Hosta 'Ruffled Mouse Ears'
 

Mark Zilis of Illinois registered this sport of H. 'Blue Mouse Ears' in 2011. The miniature size plant grows to around 6 inches in height with a spread of around 14 inches. The leaves are medium blue-green and are heavily rippled, slightly cupped, moderately wavy and nearly round with a cordate base. Medium lavender, tubular flowers bloom in July. The plant turns dark green by late July.
 

Warren I. Pollock wrote comments about the many sports of H. 'Blue Mouse Ears' (which he termed BME) in The Hosta Journal (2012 Vol. 43 No. 2). He stated, "Recently, Marco Fransen introduced 'Dancing Mouse'. Its blue-green leaves have a wavy yellowish-green border that darkens to pale green as the season progresses. He states that the ruffled margins and unusual color combination make it different from others in the series...(Is 'Dancing Mouse' a variegated 'Ruffled Mouse Ears'?)"
 

Pollock added: "Last year, Mark Zilis registered 'Ruffled Mouse Ears', which has wavy blue-green leaves. Possibly it's 'Dancing Mouse' without variegation."
 

An article by Warren I. Pollack in The Hosta Journal  (2020 Vol. 51 No. 1) titled Doppelgänger Hostas: Fancy Name for Look-alike Hostas, included a long list of hostas which various hostaphiles, published articles or other sources have indicated "look" the same. Some of these are, in fact, the same plant with two or more different names. Others are hostas that vary in some minor trait which is not immediately discernable to the casual observer such as seasonal color variations, bloom traits, ploidy, etc. So, as Warren mentions, hostaphiles may differ as to the plants listed but then, their opinions are based on visual observations and interpretations.

 
H. 'Dancing Mouse' and H. 'Ruffled Mouse Ears'.


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