I apologize in advance for this unusual offering for In a Vase on Monday.  Rather than present a display of today’s garden blooms, I would like to offer a conundrum concerning a hosta whose identity I have lost over time. I reviewed all of the hosta labels in my file without a resolution, so this must be one I moved from my Chapel Hill garden nine years ago, sans label. My internet search gave me no definitive answer. It has some unusual characteristics which I will show. I am not by any measure a hosta expert, although I have been growing them for decades. Perhaps someone out there can help me with the identification. I do display this one in a vase, to keep at least a wee bit within the spirit of today’s meme.

The foliage color and shape are not particularly distinctive, fairly standard and without variegation.

I do find the flower display somewhat unusual, at least for all the hostas I have grown over the years. The blossoms on almost all my hostas are essentially tubular when they are completely open. The flower on this one opens widely. I might add that it does not have a distinctive fragrance as several white blossom hostas do.

The other unusual feature I have noted is that substantial leaves are growing on the flowering scape. I have not seen that on any of the other hostas in my gardens. The other scapes are bare except for some very small items of vegetation at intervals, nothing that one might call a “leaf” like the foliage in this photograph.

I suspect these features may not be unique; there are so many hosta cultivars out there. But I would appreciate help if possible to identify this hosta given the clues I have presented. Are you growing a hosta with these characteristics? This is not a contest, just a request to help this old gardener satisfy his curiosity.

You may want to click on In a Vase on Monday to visit the delightful postings of Cathy, the originator of this meme. I do hope she will not be disappointed by this offering.