Hosta 'My Fair Lady' Variegated Leaf Local Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a new Hosta cultivar that combines specific traits such as a broadly horizontal mound habit, medium-sized ovate to broadly ovate leaves with dark green margins and creamy yellow centers, and pale lavender campanulate flowers, which are not found in existing cultivars.
Innovation Solution
The development of the Hosta 'My Fair Lady' cultivar, hybridized from the proprietary unreleased hybrid WGI-36 and 'Elatior', which exhibits unique characteristics like smooth leaves with impressed adaxial veins, medium-sized ovate leaves, and pale lavender flowers on upright, glaucous scapes, achieved through asexual propagation and shoot tip tissue culture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If Hosta cultivars with blue-green leaf blades are selected, then the foliage color is improved, but the leaf margin definition and variegation pattern are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating distinct zones within the leaf blade with different characteristics: the margins maintain dark green coloration while the central region develops creamy yellow variegation. This spatial differentiation of leaf properties resolves the contradiction by allowing the center to express vibrant color variation while the margins preserve structural definition and dark green pigmentation.
2Area of moving object
If Hosta cultivars with larger foliage size are selected, then the visual impact is improved, but the habit and growth form become less compact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges contrasting parental traits to achieve an optimal balance: from one parent it inherits medium-sized foliage with compact habit, while from the other it receives the characteristic horizontal mound growth form. The resulting cultivar combines these elements to produce a compact horizontal mound habit with medium-sized leaves, resolving the contradiction between foliage size and growth form.
3Strength
If Hosta cultivars with thicker and stiffer foliage are selected, then the leaf substance is improved, but the flexibility and arching habit are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the physical properties of the foliage to achieve optimal balance. The leaves exhibit medium thickness and moderate substance rather than being excessively thick or stiff, which allows them to maintain a graceful arching habit while still providing sufficient structural integrity. This adjustment of the thickness parameter resolves the contradiction between foliage strength and flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct Hosta plant named ‘My Fair Lady’ producing medium-sized broadly horizontal mounds of basal, ovate to broadly ovate leaves with acute apices, cordate bases and flat margins. The leaves are variegated having dark green margins and creamy-yellow centers with intermediate color separation between the margin and center of variably large segments of several shades of chartreuse. The campanulate flowers beginning in mid-July are very pale lavender with white edges appearing on glaucous, light-green scapes. ‘My Fair Lady’ is useful in the landscape, as a container plant, a specimen or en masse.