Thanks very much,

Don B.
Westminster, CO.

He has had no success with Great Expectations in two states and four gardens. Three ago he bought Dream Queen because he does like the Great Expectatios appearance when prime, but last year he lost that too.

Last year he bought Dream Weaver for me to start me with my hosta container garden, hoping I will have more success. I m excitedly waiting for dormancy to break to see how she is doing. If she does well I am very tempted to try GE in pots.

I'd helped pot up the two teeny remnants of DQ last spring, which is what has gotten me started in container hostas. They were eaten by vermin. When dug up the plant showed evidence of crown rot. He told me when he bought it the roots looked ike octopus arms. He has records showing all of the GE he'd lost looked the same way, regarding their crowns. Each had been planted at different depths and it didn't seem to matter.

For what he spent on his GE's and DQ, I wouldn't balk at the cost of Beach Boy from what I have just read in your thread, if it is sturdier. My girlfriend has Thunderbolt and I love it. She also has GE's that are growing like weeks.

Which brings me to ask if unusually heavy fertilization helps with growing the GE family. I feel she uses a lot of liquid fertilizer during the summer-like once a week. Her DH mixes Miracle-Gro literally by the buckets and pours it over her hostas. (He does this in the evening, of all times!) It could have to do with the volume of water too.

I don't know if this helps or hurts, Don. All I can do is pass on the message.
Theresa

"dhaven
Some varieties are very picky about growing conditions, and unless they are planted in optimum conditions, they will either remain small, or fade away and die. The best example of this I know of is Great Expectations, which also happens to be my favorite hosta. A great many people have lost this one, sometimes more than once. I have three very large mature plants, and they are the prettiest thing in the garden. It took some experimentation, but there are three things that GE absolutely must have to thrive. First, and most importantly, plant it shallowly. It's going to be a very large plant, so the natural inclination is to plant it deeply, but this will kill it faster than anything else. Plant it so shallowly you are convinced that it will tip over, and you've got it right. Secondly, it likes a lot of light. Dappled shade is ideal, but it will take several hours of direct sun, either morning or afternoon. Third, it likes a lot of water. If you give a GE all three of these things, you will increase your chances of growing it into an absolutely stunning plant.
If you want to try any of the hostas that have the reputation of being difficult, be prepared to try different locations and growing methods, and possibly go through several plants before you discover what works for that variety in your location. When you do find out what works, please share the information with the rest of us!"

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0714573426103.html

http://www.pwk.resteddoginn.ca/hosta_dreamq.php

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg111439182431.html

and it goes on and on....all references from our forum. I did the search with Google for
Dream weaver queen hosta
so much easier than searching with the forum search.

The answer of this question could mean a lot to the choices Don seeks help with; and how I should plan to grow mine.

Theresa

"I forgot about H. 'Lakeside Shoremaster'. From what I've seen in pics, that looks quite similar to 'D. Queen' and 'D. Weaver'. At least in pics it does?"

Zilis in his Hostapedia says Lakeside Shore Master and St. Paul are similar, LSM being taller at maturity. The margin on Lakeside Shore Master at maturity is 1/2" wider than St. Paul's. Boy am I in trouble; I didn't allow my LSM enough space.

Also, he states that Dream Queen/Weaver and Thunderbolt are similar. From the mature measurements he quotes, it's my impression that Dream Queen/Weaver and Thunderbolt are taller plants than the first group. Zilis states that Dream Weaver is taller than Thunderbolt at maturity. Dream Weaver has a wider margin than Dream Queen. Zilis didn't find that Thunderbolt had a wider margin than Dream Weaver at maturity.

Zilis doesn't list Beach Boy. I believe that's because BB was introduced after 2008. BB looks a lot like Great Expectations to me.

Thaks also for the heads-up on H.'Beach Boy'...Jim's Hostas also has it now, listed at $19.00; Being a hosta junkie, now I'm considering getting a couple of the varieties we've talked about...Then in the future my opinion may be of value in helping another newbie with his/her decisions......I'll post my decision(s) as I make 'em, I'm sure it'll involve more that one retailer

Thanks Again!

Don B.
Currently 6 deg. F in
Westminster, CO.

P.S. Thanks for the GE info also, I have 2, and the one in 4 hours of morning sun was doing noticably better than the one in med. shade for the day...I'll re-site the runt in the Spring, for sure. I got this one from NH Hostas, and with all the A.M. sun, it about doubled its size in the summer...Hopefully we'll get a leap when it rises again.

I have DW and Thunderbolt at GE all in the same section of the garden. Thunderbolt, IMO is the most distinctive, with the widest margin. DQ is in a completely different section, getting much less sun, and it's just not that memorable.

After having all 3 planted in their spots since 2008, I'd say Thunderbolt is the best performer.

The other 3, to me are basically the same shade of blue/green (like that of Elegans)