Midnight Blue with a Flash of Purple — Don Dean's Most Dramatic Creation
Don Dean registered Hosta 'Round About Midnight' in 2019 from a cross of (H. 'Astral Bliss' × H. 'Purple Verticulated Elf') and H. 'Deane’s Dream'. The ovate, cordate-based leaves are an intense blue-green with a heavy glaucous coating on both surfaces, forming a vase-shaped upright mound with striking saturated purple stripes running up both sides of every petiole. Ten to eleven deeply impressed vein pairs reinforce the bold surface texture across leaves reaching 20 cm × 11 cm (8" × 4.3"). It grows reliably across Canadian hardiness zones 3–9 in partial to full shade.
-
Saturated Purple Petiole Stripes: Rich purple colouration runs up both sides of every petiole, creating a dramatic two-tone effect at the base of each leaf that is visible throughout the growing season and unlike any other blue hosta.
-
Intense Glaucous Blue-Green Foliage: A heavy wax coating on both leaf surfaces delivers a deep, saturated blue-green tone that holds well through the heat of summer, backed by a slightly rippled and downward-cupped habit.
-
Upright Vase-Shaped Habit: Forms a tidy, architectural vase-shaped mound 41 cm (16") tall and 74 cm (29") wide at a moderate growth rate, making it an ideal specimen for smaller shade borders.
-
Glaucous Blue-Green Scapes: Tall 53–58 cm (21–23") scapes carry the glaucous blue-green colouring right up to the flowers, reinforcing the cultivar’s cohesive cool-toned presence from ground to bloom.
-
Pale Lavender Tubular Blooms: Elegant 3.8 cm (1.5") pale lavender flowers with translucent margins bloom in mid to late summer, and this cultivar sets viable seed with medium green pods.
| Feature |
Specification |
| Size (H × W) |
41 cm × 74 cm (16" × 29") |
| Hardiness Zone |
3–9 |
| Colour |
Intense blue-green with purple petiole stripes |
| Light Requirements |
Partial to full shade |
Grower's Tip: 'Round About Midnight' handles Canadian winters with ease from Zone 3 through 9, and the purple petiole colouration is most vivid in spring emergence — a show worth watching for gardeners from Victoria to St. John's. At our nursery in Bécancour, QC, we verify the signature purple petiole stripes and intense glaucous coating on every division before it ships. Our True to Type standard means you receive the authentic Hosta 'Round About Midnight', verified before it leaves Bécancour.
