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Hosta 'Golden Tiara'
 

This classic hosta first appeared on the market in the 1970's. It is a sport of H. nakaiana and was registered by Robert Savory of Savory's Gardens in Minnesota in 1977.

It is considered a medium size (16 inches high by 39 inches wide) mound and is a rapid grower and multiplier that works great as an edger plant or groundcover. The leaves are of average substance and are slightly wavy and corrugated. It has pale purple flowers that are funnel shaped from mid-July to August followed by viable seeds.

According to The Hostapedia by Mark Zilis (2009), "When I began working with hostas in the late 1970s, 'Golden Tiara' ranked as a "hot new introduction", being the first small-size hosta with gold-margined leaves. Everyone had to have it. the going price was about $50 per plant, so when I was able to purchase one for $40 at an auction, I felt fortunate. Since that time, 'Golden Tiara' has been widely propagated and is now a common sight in shade gardens."

The New Encyclopedia of Hostas by Diana Grenfell (2009) states: "Leaves are variable in shape, the outer ones being oval, the inner ones sometimes almost round. Flowers run a deeper purple when exposed to sunlight. Some rebloom is possible if spent scapes are removed. Among the most important hostas ever introduced. Lovely in a container."

This cultivar has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in the UK. Winner of the 1994 Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Hosta Award.

H. 'Golden Tiara' was the first of a large series of plants called the Tiara Group.


An article by Bob Solberg in The Hosta Journal (1994 Vol. 25 No. 2) states that "Bob Savory's 'Lemon Lime' and 'Golden Tiara', both registered in 1977, are hosta breakthroughs, but not because H. nakaina is their parent. (It is also the parent of many of Eunice Fisher's small-to-medium sized hybrids.) Rather it is because of their bright spring color and extremely fast rate of increase. 'Golden Tiara' is often listed as a H. nakaiana hybrid, as 'Lemon Lime' is, but it is really an induced mutation of a H. nakaiana seedling.

In an effort to create hostas that rapidly increased, seven hundred fifty H. nakaiana seedlings were treated with a mixture of hormones and vitamins. The sport of one of these seedlings was named 'Golden Tiara'. No hostas compare with these two of Savory's for rate of increase or repeat blooming throughout the season."

An article by Robert Savory in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "H. 'Golden Tiara' appeared as a result of our propagation experiments using H. nakaiana seedlings in the 1970's. We wanted to increase the number of shoots of seedling plants of H. nakaiana so we could hasten our crown-cutting propagation to meet the heavy demand for them. We treated 750 H. nakaiana seedlings with a mixture of hormones and vitamins in order to "break" more dormant eyes and to possibly stimulate mutations in these highly desirable small-leaved hostas...H. 'Golden Tiara' was one of several induced sports that appeared in this group."

An article about leaf color change by Warren I. Pollock in The Hosta Journal (1991 Vol. 22 No. 1) cites an extract from The Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid on seasonal changes in hosta leaf colors:
   
Viridescence Emerging with yellow or whitish color that ultimately become increasingly green. An example is H. 'Fortunei Albopicta' whose green-bordered leaves have a beautiful, bright yellow-colored center in the spring that turns to green by midseason.
Partial Viridescence Emerging with yellow or whitish color that turns to chartreuse (yellowish green), sometimes a dark chartreuse. One example is H. 'Kabitan'; two others are 'Golden Scepter'...and the center leaf coloring of 'Golden Tiara'.
Lutescence Emerging green or chartreuse and turning yellow or whitish yellow. The coloring of leaf centers of 'Gold Standard'. ..is an example.
Albescence Yellow, yellowish green or green areas that turn to near white. Examples are the center leaf coloring of 'Janet'...and the margins of 'Antioch'...and H. ventricosa 'Aureomarginata'.

An article in The Hosta Journal (1995 Vol. 26 No. 1) citing Vol. 1, #2, Fall 1993, Great Lakes Region Newsletter included a list of Classic Hostas from Peter Ruh:

An article by Warren I. Pollock in The Hosta Journal (2000 Vol. 31 No. 1) states that, "H. 'Diamond Tiara' (Zilis - 85). This is my favorite member of the Tiara Group because its green leaves having a white border don't lose their pizzazz and become blah as do its siblings, such as H. 'Golden Tiara' (Savory - 77) and the gold leaved H. 'Golden Scepter' (Savory - 83) in my garden come summertime."

 


10 9.2
1984 #8
1985 #3
1990 #3
1991 #7
1992 #7
1993 #6
1994 #11
1995 #14
1996 #8
1997 #25  





 


 

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