...new to me :-)

stacking the ballot box, i posted Golden Gate earlier showing it's grandious fall goldeness, claiming it's wondrous seasonal colour changes, so now here's my proof of how it's a new seasonal wonder: a completely different plant earlier in the season, two hostas for one price / space

hh the competetor

Well, HH, you talked me into another one. Shameless enabling! Sweet!!

Winter project when foot is healed: Move rear neighbors' fence back 8 feet. : )

Don B.

EDIT: Jo, I should pay attention...You already have 'Big Daddy'...Duh!!

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Mon, Nov 4, 13 at 23:17

Lol, Don...I knew you'd catch it :-) btw...how's the foot healing? Ok?

HH...that's the spirit! You just 'rave on' (hey, Buddy Holly) ... I am glad to see the extra pic from earlier on...it's a great contender...I've been checking on these to see if I have access to them somewhat locally.

Come on, hosta lovers - I know there is more out there. :-)

Jo

vote early, vote often...

Golden Gate leaf

the evil HH PAC

Lol.....but definitely a serious contender! This particular close-up reminds me of cold heart which I do not have but is on my want list.

Favorites of my sisters plants. It was impossible to pick between these two giants.

Wow, McT! That is a beautiful and large Dream Weaver..mine is just a little one...hope it grows quickly.

Great...Now I have to get 'Beauty Substance'!!

Oh, I remember seeing pics of your sister's 'secret steroid' plants, McTavish. I am always amazed.

Don B.

Touch Of Class is the one. Great color and leaf marking. She still looks good in November.

I enlarged and rearranged my front bed this fall just so Touch Of Class could be more prominently displayed.

This post was edited by harryshoe on Thu, Nov 7, 13 at 15:00

Harryshoe...i can see why you would want to showcase it, it is a beautiful specimen! All three hosta, heuchera and flowering bush in this pic are gorgeous and substantial in size! Lovely garden!

Jo

Harry, I think that is the nicest 'Touch Of Class' I've seen.

Jo, the foot is coming right along, no issues, thanks for asking...

BTW, I wasn't being a smart-a**, that's really all I did with my 'Big Daddy', besides amending the clay a bit with some yummier soil. : ) They grow themselves, I'm just here to water 'em.

Cheers,
Don B.

Thanks Don.

Jo, thanks. This is the picture I will be looking at in January while trying to lift my spirits. And telling myself that three months isn't really that long...

It will be interesting to see how Touch Of Class responds to the transplant site where it will get more light and not be crowded out by other plants.

bump

historical importance.

Aw, Mocc - I occasionally browse this thread (have it bookmarked) when I need a quick fix from other than my own pics...the comments and submissions are ... well ... special!

What would you have submitted? Btw, I'm still searching for a Squash Casserole around my corner of the world. I'll find one.

Jo

For me it would be June

I've posted this pic in another thread some time back, but for me - American Icon.

jo67 - lemme know if u can't get squash casserole, we should b able to send bareroot.

hh

That is very good of you to offer, HH! I'll let you know for sure. Thank you!
:-)

Jo, I was thinking about which one I'd have chosen. This morning out in the garden, I looked at Squash Casserole and Yesterday's Memories and considered what would I have done last NOVEMBER?

I'd be really inclined toward a few judging by their performance this spring. But last November? Squash Casserole was last year catching my eye a bit, flexing her powers. It took this spring for her to show her true colors. I mean, now that I know how all those hosta will look as they emerge a year older, it changes my perspective.

I must go back and pretend this spring has yet to arrive. I don't know what is coming...

In that case, I'd have chosen Doubled Up.

It is a huge fragrant sport of Mama herself. I got it in 2012 and it looked like any normal greenie fragrant hosta. Then last year in late summer it bloomed. Those blooms were every smidgen as big and as gorgeous as Mama herself. Not finicky about opening its blooms either, like sibling Aphrodite. The stature of the hosta is more like Avocado or Old Faithful, with long petioles that are stout enough to hold up fairly large medium shiny leaves.

I know it is said Doubled Up is a MEDIUM or else COMPACT. Well, mine is not mature yet and that may well be so for most of them. However, I notice this one has almost an umbrella spread of the lovely leaves and some of the petioles are revealed.

Remember I am writing this part of the post as if it were 2013 so here is my photos to back up my claim. I wish I could find the image of my DH holding a ball point pen beneath the trumpet shaped white flower of Doubled Up, but it is not showing up.

In the location last year it got afternoon sun. I was more timid about exposing my beloved fragrant hosta to late day heat in our summers. (This year I'm a lot bolder.)

It was blooming on July 15 2013

Now this year? I am still impressed with Doubled Up.
However it does have some competition now. For this year I will wait until we do another Top Gun. That way we can all start together.

Perfectly summed up! Thank you, Mocc.

My favorite last year was Fragrant Dream. I love the color change from spring to summer. And it's fragrant! Here it goes from June to August.

I will definitely run a 2014 Top Gun thread this fall since the 2013 was so successful! Likely November again where most of us will have time as the gardening season draws to a close. Also, it might be interesting to start a 2014 Top Dud thread as well so keep that camera/phone/tablet handy this year and take some great pics! They will also come in handy for the Alphabet game in December!

Eleven, these are my favourite pics of Fragrant Dream. My bagged one that I potted in March is doing fine outside and still in a pot. I have to plant her beautiful self in the ground and see how she likes it there. Thanks for posting these again. Now I can look at yours for comparison after looking at mine as she grows this season. :-)

tHANK YOU, jO. yOU ARE A good activity director!
This year I'll be ready. And waiting.

I'll try to get some of my pictures with 9 seconds of sound uploaded to Flickr later today. The problem with that is, it is my turn to cook tonight. Plus a lot of other things happening today.
First off this morning, the USPS delivered a real surprise package which I'll give a feature in a special thread, I mean it is THAT SPECIAL. Then I set about watering the first section of the garden. It was maybe 10 am and already 100 in the shade and I was wet with sweat simply filling the bird feeder and the birdbaths. Then I took a big bag of veggies to the hardware store and saw a hanging basket which jumped in the car with me. I took it home because I had to do a trip to Lowes and needed an empty car. Yes, I got 30 bags of compost/manure, 6 bags of play sand, 3 cement pots on sale, 3 more LED solar garden lights, and 3 yellow blooming milkweeds. It was too hot to unload mid day so now I must wait until after dinner to do it. Once it is out of the car I'll be able to pick up 20 bags of cypress mulch in the morning. That should get all the materials I need to complete the reshaping of the garden floor to better use the rainfall and make the garden paths easy to walk.

I know that is off-topic. I just don't want to find another spot right now. Thanks for listening to my rambling.

What I meant to say is that Fragrant Dream is a beauty. Eleven yours is certainly in great shape. Please let me know when your fragrant hosta come into bloom. A good number of mine are blooming now, and it is freaking me out....especially the ones with fasciated scapes, big leaves on the scapes. I have ONE seedpod (so far) on 24 Caret Gold with more flowers still to open.
Fragrant Dream in late April 2014

Grape Fizz

Glossy, wavy leaves with wonderful substance and great shape.

{{gwi:1101329}}

Top Dud, you say? That's easy, I'll just post this pic again : )

Don B.

Awww, Don, the runt of the litter? Poor baby. Send it to me and I'll take care of it. Feed it some crab shells! :)

Eleven, by coming out that your favorite hosta is Fragrant Dream, you are now member of a select group of hostaholics, fragrant chapter. Look for more fragrant photos trolled like bait before you....they become irresistable.

I race through reading. i thought I read Moccasinlanding say her DH was holding a pen under the bloom...(in the picture below). So i looked, and looked harder. OMG is that her DH's BUTT?!! Spilled my wine and everything...

Mine is a wee baby right now, but from seeing other people's gorgeous snake eyes, its the one for me.

Striptease for me. It is huge this year! The coloring and pattern is subtle but beautiful. Love it!

Unbidden sez:
"I race through reading. i thought I read Moccasinlanding say her DH was holding a pen under the bloom...(in the picture below). So i looked, and looked harder. OMG is that her DH's BUTT?!! Spilled my wine and everything..."

hehehehehe
I forgot that set of Derriere pot feet were showing in the picture of Doubled Up flowers. Well, DH is a bit larger than that, honestly. And he (my DH) had held the ball point pen to show the bloom of DUp was as long as the pen. At least six inches long.

But that isn't my sweet DH. He loves to garden but when he gets down and dirty outdoors it is with his clothes on. :)

Derriere in April 2014

DFrench, oops I neglected to say how much I like the grayed blue of your Striptease. That is a very pleasing combination. I'm glad I have one already, or I'd be hunting for it tomorrow.

I am laughing here at the "butt" unbidden spotted! Made me want a glass of wine too, lol after she almost spilled hers!

Ok, my dear hosta lovers! I hate to stymy your enthusiasm, I really do, but this was the 2013 Top Gun contest and it is over until the 2014 rendition starts in November. Please save your entries until that time. Who knows? You may change your mind by the time November rolls around and submit another. You've got all summer to observe and finally choose your Top Gun, yay!

When Mocc bumped this one up it appeared on page 1 of this board and no one noticed the date of original submission. I'm sorry for the confusion, folks! :-)

Jo