Hirao Majesty - Elegance
Tuesday, July 04, 2017
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| Hosta 'Hirao Majesty' July 4 2017 |
In 1986 when my Rosemary, our two daughters and I moved to a house with a large garden in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood of Vancouver my knowledge of gardening was comparable to my knowledge of particle physics.
Now in 2017 I know a lot about hostas but I find no charm in
particle physics.
For about 15 years I attended conventions of the American
Hosta Society and I met and became friends with many of the legendary
hybridizers of the genus. In short I know my stuff.
In 2002 during a lull in my photographic assignments (how
would I suspect then that the lull was going to be a permanent one?) I decided
to find out what would happen if I lay a bourbon rose, Rosa ‘Reine Victoria’ on my very good Epson flatbed scanner (I have
an even better one now, an Epson Perfection V700 Photo). The result (lots of
beginner’s luck) was spectacular.
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| Rosa 'Reine Victoria' 2002 |
I thought about it and decided that henceforth I would scan as
many of my plants (especially my roses) at 100% for accuracy of size and I
would record the date of the scan.
Now on July 4, 2017 I have in my files (and backed up) many
scans as Tiffs. In some cases as in Reine Victoria which is a hard to grow rose
in our rainy Vancouver springs, the scans are the only record of plants that
once did well in my garden but bid me goodbye. Somehow this scan of Reine
Victoria ameliorates my loss.
In our front door in our Kitsilano duplex I have a large
dark green and shiny hosta. I was not too sure of its name ( I lost the label in the moving from Kerrisdale) but I had my
suspicion. With many hostas, particularly the variegated ones the best way to
identify them is through the appearance of the yet unopened flowers on the
scapes (hosta nomenclature for stems), by the colour when they open and if
there is a hint of fragrance.
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| Hosta 'Hirao Majesty' July 4 2017 |
For the last two weeks I have admired the unopened flower.
It is to my eyes as elegant as a Chinese spoon. I reluctantly cut it today to
scan it.
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| Hosta 'Hirao Majesty' June 30 2014 |
I decided that the hosta was Hosta ‘Hirao Majesty’. After
my scans when I stored them I noticed I already had some Hirao Majesty Tiffs.
To my delight when I opened them they confirmed my suspicion that outside my
door is a hosta, that is not variegated. It is just green but if you look at it
its elegance is obvious to the eye.
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| Hosta 'Hirao Majesty' July 4 2017 |
