Registered by
Peter and Jean
Ruh of Ohio in 2003
and
re-registered
with new data in
2018, this cultivar
is of unidentified parentage but thought to be of
H. 'Sieboldiana'
background. According to
The Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid (1991), this plant was
originally imported into Germany from
Japan by
Karl Foerster in the 1930s. 'Semperaurea'
is a large size (24 inches high by 48 inches wide) hosta with foliage that starts
the season light greenish and changes to golden-yellow colored as
the season progresses. The leaves are broadly ovate and
have a glaucous bloom on top. Near white flowers bloom
on scapes 28 to 32 inches tall in late
June followed by viable seeds. According to the
registration information, "...frequent gold seedlings;
shows less tendency to become necrotic in direct sun...Introducer:
K. Foerster...lutescent, first green, then chartreuse to
yellowish green in spring, golden yellow by anthesis..."
Nomenclature changes recommended in the
1991 book The
Genus Hosta by
W. George Schmid and accepted by The American Hosta Society would update names as follows: H. x
tardiana is now Tardiana Group.
The German name for this cultivar is H. 'Dauergoldfunkie'.
An article by W. George Schmid in
The
Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "The other
German hosta of great interest is H. 'Semperaurea'...it is the most
magnificent golden-leaved hosta I have seen...said to have come from
Japan in
the 1930's, and, therefore, there would have existed a golden-margined form of
H. 'Sieboldiana' -- which we now call H. 'Frances Williams' -- in Japan during
that time." An article by W. George Schmid in
The
Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "In
England
Heinz Klose obtained a number of
H. x tardiana plants after
Eric
Smith left Hadspen House nursery. He is also actively selecting and propagating
H. 'Semperaurea' seedlings...Named by him are several hybrid
seedlings: H. 'Goldpfeil' ('Gold Arrow'), H. 'Weisse Glocke' ('White Bell'), and
H. 'Zitronenfalter' ('Lemon Butterfly')...special cultivars with
H. 'Sieboldiana'
lines are: H. 'Blauglut' ('Blue Glow') and H. 'Blaue Wolke' ('Blue Cloud') which
reminds one of H. 'Blue Heaven'...with his H. x tardiana...has named one H. 'Irische
See' ('Irish Sea')...H. 'Nordatlantic'
('North Atlantic')..."
An article about H. 'Semperaurea' by W. George Schmid in
The
Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "Through the
kind cooperation of Mrs.
Ursula Syre-Herz of Coastal Gardens and Nursery in
Myrtle Beach, SC, I was able to obtain all of the pertinent information from
three of
Foerster's books in her
possession. All of the Books mention 'Dauergoldfunkie',
the German name for H. '
Semperaurea'...Foerster's books were
published before 1959, and thus the
Latin cultivar name 'Semperaurea' is
permissible under the Cultivated Code."
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