H. ‘Midnight Ride’

Overview

'Midnight Ride' is an all-green sport of 'Paul Revere', registered in 2004 with M. Zilis as originator, introducer and registrant and M. Vanous as namer. It arose from tissue culture. The leaf is dark green, 6 in (15.2 cm) by 4.5 in (11.4 cm), slightly shiny above with a thin glaucous bloom beneath, lightly wavy and lightly cupped. The registrant noted that it is possibly a tetraploid.

In the Garden

The record gives the habit as mound-like but no plant size, and the clump history says the original sport was two years old when registered. Medium lavender tubular flowers open from mid-July into early August on green scapes of 24 to 36 in (61.0 to 91.4 cm).

How it compares

The name follows the family line ('Francee', then 'Patriot', then 'Paul Revere'), and this is the all-green form of that line.

'Paul Revere', the parent, has a creamy white center with a 0.75 in dark green margin on a mound registered at 30 in across and 16 in high with a slow growth rate, with white-speckled scapes of 18 to 24 in. Pick 'Paul Revere' if a white-centered leaf matters more than scape height; 'Midnight Ride' is solid dark green, with scapes registered at 24 to 36 in.

'Minuteman', a 'Francee' sport, keeps the dark green center and adds a 0.75 in creamy white margin; its leaf is the same 6 in long (4 in wide against 4.5 in), on a registered mound 24 in across and 12 in high.

'Patriot', two steps back (Hosta of the Year 1997), has a 1 in white edge on a clump registered at 30 in across.

Flowers and other notes

No plant size is registered for 'Midnight Ride'; the record also leaves tetraploid status unconfirmed and seed set unknown. For the basics, see our guide to growing hostas.

Sources: AHS Registry records for 'Midnight Ride' (#3741), 'Paul Revere' (#4250), 'Patriot' (#4245), 'Minuteman' (#3792) and 'Francee' (#1915), hostaregistrar.org.