This slow growing
tissue culture sport of H. 'Blue
Mouse Ears' was registered by
Walters Gardens,
Inc. of Michigan in 2009. It is a miniature size plant about 3½ inches high
by 5 inches wide with slightly blue-green foliage that has a creamy white medial
(center) variegation. The leaves are broadly ovate, flat, dull on top and have a
rounded base. Medium lavender flowers with darker veins bloom from June into
July. It sets seeds but their viability was undetermined at the time of registration.
According to
The Book of Little Hostas
by Kathy Guest Shadrack and
Michael Shadrack (2010), "...a fine addition
to the H. 'Blue Mouse Ears' dynasty...Needs tender loving care when first planted. An
excellent plant for the shaded rockery and fairy garden, and a fine addition to
the H. 'Blue Mouse Ears' dynasty."
Jan
van den Top, hybridizer from the Netherlands, believes that H. 'Pure
Heart' is actually the same as H. 'Desert
Mouse'.
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Warren I. Pollock
wrote comments about the many sports of H. 'Blue Mouse Ears' (which he termed
BME) in
The
Hosta Journal (2012 Vol. 43 No. 2). He stated, "Jan van den Top
reports 'Pure Heart' and 'Desert Mouse' are the same hosta. Also, 'Holy Mouse Ears' comes up with plain blue-green leaves; after a month or so, a
creamy-white center develops somewhat more yellow than others in this
variegation group. Recall: 'Holy Mouse Ears' is from 'Royal Mouse Ears'." |
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An article by
Warren I. Pollack in
The
Hosta Journal (2020 Vol. 51 No. 1) titled
Doppelgänger Hostas: Fancy Name for
Look-alike Hostas, included a long list of hostas
which various hostaphiles, published articles or other sources have
indicated "look" the same. Some of these are, in fact, the same
plant with two or more different names. Others are hostas that vary
in some minor trait which is not immediately discernable to the
casual observer such as seasonal color variations, bloom traits, ploidy, etc. So, as Warren mentions, hostaphiles may differ as to the
plants listed but then, their opinions are based on visual observations and interpretations. |
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H.
'Pure Heart' is included on two look-alike lists in this
article. Following an algebra rule I learned in the last century, if
A=B and B=C, then A=C so all the hostas on both lists should be
look-alikes...right? Also, all the hostas on both lists are medially
(center) variegated except for H. 'Mighty Mouse' which has
marginal variegation.
List #1 -
H. 'Holy Mouse Ears',
H. 'Mighty Mouse',
H. 'Mouse Trap', H.
'Pure Heart' and
H. 'Snow
Mouse'
List #2 - H.
'Desert
Mouse', H. 'Mighty
Moe', H. 'Minerva
Mouse Ears' and
H. 'Pure Heart' |
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