nope.. never heard of such ...

no experience either ...

ken

This is a good link to have when just wanting to see what falls into different categories...

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta sorted by types

There aren't many. Victory is extra large. It's not as large as EW, but a good sized hosta. You don't say what zone 8 you are in, but it does well here. (I'm in zone 8 in Texas, which is very different than zone 8 in Washington.) Look into some yellows. There are some nice big yellow ones.

bk

I am in European Zone 8 (Amsterdam Netherlands) Our climate is much the same as Seattle WA. Maybe Jumbo isnt the right word I was looking for because i want something that is about 3 ft tall and wide.

if you scroll thru a few pages of back posts [see bottom of page] ... you will find the alphabet series that this group of hosta addicts spent the last 3 months playing with ...

pix of every hosta in alpha order ...

there is no such thing as a jumbo .... you either want large.. or extra large ...

jumbo is used by sellers.. for a large plant at point of sale ...

zone 8 is not real hosta friendly.. it can be done.. but it might not be easy, depending where you are ... i think we have one or two TX peeps ... who i am sure will pop in ... if she didnt already .... its the second i am not sure of ... [but she thinks you are in the PNW.. and i have no clue why i think TX .. whats that all about]

ken

Ken looks like we were posting at the same time (my zone 8 is Euro zone 8 Amsterdam Netherlands it doesnt get hot here we have mild winters (usually) Our climate is like the PNW

Yellow River.

Hosta 'Titanic', 'Parhelion' and 'Sum of All'' will be large, and are sports of 'Sum and Substance'. They have slim or wide white or yellow borders. I have them, but it will take some time to get a real large plant. In spite of what others say about the border, I have beautiful large 'Frances Williams' hostas. You could look all these up in the Hosta Library.
Bernd

Have a look at some of Olga P's hostas they are pretty big not EW big but big enough mabey.

Brother Stefan, Mardis Gras and All that Jazz are available from Van den Top

Continental Divide and Gone with the wind are available from Fransen

Both nurseries are in the netherlands and have good reputations.

Hope this helps if not just look at the pretty pictures lol!

Denis

Here is a link that might be useful: Olga's Hostas

A picture (not mine) of 'All That Jazz'. Can get very large.

Don B.

A pic of 'Gone With the Wind' leaf. Again, not my pic or my plant. This is one of my favorite very large white-margined hostas. Pretty, ain't it? : )

Don B.

One I just planted last year is a sport of T-Rex,called Dino. It is variegated,and supposed to get very large. Here is a pic,but it was still very young. Phil

I am a bit confused. In a posting above you stated that:

I am in European Zone 8 (Amsterdam Netherlands) Our climate is much the same as Seattle WA. Maybe Jumbo isnt the right word I was looking for because i want something that is about 3 ft tall and wide.

Are you interested in hosta that are 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall? I am not sure if there are any that have that measurement at maturity.

Perhaps you could clarify what size you are looking for as a hosta measuring 3 feet x 3 feet would not be considered a jumbo/giant.

I found this information on gardenweb. Here are hosta size categories:

"Definition: Based on HEIGHT of the hosta Mini when it is between less than 4" tall Dwarf when it is between 4" and 6" tall Small when it is between 6" and 10" tall Medium when it is between 10" and 18" tall Large when it is between 18" and 28" tall Huge when it is over 28" tall

Definition: Based on DIAMETER of the hosta Mini when it is less than 10" in diameter. Dwarf when it is between 10" and 24" in diameter Small when it is between 25" and 36" in diameter Medium when it is between 37" and 48" in diameter Large when it is between 49" and 70" in diameter Huge when it is over 70" in diameter" - Contributed by Papou

You also may find this link of interest to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Website for standard height/width

I have a beautiful Atlantis near my Princess Wu. It's a yellow green combo. It's a large, which hosta library says will be about 5 ft. around. I'm not sure if it's quite 3 ft. tall, but the flowers will make it very tall when they come on. I think it's worth checking out if you want something large and showy.

Thank you to everyone and their replies. I suppose more information on my part will help others to help me so let me try to illustrate what it is i am trying to accomplish.

In this picture is the idea of what i am looking for. The lounge you see has a back that is 80cm tall which is 2.62 ft. I am raising the ground behind and around the lounge set up 40cm (1.31ft) in a raised bed. This leaves a difference of 1.31 ft (40cm) to reach the top of the lounge set. Naturally if the plant only reaches the height of the rear of the lounge you couldnt see it which is why I was looking for something that is 3 ft tall. The width of the planting area directly behind the lounge set is 1 meter (3.28ft) and I wanted to plant alternately the white/green variegated and the yellow/green variegated like you see in the picture.

Here is another pic just to show you what the entire area pretty much looks like. The Empress Wu will be between the clumping bamboo on both sides. (not the fountain side but the others)

If you can wait till next year Fransens are to release a variegated sport of Empress Wu called Wunderbar.
Hope the link works, if not a picture is featured on their home page.
David

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta Wunderbar

Waiting till next year isnt a problem. I am still finishing my front garden and doing a remodel in the house. I like to do my research and planning early instead of waiting till when i am ready to start moving on a project. I will work to getting the backyard into a blank canvas this summer so I will be ready to go next spring. The wunderbar is nice but I would prefer something with brighter color.

H.'Wunderbar' ist wunderschoen! I hope they will sell that in the US, probably via Naylor as a 2 year old plant? Bernd

I am not sure I understand you correctly, but I am wondering whether you can raise the soil level higher? I think that that is too deep as the hosta would be smallish to begin with and would barely be seen in your raised bed (in the first year or two). I am concerned too about the width you have of only 3 feet. With that width, it seems like you have room for only small sized hosta, or medium slow growing hosta, but I don't know of a hosta that size with the height you are looking for.

I can raise the beds no more than 60 cm (2ft) on any side to be able to keep the beds a uniform height. This is because the window sill begins at 60cm from the ground along the house. I was coming to the same conclusion that you had just mentioned about the 3 ft not being large enough to accommodate a plant the size I would like so I have reworked the design a bit and got rid of the back portion that was 3ft wide and opted to plant in large planted atop an end table that is 4ft long by nearly 3ft wide which will allow me to create the height I want flanking the sofa. On 2 other end tables I will have smaller variety variegated hosta in planters. I've enclosed a screen shot of the new design idea

With your plan, be aware that most (all?) hosta are wider than they are tall. Although I have only a few hosta, I would guess that the majority of my hosta that are three feet wide are only 2 ft. tall or less (if you don't count the pot). I don't have many of the upright hosta, so others may speak to that. Be aware also that plants in the nursery will look taller than they actually are. Because the plants have been grown (in most cases) with the pots touching, they are forced to grow upward rather than out.

Photo illustrated below

bk

New striptease 2012

That same Striptease 2013

That 'Striptease' looks great, BKay. Nice work. Is that Dan Patch guarding the plant from Cleo? Good boy! : )

Don B.

Yes, that's him. He didn't do a very good job though. In front of that Striptease are two very expensive hosta for their size. Cleo got both of them, with Lakeside Paisley Print being the now deceased one. Fragrant Queen survived. I slept late that morning. I'm sure Dan was with me and did not see her doing her thing.

bk

Ashlie your new design is looking great. I was wondering whether you would consider keeping your hostas in pots (at least for the first year or two). You could bury half the pot into the soil. That way you could gain some height. You could put some mulch in between the pots to make it look nicer. Then the soil level and the top of the pots would not be so different. Just a thought.

Well unless I change my mind again (lol always a possiblity with me) then I will keep the hostas in pots on the end tables (obviously) but the Empress Wu's will go into actual ground between the bamboo that flank the lounge set

As bkay said, to get 3 ft high means 6-7 feet wide.

My montana Aureomarginata is my tallest at over 3 ft tall but is close to 7 feet wide.

For a contrast or to brighten things up you might consider something like On Stage.

tj

tj, tell me what you did to that h.'On Stage' to be so big and beautiful. I have one for 4 years and it is only 1/4 of that. Did you add a lot of manure into the soil in recent years? Thanks!
Bernd

Well, Bernd, first you put it in the foreground of the pic to make it look bigger. ;-)

Actually, that plant is about 15 years old and is just under 3 feet tall and about 5 feet wide. I put 2-3 inches of compost around it every other year and two years ago I threw some alfalfa pellets down. That is it.

tj