Gardeners’ Forum: “white feather hosta”
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Posted by eleanor smith on Thursday, July 19, 2007 12:44 pm ADTI ordered these plants from the catalogue and planted them in what I thought were perfect conditions. I have other Hosta growing near them but the white ones have 'failed to thrive' They sprouted several leaves each and then started to sort of whither. I've dug up and potted one of them to try to save it. It's barely holding its own.Does anybody have any experience with this unusual plant and any ideas on what I should do to save it.?es zone 6b
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Faye on Friday, July 20, 2007 7:53 am ADTThe same thing happened to my White Feather Hosta, it started to wither away despite being in an ideal location. I left it alone and it is now sending up new growth. I'm not sure why it died back but it's coming back nicely now.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by sharon coombs on Sunday, July 22, 2007 9:33 am ADTHi Eleanor: I have had the same problem, mine withered away and eventually died, before I had a chance to dig it up, I noticed a new shoot, so I'm leaving it alone and hoping for the best, hostas need a lot of water, so I'm hoping that it dried out while it was being shipped, and now with shade and a lot of water, it will come back----hostas are pretty hard to kill. Good luck
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Nikki on Friday, July 27, 2007 4:25 pm ADTHi, mine withered and died :o( The 2 "normal" variegated hostas that came the same shipment and planted the same area are doing great. No sign of new growth from white feather yet...I think she's gone.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Mary on Thursday, August 2, 2007 9:12 pm ADTI have the same problem with my white hostas. Dug it up today and brought it in the house. The root system looks really good but the leaves are almost destroyed. Had it in with other hostas and started out beautifully. Gave 3 away to daughters and daughter-in-law but theirs have all died. Have sent an email to Vesey's for their input.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by eleanor smith on Thursday, August 9, 2007 7:27 pm ADTThe one White Feather Hosta I potted up had a fairly healthy looking root, but the white leaves had whithered completely. I neglected to toss it out and yesterday I noticed two little vigorous looking green hosta leaves have come up from this root. Mysterious....
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Karin Cassie on Thursday, August 16, 2007 7:59 pm ADTMy White Feather Hosta came up beautifully, then started to turn brown and withered. Same story. I too put it into a pot, and it is now coming up green. Disappointing, considering how beautiful it was in white.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Pat Gallant on Friday, August 17, 2007 6:23 pm ADTWe are finding that this variety of Hosta is much more delicate than most other hostas and more prone to crown rot as it is produced by tissue culture. Special treatment may be required to have success with this plant. The unique colouration, however, makes the extra effort worthwhile. In general, variegated plants tend to be less hardy than solid green plants. This is because there is less leaf area filled the chlorophyll with which to capture sunlight. In the case of the White Feather, all of the leaf area is white when it first breaks through the ground - although it does develop green streaks (some leaves may become totally green) as it matures - but don't panic, it will emerge white again next spring. Because of this, White Feather requires more light than regular hostas. It is best to start this plant in a large pot and keep it evenly moist, but not soaking. Use a good quality potting soil (a 50:50 mix of potting soil and compost would be ideal). Although not really necessary you can drench the soil in 'No Damp' to discourage fungal rot and dip the roots in a rooting compound such as 'Roots' to encourage root growth. Once the hosta has reached a reasonable size, but is not root bound, it is time to plant into the garden.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by Karin on Friday, August 17, 2007 11:59 pm ADTI have contacted Vesey's about the White Feather Hosta. They said they found it to be a more delicate plant - prone to crown rot. They also said it requires more sun than the other hostas. Veseys did offer me a credit for the plant. Hope this helps.
re: white feather hosta
Posted by eleanor smith on Monday, June 2, 2008 6:58 pm ADTJune 2,2008. The one White Feather Hosta I kept in the ground over winter is up. So far it has four truly white leaves and actually seems to be thriving. I planted it in a full sun location as advised and it made all the difference. Just an update. I'm sure others had similar successes. It would appear that this plant is not a dud after all. ES
