Hi everybody! I hope you all are doing well.

I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread dedicated to hosta identification. There are so many of us who need hostas identified by the experts and the threads asking for identification get lost in the thread feed abyss. So, the idea here is to have a thread that serves as a corral for hosta ID that's easy to find.

I'll start with my mystery hosta.

This hosta is brand new this season, from a mail order company that true gardeners prefer not to obtain their plants from, but I cave bc of price, knowing that I have to give their plants extra special TLC. I potted it bc it was shipped bare root with a nub so it's still a young plant. It was supposed to be 'Raspberry Sundae' and it was labelled as such, but it's looking nothing like Raspberry Sundae at all. I'm thinking that it resembles 'Guacamole' but I really have no idea. 🤷🤷 So, if anybody can help with identification, I'd really appreciate it.

I agree no way to the Raspberry Sundae .I am going to guess Rainforest Sunrise, is that one the vendor carries.

No they don't carry Rainforest Sunrise. 🤷 Between you, me, and the lamp post, the vendor is Breck's

My lands! Why didn't I think of looking at their inventory!! .....and they don't even carry Guacamole, which was my guess

These are their inventory possibilities that appear to be the closest match to mine:




I'm leaning toward 'Stained Glass', but I don't know how close seedling color can be to the mature color.🤷
Here's mine again:


Please forgive my rookie hosta knowledge, but are seedling size leaves typically smooth, and then gain texture as they mature?

Some plants take a few seasons before you get the texture.

So which cultivar do you think it might be?

Out of those choices I guess Stained Glass. Light can really affect the color of them , I have 2 and the one in sun looks different then the one in full shade. Also many first year plants look different then mature ones.

That is not Stained Glass, Stained Glass is not yellow nor has a dark margin also it has heart shaped leaves not round.
Paradigm is not yellow either, it is light gold if it gets some sun but for the most part it is goldish green with a medium margin.
This cannot be anything except Popcorn Hosta, check the data base, here is a link to a photo of this very unusual hosta. We need to get one of these!

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Is that an early season or late season picture of your plant, I thought Popcorn turned white as the year progressed.

It is from the database. It is my understanding that some hostas get bleached out near the end of the season from too much sun. Check out my 'Captain Kirk' it is getting too much sun, it is mostly white but not described as a 'white' hosta.
The database describes 'Popcorn' hosta as yellow, but not the others. This is a very unusual hosta and is nothing like Paradigm or Stained Glass which I do have.

I have a few Hostas that get bleached out, one of which is Lemon Snap. I like the different color variations that Hostas express through the seasons

virginiarose said:That is not Stained Glass, Stained Glass is not yellow nor has a dark margin also it has heart shaped leaves not round.
Paradigm is not yellow either, it is light gold if it gets some sun but for the most part it is goldish green with a medium margin.
This cannot be anything except Popcorn Hosta, check the data base, here is a link to a photo of this very unusual hosta. We need to get one of these!

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• Hosta 'Popcorn'
• Uploaded by HemNorth

I see what you mean.

You welcome!

I have "Popcorn". It's yellow center turns white later in the season. Here it is Aug 7th.

Very pretty! I was going to add that as well, most do not stay yellow all year even in perfect conditions. I had 'Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' one time and it only stayed yellow for one week when it first unfolded in the spring, the rest of the year it was a butt ugly green. I threw it into the trash can.

I was disappointed in that one as well, however it did not return in its second year.

I am not surprised.

I had Popcorn 2 seasons ago and it did not overwinter. It had turned white much earlier in the season. Late June early July. My gardens do get some afternoon sun.
My Stained Glass that is in the sun gets pretty yellow looking the one in the shade not so much. The sun one gets like this one.

It does not seem to stay yellow very long, I had that happen to me before, they do not tell you this information. The hosta I purchased was very expensive and only stayed yellow for one week out of the year.

You haven't included any info (unless it was offered later and I missed it) about the size of the hosta. It made me think of an immature 'June', but I'd really like to know how large the leaves are. And, if it was new this year, it could look quite different next year. Finally, I wouldn't trust Breck's to know one hosta from another; so what you have and what they said it is are obviously quite different. I could also see yours being an immature 'Rainforest Sunrise'. But next year, start taking pictures early in the season and take them regularly. Note not only size but colour in early spring and later (many change colour during the season), when it blooms and the shape and colour of the flower as well as the scape colour and whether the flower is fragrant or not.

Good Morning Ann, good to see you, I hope all is well.

She narrowed it down to three possibilities and just by the hybridizers description we can see they are two different plants since one has round leaves and one has heart shaped leaves. If they both have different leaves then they are different plants and no need to look further as far as I am concerned.
I was going to say the same thing about Breck's, but that was the only photo she had and it had been photoshopped like so many others I see, I wish they were not allowed. But my post was based on facts in the data base, it was not my opinion, I never had a Hosta Popcorn, but I did have Stained Glass and the leaves are not shaped like that and they are very thin. I will not be caught sniffing it because the neighbors think I am weird already.