Hostas are native to Japan, China and Korea. They were first grown and imported into the United States in the late 1800's. Originally hostas were green. Because of hybridizing (seedlings) or mutations called "sports" we now have thousands of different cultivars of hostas. A "sport" is the mutation of a plant. These mutations or sports are discovered in the wild, public and private gardens, nurseries and maybe in your own garden. A sport is a genetic change in part of the plant producing a shoot different from the parent plant. In the picture above, this is what the hosta "Gold Standard" should look like.
This is "Gold Standard" with a mutation. The mutation is white, green and lime green.
If you find a sport in your hosta. Carefully divide the hosta and remove the sport. Plant the sport as a separate new plant. It is important that the sport plant is stable and that it continues to regrow looking the same year after year. If it is stable and really different, you may have a new cultivar for the hosta market and one that can be registered with the American Hosta Society. To learn more about hostas consider joining the American Hosta Society (see the link).
Now go check that garden for a sport!
Happy Gardening!
The Creative Gardener