This small size hosta has deep blue foliage with thick substance.
It was originated by
Dr. Ralph (Herb) Benedict
of Michigan and
registered by him and
Dr. Bob Olson of Minnesota in 1997. The pale
lavender flowers are borne in clusters on 10 inch scapes. The plant
is a
self-pollinated seedling of H. 'Dorset Blue'
and
very slowly grows to be a
small size (9 inches high) clump is
about 18 inches wide. Its foliage has
thick substance and is considered slug resistant.
The Hostapedia by Mark Zilis (2009), says that this plant falls into a category of
"cultivars that exhibit many
Tardiana traits but are
not a part of Eric Smith's original group."
The
Hosta Journal (1993 Vol. 24 No. 2) contained an article
by Dr Bob
Olson regarding a visit he and others made to the garden of
Dr Ralph (Herb) Benedict. "We spent the afternoon looking at the end result
of his marvelous hybridization scheme. Dr. Benedict would recite the perfect
logic by which such crosses were conceived and executed.
Tardianas to the F-6 generation were
created by crossing the most fertile of one hundred 'Dorset
Blue's with their most fertile offspring. He ended up creating more new
Tardianas than
Eric Smith
had done. (Smith was thwarted at the F-3 generation when he ran into relatively
sterile plants.)
The blues Dr. Benedict chose to name are all rather small and
very blue indeed. In order of decreasing size: 'Blue
Jay', 'Blue Ice', 'Blue
Chip', and the smallest of the lot 'Blue
Urchin'...Somehow in his crosses he came up with a pure Tardiana hybrid
which is streaked and splashed - and give variegated seedlings (often fifty
percent or more)...he produced a 'Dorothy
Benedict'-like-Tardiana, 'Dorset Clown'.
The possibilities of this plant ignited our imaginations: can you envision a
whole series of variegated Tardiana offspring?"
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