This seedling of H. 'Dorset
Blue' was originated by
Dr. Ralph (Herb) Benedict of Michigan in the early 1990"s
and registered by
Ron Kuenster on his behalf in 2010. It is a small size
(10 inches high by 16 inches wide) plant with
streaked blue-green to dark green foliage that is somewhat
unruly. Very pale lavender flowers bloom in
July.
According to
The Hostapedia by Mark Zilis (2009), this cultivar "...has been highly sought since it
became known in the early 1990"s. As a heavily variegated, small
size
Tardiana type cultivar,
it can be used as a source of small, thick-substanced,
variegated seedlings." From the
Field Guide to Hostas by Mark Zilis (2014), "...a hybridizer's dream."
The New Encyclopedia of Hostas by
Diana
Grenfell (2009) states: "Slow growth rate...A much sought-after breeding
plant."
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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