The green one with the white edge looks like a Francee, just behaving unstable, no problem. The Krossa looks fine to me too, with some of the glaucous bloom (blue) rubbed off, but then I am no expert. Just the fact that they were bought from a big box store would make me want to keep them isolated for a couple years, but then I am probably over cautious.

-Babka

It is Francee, but got autocorrected. Hoping you're right! Hostas from the box stores makes me nervous.

Thanks!

Kay

Solid blues are hard to pinpoint for HVX. Having said that, I don't like what I see, particularly on the leaves @ 3 o'clock in the 2nd shot, looks like ink-bleed pattern to me. A better close-up of those leaves might help...

Pieter

I can zoom in those pics but if that's not good enough it'll be a few days before I'm at my folks to take more pictures. Not sure if you want closer of 2nd shot over all (Francee) or 2nd shot of Krossa Regal so here's both.

I appreciate all feedback on these!

Kay

In your second photo, at the three o'clock position, there is a leaf barely showing in the photo (behind the one you are concerned about) that Pieter wants a new closeup photo of. HVX's classic symptom is bleeding around the vein of the leaf, kind of like a starburst. He wants to see what it looks like up close.

bkay

Sorry - second photo of the original four that is a closer shot of Francee? Or the fourth photo, that is the second photo of Krossa Regal? And.... "Who's on First!"

I wish I were where I could look at his hostas right now, but if I make sure I know just what you need there's better hope of taking the right pictures when I go up again.

Bear with me!

Kay

I spent some time with my folks today and took more photos of that Krossa Regal.

This is the leaf today that I focused on a week and a half ago (I'm facing North):

Rotating counterclockwise a quarter turn, with the original leaf at the bottom, the center 2 leaves are the ones in about the 3 o'clock position of the original photo:

Is this white area what you wanted to see, Pieter?

If this helps at all here's the whole top; I'm facing south-east to take this one:

Hoping these show what you need to see!

Kay

the francee is normal unstable variegation ...

im not buying hvx on the blue ...almost looks like early spring damage ... but that doesnt rule out other virus ...

but i will always defer to chris ...

ken

Thought I would add my two cents - Francee is fine, just an odd leaf (like a gray hair, lol pluck it out). The Krossa Regal looks like cold damage. If it were me I would remove any offending/displeasing to the eye leaves and dispose of them. If nothing else of interest crops up in KR, enjoy this lovely hosta - both of your newbies.

Sometimes, I feel it is better to adopt a "wait and see" attitude. Case in point: I had a nematode scare back in 2014 in my Summer Breeze hosta. I removed the affected leaves and left the plant alone. The following year it showed no signs at all. So I decided to relocate it. It is doing very well with no signs of any adversity (except perhaps bleaching out a bit by growing in too much sun, lol). Had I hastily destroyed the plant (as often is suggested) I would have missed out on a wonderful hosta. No doubt I was lucky in this case.

It will be three years this September since this occurrence. I am still monitoring it But so far so good.

Thanks Kay. Now that I see the whole plant it is obvious the leaves that gave me concern are the newest ones. While I'm at a loss to explain the oddity I see if it had been HVX I would expect to see evidence of it on ALL leaves, not just the newest ones.

Pieter

Thanks all! I've explained to Dad clean techniques to prevent cross-contamination but he may not have the patience. Gardening has become such a struggle for him he won't be doing much more and probably won't fuss about something he can't see.

With HVX signs ruled out I think that spot on KR is sun scorch; it gets very late west sun and a couple other leaves show some sun damage (you can see them between 3 & 4 o'clock position in the top down, very last photo). My mom had a stroke last month so Dad's been stressed and probably turned on his sprinkler system late (he uses bubblers under each hosta). This is a high desert so we have a different set of challenges than you have in the North.

He has some of my Gramps hosta that I finally made space for. If Dad has something harboring HVX, contact between hostas would likely only be from pruners that were cutting out spent (probably very dead) scapes.

*When a hosta has HVX how long can it take for the symptoms to show up? Maybe I should get a test kit for the piece I just swiped?*

Thanks for all your patience with this novice wannabe!

Kay

*When a hosta has HVX how long can it take for the symptoms to show up? Maybe I should get a test kit for the piece I just swiped?*

Fair question, Kay. It varies. It used to be that for HVX to manifest itself in 'Sum and Substance' the plant might actually be 5 years or older, not so these days when I've seen it on specimens that'd be 2 year old field grown specimens.

Best advice I can offer is be vigilant and familiarize yourself with all the various manifestations of the virus, it can take various forms with ink bleeding and collapsed tissue being the most common ones. Don't panic when you first see something you don't like the looks of. Buy a test kit if you must but only use it on special plants that have either some sentimental value or monetary value. Makes no sense to use a test strip on dirt common varieties, just whip 'em out and replace them, the replacement probably costs less than the strip...

Pieter