Shadowland Whee Hosta - Hosta of the Year 2021

Over the course of my gardening history, I think I've only bought ONE "plant of the year".  Back in 2013, I bought a single Blue Indigo (Baptisia Australis) from Luurs Nursery based on the sign calling it out as "Perennial Of The Year in 2010" and planted it in front of our fence in Elmhurst.  I always liked that plant and thought that I should have bought more (see yesterday's post about mistakes).  

But, that might change this year.  I came across the 2021 Hosta of the Year from Proven Winners named Shadowland Wheee Hosta.  Walter's Garden bills this as the third Hosta of the Year (the 2021 version) and somehow they've already called next year's (2022) Hosta of the Year (Hosta Shadowland Diamond Lake).  Here's what it looks like:

Source via Proven Winners.

This year's winner (Whee) is described:

Extremely ruffled, cream colored margins extend from the tip of each green leaf all the way down the petiole to the crown. This ruffled margin is evident even in the juvenile stage of the plant before vernalization. The leaves of this medium sized hosta are of excellent substance, making them slug resistant in the landscape.

Those ruffles are quite something, aren't they?  

I bought my first (and only) ruffled hosta (Waterslide) last Fall at the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale and fell for it - it was blue AND had ruffles.  But, as I mentioned yesterday, I made a rookie mistake - and only bought one.  If/when I come across these Whee ones, I won't make the same mistake.