My understanding of the lingo is that mutation references are when this is induced by conditions... such as radiation or growth hormones (Bap 10). Sports (although I still consider technically a mutation) occur naturally or in tissue culture.

Ok Thanks, that helps, it's not a mutations then, because it happened in my yard!!

Whatever you call it, it's beautiful. I really like it.

Thanks, I like it too! Poor thing doesn't have a name. Maybe I need to come up with one. (Now that I know it's name isn't Mutation)

and.. its larger.. because it has more green in the leaf ... or maybe i should say.. less energy sucking white ...

i swear ... if your history werent right there.. that is sure looks more like a sum and substance knockoff ... rather than SF ...

ken

Maybe it's really a hybrid, SF x S&S.

In the area where I discovered this plant there was a Sum & Substance about 15 feet away, so it could very well be. It is about double the size of Shade Fanfare, and about half as tall as Sum & Substance.

Whatever it is, nice find!

Watch the flowers when it blooms because if it is a sport the flowers should be the same general shape, color, and same exact flowering time.

It would be highly unlikely to get a variegated seedling that is this consistent from a non-streaked plant. It isn't impossible but the odds are very high.

If the flowers bloom at a different time and are a different shape and otherwise drastically different then I think it may have been a piece of a different plant that got into the Shade Fanfare. I've seen that happen before, where tiny bits of another plant grew up inside another. Some growers even put 2 or 3 plugs into one pot, really close together, to make a plant look fuller, faster.

So to know a sport for certain, always compare the flowers.

Thank you for the information. The Shade Fanfare this came off of was at or around 12 to 13 years old when it had this sport. According to my records I bought it in 5/25/1993 for $5.47 and I bought 5, which I still have (I keep a really good record book on my hostas, lol). I didn't think much of it because it just seemed to have a thinner edge, no big deal. I have had this sport now for at or around 10 years. So I hope the bloom time is the same. It seems to me that it is, but I won't say for sure until bloom time this season. Wish me luck! I'll post again when I know for sure. Thank you again!

Bloom time is the same. Sport bloom is a little darker than Shade Fanfare.

My hubby is holding a quarter for scale.

This is my Shade Fanfare bloom

This hosta is facing North West so it gets more sun than the Shade Fanfare.

This leaf is bigger that the other.

This is the flower from the sport in question.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Is it a sport or not?

Definitely a sport. Shade Fanfare was a sport of Flamboyant but has very few progeny of it own, so you may want to go through THIS LIST to see if any resemble it, since it has similar genetics to them. Just look at the sports, not the crosses.

tj

Ach, never mind. Just went through that list and only three are sports. Shade Fanfare is one and one has no pic and the third isn't close.

tj

I went through the list too, must have been doing it at the same time. The only one that was remotely close was Fascination and only because the habit of the hosta looks identical. and the color was close but no thin white edge. thanks so much for your thoughts on this, it really has me puzzled.