There are over 3,000 Hosta cultivars. Trying to attach a cultivar name would just be guessing.

Fire and Ice is what came to mind for me too. The rate of growth you describe sounds about right.

It is true, there are over 3,000 cultivars, but when you narrow it down to those with predominate white centres, it eliminates over 90% of them. Then when you eliminate new varieties from less than 10 years ago, it reduces it a little more.

The fact that I purchased it at a hardware store and not a gardening store, means it is likely one of the more common hostas with a white centre, not a pricey rare one. So that rules out a few more.

I appreciate the feedback thus far. The two possibilities expressed on another forum were either Fire and Ice, or Loyalist. I don't quite get the subtleties between them. Of course it could be neither of those two also.

Sure, but I don't see the point in narrowing it down if it's not possible to pinpoint. There is no way to be sure, just guessing. BUT I don't have to guess that it's one of the most perfect looking Hostas I've ever seen. I hope it blooms, and soon, and that the blooms have a wonderful fragrance. : )

Thank you Tiffany for the nice comment. I have eighteen hostas spread over ten different kinds . Of those ten, this is the only one not identified and for the last eleven years I guess my OCD or whatever it is, is getting to me. At this point I would settle for an educated guess to fill in my spreadsheet!

It would be nice to see it flower but I am not holding my breath after eleven years of watching it slowly grow. I am glad it comes back every year and is healthy; that is all I ask.

Hmm I am not seeing a photo...and now I do 30 seconds later. Houzz is being really funky.

I just pulled them up side by side on the comparison utility that Pieter is updating. It looks like more like Loyalist. Use the link above, as the one on the hosta library is confusing (at least it was to me). Rather than scrolling (that will work), you can type over the name of the hosta. Bring up Fire and Ice on one side and Loyalist on the other. They don't look the same side by side.

bkay

are you in indy?

Resembles “Eternal Flame.”

debra

Thanks bkay2000 for the link to do comparisons. It does seem like it could be loyalist but the two choices are quite similar.

After looking in the HL and comparisons, both F & I and Loyalist are described as having clean white or creamy centers. If there is mild flecking of green on the leaves that fit with ET. Here’s mine:

About 4 years old.

Bkay, how do you type over the name rather than scroll? I tried to do that but it kept bringing the scroll up. Is there a secret to this? The scrolling does take a long time while pics load so if I could type the name I would use this feature more often. Thanks for any help.

debra

It took me a bit to get it to work. You don't highlight or backspace in the rectangle. You see no cursor. You just put your mouse over the rectangle and type. Best was for me to describe it. It is kind of finicky.

For the comparisons list, in the top box, it only recognizes the first three letters. So if you type, for example, FIR, that will bring you pretty close to Fire and Ice without having to scroll so much or sometimes not at all.

I did a little more digging on these two hosta. They are both sports of Patriot, so are very similar genetically. Both are believed to be tetraploid, although that is not confirmed.

Myhostas.be lists Loyalist as a medium size hosta, with leaves 6X4. at a height of 18". He lists Fire and Ice as a small hosta (uses the word dwarf), at 10" and leaves also at 6X4.

Hostaregistrar.org lists Loyalist as Medium sized, with 6.5x3.75 leaves. They list Fire and Ice as small without specifying a leaf size.

I suspect these two are so similar they could not be distinguished unless the size is the "tell".

I had Lakeside Shore Master and Pride and Joy next to each other and without labels, I could not tell you which was which . Pride and Joy is a sport of Paul's Glory. LSM is believed to be a sport of Paul's Glory, although it's parentage is listed as unknown. I also had Minuteman and Patriot next to each other. Without labels, I couldn't tell you which was which. They are both first generation sports of Francee.

Just my two cents.

bkay

Bkay, thanks for taking the time to that research for me. I checked out those last two sites and will keep them marked for further investigation of other plants.

It seems that the general consensus is that Fire and Ice is smaller and has whiter centres. My plant is small (closer to one foot spread than two foot spread) but centres off white, not pure white. The off-white is leading me to think I might have Loyalist. The small size might be due to location, amount of light, and who knows what other variables. I am happy to label mine as Loyalist for now, but will keep an open mind. Should I see either plant in stores next year, I will pull a leaf off of mine and bring it in to compare.