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We have been gathering hosta names and information to include in The Hosta Helper since 1998. In our research, we have used books, websites, The Hosta Journal, lectures at various hosta conferences, nursery catalogs, nursery pot labels, personal discussions with hostaphiles and visits to many, many hosta nurseries, public and private gardens. All of this information has been added to our database.

Over the years, we have created thousands of retrieval pages which display information from the database on hundreds of different topics which we hope will be useful to the gardening public, hybridizers and others interested in hostas. These may be accessed by the menu at the top of this page or at our Site Map page.

13,254 Cultivar Names Eligible for Registration
1,924 Duplicate or Non-Conforming Names
15,178 Total Hosta Names in The Hosta Helper database

2,822 Total Hostas in 151 different Hosta Name Series
85 Species & Naturally Occurring Forms:  (42 currently accepted species plus naturally occurring forms and varieties plus some outdated & incorrect names)

Names that conform with the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants would be those with a name that starts and ends with a single parenthesis such as 'Sum and Substance'. They also comply with several other rules such as number of words in the name, types of words, etc.

Non-Conforming names would include those used as breeder plants such as "Hadrava Seedling RD-71" which were never given a conforming cultivar name but are identified in the genetic background of new cultivars. Instead of single parenthesis, they should start and end with full parenthesis.

 Also non-conforming would be all the "temporary", often numbered, names given to hostas such as  "Tardiana TF 2 x 10" or "Aden No. 359". These plants were eventually given conforming cultivar names.

Another example of non-conforming names are those that include the words streaked, variegated, variegata and form at the end of the name to describe the hosta itself. Names such as 'Liberty Variegated' or 'Liberty Streaked' would fit this category. However, 'Rosedale Streaked Zipper' qualified for registration in 2000...so some judgment is still required in each case.

Listed below are the totals for what we call hostas with a "correct name". These are plants whose names start and end with a single parenthesis, are not duplicate names and generally conform to the standards for naming cultivars. With no or maybe minor adjustments, they should be eligible for registration. Out of the 15,178 names in our database, we figure that 13, 254 would fit this category.

Giant 787 6%
Large 3,819 29%
Medium 4,605 35%
Small 2,413 18%
Miniature 544 4%
Unknown Size 1,086 8%

Total :

13,254  
     

Blue-Green 3,351 25%
Green Total 7,234 55%
Dark Green (1,970) (15%)
Medium Green (4,190) (32%)
Light Green (1,074) (8%)
Yellow 1,816 14%
Unknown Color 853 6%

Total:

13,254  

Solid Blue-Green 2,014 15%
Solid Green 3,116 26%
Solid Yellow 1,473 11%
Marginal Variegation 2,990 23%
Medial Variegation 1,185 9%
Streaked Variegation 1,670 13%
Unknown 806 6%

Total:

13,254  

Hybrids 4,341 33%
All Sports 3.348 25%
TC Sports (427) (3%)
Unknown Origin 5,565 42%

Total:

13,254  
 

The percentage of hosta cultivars that originated from sports is divided into "Garden" sports and "Tissue Culture" (TC) sports which account for 3%. In reality, the percentage of TC sports is much, much greater. However, the registration process does not require that TC sports be differentiated from garden sports. Most catalogs and websites usually just list these plants as a "sport" with no further detail. Unless we know for certain that it is a TC sport, we list it just as a "Sport".

June Only 327 2%
June-July 1,962 15%
June-July-August 9 <1%
July Only 2,178 16%
July-August 2,179 16%
July-August-Sept 6 <1%
August Only 731 6%
August-September 441 3%
Aug-Sept-Oct 181 2%
September Only 93 1%
Sept - October 39 3%
October Only 5 <1%
Does Not Flower 2 <1%
Unknown 5,069  

Total: 

13,254  


Includes plants that bloom partially or completely in that month.
June Total 2,290 18%
July Total 6,312 48%
August Total 3,508 27%
September Total 727 6%
October Total 213 2%
Unknown 5,069  

 

     

Medium Lavender 1,149 9%
Pale Lavender 3,294 25%
Pale Purple 1,428 11%
Deep Purple 214 2%
Near White 1,580 12%
Pure White 371 3%
"Reddish" 7 <1%
"Yellow" 2 <1%
Unknown 5,209 39%

Total:   

13,254

 
     
Fragrant Flowers 257 2%
Clusters of Flowers 209 2%
Tall Scapes 381 3%

Hostas with NO photos 9,391

71%

Hostas with one or more photos 3,863

29%

 

13,254

 
Click Here to learn about submitting pictures for display on The Hosta Helper.
Upright Form 1,542 12%
Red Petioles 821 6%
Fast Growing 483 4%
Slow Growing 308 2%

 
Known Originator 11,844 90%
Unknown Originator 1,410 10%

Total:

13,254  
 

254 68 35 25
222 66 35 24
157 56 34 22
124 55 33 21
84 46 32 21
81 44 25 20
78 41 25 19
72 38 25  

1535 238 37 5
1138 214 37 4
993 175 35 3
932 171 29 2
899 165 26 2
880 132 24 2
697 132 22 2
611 120 20 1
605 99 17 1
602 97 16 1
599 79 15 1
360 72 10 ?
356 41 9    
344 39 9 1494
293 38 8    

1204 419 187 59
1083 379 130 53
911 365 125 39
865 285 118 39
795 257 110 33
738 248 108 29
697 230 101 27
675 214 97 19
634 211 74 14
560 205 70 10
551 199 64    
456 192 64    
 

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