Very little work was being done with the narrow leaf and small species, while Hosta sieboldiana was being hybridized to death. I propose to all hybridizers, a 10 foot rule. If you can not recognize a new hosta from ten feet away, by name, that hosta should not be saved. We need to work to introduce distinctive hostas with good substance that actually grow. With most of the new introductions coming from tissue culture, there is no new introduction of new genes.
Nothing is changed genetically about the plant except the color of the leaves.
There was also virtually no work being done in breeding for better flowers. The only way to improve flowers and include better genes was through controlled hybridizing. Did I mention a shortage of hybridizers. What was initially viewed as a glut, was merely a lot of busy bees. While the bees have made a lot of folks, a lot of money, how many bees spend the night contemplating the next days crosses.