Hostas That Resemble Each Other

John Plant
Aug 1
3 min read

Hostas are a wonderful leafy perennial, grown for their fabulous variety of leaf colours and shapes. They range from single-coloured varieties such as blue, green & yellow through to a vast range a variegated ones of white & green, yellow & green, right through to some striped ones.

There are thousands of varieties on the market and inevitably, some look very similar to others. There are definite advantages to this, one of which is if you can’t get the one you desire, there is usually an alternative that looks similar.

So, how do we tell the difference? What makes this variety different to the other one. Are they not the same variety?

They all have different variety names, so therefore they must be different. Although, I agree, it is often difficult to see the difference. Many are derived from a sport of a particular Hosta that carries some or most of the characteristics of the parent plant. You can actually see in the sports, many of the parent Hostas characteristics.

A good example of such sports, and parent Hosta are members of the Hosta Striptease family. There are many sports from Hosta Striptease such as.. Hosta T Dawg, Hosta Risky Business, Hosta Kiwi Full Monty, Hosta Gypsy Rose, Hosta Snake Eyes and several others that look a bit different such as Hosta Pin-up & Hosta White Bikini. Hosta Striptease is a

sport of Hosta Gold Standard.

The two that tend to look most similar in respect of the leaf colour are Hosta Striptease and Hosta Gypsy Rose. The video above shows the main differences.

Both have rounded long leaves with a lighter green centre, enhanced by the wide darker green margins. Both have a habit of drooping leaves to show the full potential of the colouring.

So, what make the difference? Hosta Gypsy Rose is the smaller and slower growing of the two. She will make about 25cm in height whilst Hosta Striptease will make about 55cm. Hosta Striptease is a medium to large when mature. Both will look very similar in the first year then Hosta Striptease will take off. Both have lavender flowers in July- August. Both are slug resistant.

The main difference is that Hosta Striptease has a narrow white line between the two greens when mature, Hosta Gypsy Rose, not so much, although sometimes there is a hint once mature.

The next group of similar looking Hostas are derived from Hosta Touch of Class. Hosta Touch of Class is a sport of Hosta June. A very similar Hosta is Hosta Grand Marquee. Although not a sport of Hosta Touch of Class, it is very similar, particularly when young.

Other similar Hostas are Catherine & Cream Topping.

Hosta Touch of class have waxy, rounded, spear-shaped blue/green leaves with a pale green centre. As does Hosta Grand Marquee, but the margin is much wider. Both are medium sized Hostas but Hosta Grand Marquee is a little taller. Both are slug resistant and sun tolerant. Once established, Hosta Grand Marquee is often a darker green overall, with a narrower pale green centre. Hosta Grand Marquee, a sport of Hosta Carder Blue, is an almost ‘bullet-proof’ Hosta but not always available. So, a good alternative is Touch of Class.

Another group of similar Hostas are the looky-likey’s to Hosta Bobcat, Hosta Wolverine & Hosta Lakeside Dragonfly. Now none of these are related to the others, they just look similar.

They all have long, lance-shape leaves of a rich green centre and cream to white margins. They all form a lovely mound of variegated leaves but with Hosta Lakeside Dragonfly, they tend to droop to the edges, making it perfect for displaying in pots & containers.

Hosta Bobcat may develop a more cream/yellow margin as it matures. Its margins stay white for the first few years anyway. Wolverine is a winner of many awards.

If you can’t get the one you want, surely one of the others may be available.

Of course there are many Hostas that look similar to others, far too many to mention, but here are a few more to consider that if you can’t get the one you want, there is usually an alternative.

Try Hosta Golden Tiara for Hosta Grand Tiara, Or possibly Hosta Hands Up if you can’t get Hosta Praying Hands.

Possibly Hosta Golden Meadows for Hosta Coloured Hulk or even Hosta Whirlwind.

Compare Hosta Minuteman with Hosta Patriot, or Hosta Halcyon with Hosta Hadspen Blue.

There are many more, you just need to ask. There is generally an very similar alternative, to be had, somewhere..

"Happy Yorkshire Day"