Hosta 'Time in a Bottle' Compact Growth with Wavy Leaf Margins
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a new Hosta cultivar that combines specific traits such as small-sized, lanceolate leaves with a moderately wavy margin, compact mounded habit, and dark-purple flowers that do not open, which are not found in existing Hosta cultivars.
Innovation Solution
The development of Hosta 'Time in a Bottle', a hybrid resulting from a cross between 'Atom Smasher' and '11-463-02', characterized by its unique leaf shape, color, and flower arrangement, which is asexually propagated and stable across generations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If Hosta cultivars have chartreuse leaf blades with wavy margins, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but leaf shape uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by specifying that only certain parts of the leaf (the margins) have wavy characteristics while the central portion remains relatively flat and uniform. This localized application of waviness maintains overall leaf shape consistency while providing aesthetic appeal through the wavy margins.
2Volume of moving object
If Hosta cultivars have smaller habit with smaller leaves, then space efficiency is improved, but visual impact deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite effect by combining multiple traits: chartreuse-colored leaves provide bright visual impact, wavy margins add textural interest, and the compact mounded habit maintains small size. This composite combination allows the plant to achieve visual prominence through color and texture rather than size.
3Shape
If Hosta cultivars have dark-purple flowers that do not open, then flower color intensity is improved, but reproductive function deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the aesthetic function of the flowers (dark-purple color and compact arrangement) while separating it from the reproductive function. The flowers serve primarily as ornamental elements that do not open, allowing the cultivar to maintain high color saturation and compact form without the constraints of reproductive requirements.
4Adaptability or versatility
If Hosta cultivars have compact mounded habit, then garden usability is improved, but growth potential deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by describing the habit as 'compact mounded' with leaves that are 'arching' and have a 'moderately wavy margin'. This creates a dynamic form that appears compact from above but has vertical movement and texture through the arching leaves and wavy margins, providing visual interest within a compact footprint suitable for various garden applications.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct Hosta plant named ‘Time in a Bottle’ of arching, lanceolate, chartreuse leaves having a lustrous underside and moderately wavy margins. The flowers are dark purple and tightly congested on upright to slightly-outwardly dark-reddish scapes above the foliage and typically do not open. ‘Time in a Bottle’ has excellent, small, compact, mounded habit and is useful in the landscape, in containers, as a specimen or en masse.