this is the same plant..the small rocks were a temporary thing to keep the squirrels from digging..I moved them after the soil settled..

I can't believe that's the same plant. Wow what a difference!

miles..it's weird isn't it?..is it reverting?..

Could it be weather related?

oursteelers..possibly?..I'm not sure what weather can do??..

went out to make sure that was Firn Line..it is..it's the only variegated..I remember debating about planting it there but did it anyway..

it doesnt have the same wavy edge in each pic ...

so its not weather related ...

and the type of variegation is different in each..

and whats the deal with the almost all blue leaf in the second pic???

i would swear its not the same plant.. but i guess i have to rely on your memory and stories ...

keep us posted .. especially if the other pops up.. lol ..

ken

i looked at the library.. second definitely has the coloration of firn line .. the first does not.. which makes me ask.. when was the first pic taken ... are we comparing an early spring pic with a late season pic.. because that could make a lot of difference in coloration as the glaucous blue color wears off during the season ...

perhaps the waviness also changes as the leaf matures ... ...

how they change over the season is part of the fun of hosta watching ...

ken

ken..I took a pic this morning showing the stone edging with a line of various hosta..that has to be Firn Line..the pics were taken almost exactly a year apart..in addition to the color difference I did notice the lack of wave in the leaves..
I love blue but I wish the "blue leaf" had margins like the others..

Re your first spring pic, was it planted that spring or had it overwintered?

tj

tj..it's overwintered for two winters now..each of the pics were taken after overwintering..

I agree with Ken.....that first picture is soooo different from the second. None of the leaves look like the first one really, except the one at 5 o’clock. Even then, that leaf doesn’t have the wave. Looking at your first picture, I notice the lannon stones on either side and all the round rocks along that bed. In the second I don’t see any round stones, nor in the third picture, no round stones. The first picture also shows no foliage from another plant, but the second and third pictures show leaves from another plant...... maybe you are not remembering exactly where you planted it? Is that possible?

debra

debra..I agree with Ken too..it IS different..I moved my "squirrel" rocks so that's why that's different..in this pic I can see Firn Line on the right..see it?..this was Sept 27 2020..the first pic in the post was April 15 2020..

It is a sport of First Frost and First Frost is a sport of Halcyon. Is it possible it’s beginning to revert? That almost all blue leave looks more like Halcyon I think......

debra

debra..I wondered the same thing..I have a reverting June that's going blue..

wanted to say I have fewer variegateds than solids so it's easier for me to remember where they are..🙂
and by process of elimination of not that many variegateds I can almost identify all of them..Lol..

So the round stones were the “squirrel “ rocks, not an edge? Gotcha! Then I think you have a reverting plant..... just my opinion. Do you have a more difficult time with variegated hostas because of all your shade?

debra

debra..reverting makes sense to me too..when I moved here almost all of the hostas were variegated..the neighbors had mostly variegated too..I decided to rearrange and plant more solids..I like solids to be honest..
I think my shade affects all of my hostas..I'm planning to move some of them..

Could it be that your Firn Line is "stressed" and that's why it is now looking different? Perhaps too many tree roots; too much shade; too many squirrels destroying some of the roots? Maybe put it in a pot for a year and see what happens next spring?

newhostalady..could be..Firn Line was a small clearance plant..it probably would look different living in less shade with less roots..but now I'm curious to see what happens and I'll leave it..if it goes "blue" I can accept that..the change did surprise me..

My El Nino did something similar two years in a row (although not as dramatically) a few years back. I had all of the outer leaves develop a green dusting over the white at the edges. Last year; green is gone gone and all leaves are back to normal. At the time, I was worried too and found others on-line that reported similar effects on El Nino. Weird, huh?

In fact, here are pics of El Nino and Firn Line with less dramatic versions of what you show. Note that the El Nino pic comes from the Monrovia site =)

Blue Ivory does this sometimes, too. I think it is called misting. My BI did that this year and the first year, with 2 years without misting. It is normal, not a disease; no cure needed. Ivory Queen does it, too.

Here is my Blue Ivory last month and last weekend. It is a misty year. That’s OK.

Mosswood..that's interesting that you had a change but then returned to normal..in your pic the leaf at about 10 or 11? o'clock does remind me of mine..we did have some freezing temperatures awhile back but most of my hostas weren't up..

Blushing, not misting. Sorry. Still, normal.

The blushing may be a reaction to warm weather, like viridescence triggered by unusually warm temperatures. It will not resolve this season, but should be fine next year.

utog..in the 2nd pic where Blue Ivory is more blue I can really see the misting like mine..what concerned me..the veins had darker color lines..I wondered..is this "inkbleed" ?...but I didn't have collapsed tissue and the ugliness of HVX..

the weather's crazy..took these a little while ago..

Ugh. Go away snow!

oursteelers..I completely agree..

NW, I think yours is like mine and will be fine next year. When I first got mine about 3 years ago, it was all blue. There was a faint hint of variegation, so I waited until the next year. It was perfect the next year. The nursery said that Blue Ivory (and its lookalikes) just do that. In the Plant Delights catalog, Blue Ivory shows a couple misted leaves and the catalog warns that buyers of young plants could be disappointed for the first few years.

https://www.plantdelights.com/products/hosta-blue-ivory-pp-19623

utog..good to know..Plant Delights is such a fun nursery..how honest of them to admit that a plant could have problems..lots of catalogues act as if every plant is perfect..I'm curious to see if Firn Line will change again..

The snow will bring good moisture, but it's the cold I hope won't dip too low for all your plants.

My Firn Line was a disappointment. It looked so good when I got it, although small, only two eyes. I planted it, overwintered in the garden, and when it came back one eye had reverted, but it wasn't as nice looking as First Frost, not that blue.

After another winter it came back the same, but the better side wasn't as impressive looking any more. Seems like an unstable one. You either get lucky or you don't.

sandyslopes..knowing that others have had similar changes in Firn Line (or it's relatives) helps..it's not us..it's the plant Lol..

This has been a good thread learning about blushing and misting.... or are they the same?

debra

I think blushing different, but I am no expect.

Never heard of "blushing". Who came up with that? I have had misting over the years with h.Great Escape and h.Blue Ivory. It varies over the years, because hostas are inherently unstable. Margins vary too. Makes you love the oldies but goodies like Halcyon.

El Nino and First Frost had the narrow margins, and the wider ones were less stable for me. Autumn Frost remains my favorite, and most stable of that bunch.

-Babka

I do not know the terminology. New Hampshire Hostas talks about green blush in the white margins of Blue Ivory, and I have stumbled on that terminology of blushing green elsewhere. Some call it misting. And lately blushing has come to mean temporary red color to portions of hosta leaves since First Blush was released, and misting seems to connotate more of a variegated, inherited leaf pattern as in Bashful. Loose terminology, I guess.

https://www.nhhostas.com/blue-ivory-hosta-pp19623-4-5-inch-container/

Babka, I agree that First Frost is very reliable. I have a young Autumn Frost (added autumn 2020), and two Ben Vernooijs that are in their 4th season. For me, Ben Vernooij is wonderful from emergence to late November (early December 2020!) dormancy with no blushing/misting.

Firn Line is my first hosta to have such leaves..I didn't know any terms for this trait..since our snow Firn Line looks basically the same but a little flatter..I'll post a pic if anything interesting develops..

posting a current pic..taken April 30..when the 2 newest leaves appeared a week or so ago they looked nice..the colors were crisp..now one is limp (not dry we had a good rain) and it's getting blotchy like the older leaves..this hosta did go through a freeze..I nicknamed it FL..same initials as Firn Line but to me it stands for Funny Looking..or Funky Looking..Lol

At Plant Delights Nursery today, Blue Ivory is doing the same thing as your Firn Line. Also, Krossa for you with Tony Avent in the background.

Great looking plants. I just got some annuals today since none of the places near me specialize in hostas, most have the popular ones but not much more.

utog..thank you!..it's good to know that my Firn Line's heritage has this trait..it's odd looking but I can put up with it..and maybe someday it'll look more normal..
I've seen Tony on gardening shows and I'd recognize him if I saw him at Plants Delight..he appeared to be a pleasant person..