Here is my largest so far, Sagae. The last time I divided him was three years ago to gift a 25-yr old. Just saw "baby" Sagae yesterday - it is having a leap year! It is probably about more than half the size of mine already.

A wonderful hosta and rules in my garden. :-)

I had an appreciative eyeful, Jon of your fantastic mature hostas. They truly are magnificent specimens.

Oops, meant to post this one!
Jon, Striptease is coming into its own here this year. Too bad I separated it last year. It would look similar to yours in size, almost! ;-)

Very nice! I love your Strip Tease!

I agree with you Jon about the mini's...bigger is better, right?

Linda :)

Jon, you have a LOT of room for a whole bunch of Blue Mouse Ears...wait...

Jon, you have NO room for dinky hostas...A Sum of All would look really nice mixed in there somewhere...or a Sum Cup o Joe...or a Vim and Vigor...or...A few of Olga's giants, Niagara Falls, or Gone With the Wind, or Hoosier Dome...or...whatever biggies you want... Possibilities are mind-boggling...lots of space...why am i... typing... like this???

Looks great,
Don B.

Moc, what about Jonnie Angel or Big Bad Jon OK, took some liberties with the spelling.

Jo, My Sagae will take a while to get as nice as yours. I'm amazed at how Striptease does being on the side of the road when we have had so much snow and salt this year. It just looks perfect all the time.

Size matters Linda.

Don, I really like Hoosier Dome..the Tokadumas..... The little guys must be good for people with a lot of patience and who are detail oriented. The few small ones I have make me think 'Why did I bother' when I notice them....which isn't often. They are just not my taste. If you have a lot of room, you need BIG hosta. Big color and a size that just cannot be ignored.

Thanks everyone,

Jon

Yes, a Hoosier Dome or two would do the garden well...in my opinion...Mississippi Delta may suit you, as well, it's another biggie from Olga Petryszyn (spelling?) Good job propagating your property with bigguns...Keep up the good work, your place is always nice to see.

Don B.

My large ones are still expanding. My h.'Niagara Falls' has huge beautiful leaves, though has only 2 eyes. My 'Empress Wu' will be bigger than last year again. 'Jurassic Park' is getting to it. And then one 'Blue Angel' is tall and wide. I just received 'Frosted Jade', 'Gentle Giant' and 'Elatior' from Land of the Giants.
Bernd

Thanks for pointing out the typo, Jon.. I have often been told I'm in a zone all my own, but I guess that was taking it a bit far, eh? :D

I was going to take some divisions before I moved, but I was up to my ears in trying to downsize. Also I didn't want to mess around in the garden as it was one of the main selling points for my buyers.
Thanks so much for the web sources. Iv'e wasted money on some online duds in the past, so it's nice to know of reliable vendors.

I'm going to a plant sale this weekend at a local botanical society I just joined, then I'm going to check them out.

I may have to take out a loan...

Olga's 'Brother Stefan' (her favorite) was (other than a few tiny liners) my only loss over the winter. I'll have to try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Olga the Hosta Lady

Jo, glad to hear you say that "bigger is better" (re Mouses) and not "more better".... I know one day your small meeses will become bigger mouses. You have a knack for it.

I don't more better at this point in my garden. I'm trying to fill pots not multiply them, so if I get two of something, it becomes united as one.

Jonny, when I see Johnny's Angel, I always see it as Jonny. So don't sweat the H, it is silent anyway. I really want you to grow one of them, though. It is a gorgeous hosta. Looks good just about every day all year long.

Most recent shot of it after blooming. I'll cut the scapes off, it did not set seedpods. Neither did its neighboring Sea Gulf Stream.

I want to point out to you in this picture the Doubled Up (fragrant) lording it over the bunch of golds. It gives me blooms every bit as large as species plantaginea, and it was claimed to be more compact than the species in size. However, this one, direct from Solberg, is really grooving on its location. I have it in the middle of this gold necklace of hosta, where I can sit at the bistro table and appreciate them all. (Don't you need a big green fragrant with outstanding blooms?)

Moc, sorry to be late in responding, spending time with my grandson for the weekend. Thanks for the suggestions and your nighttime excursions into the hosta patch are really artistic. Watch out for those snipes at night. My friends in West Virginia are always telling me about how much fun those nighttime snipe hunts are. I'll have to try it sometime.

:D

Jon

Jon, you got the right big stuff, thanks for showing.
Here is my h. 'Blue Angel' just now.
Bernd

And here is h.'Empress Wu'.

Here is h.'Big Daddy' and friends.
Bernd

I think these are too ponderous to leap, maybe exploding.

A 5' Sagae dwarfs Big Daddy and others:

Fragrant Blue (clockwise from left corner) looks up to Satisfaction, Olive Bailey Langdon, Krossa Regal, Sagae and a massive Elegans which might reach 6' this summer.

Blue Angel and noid which could be Northern Exposure. BA will force me to make some tough pruning decisions concerning my favorite azalea::

Bressingham Blue will reach 6' shortly:

Bernd and Harry- Both of you have some very BIG impressive plants. I love all of them and I love seeing pictures of big mature plants. It makes me excited for what the future will bring for my plants.

Thanks for posting!
Linda

Harry! That is a seriously huge Sagae. The rest are not tiny things, but Sagae is breathtaking. Your garden is impeccable.

Bernd, is the Empress Wu the one your grandson claims? It is a beauty.

Something for me to look forward to. I have only a few which are showing signs of maturity this spring. With no disasters this year, perhaps .... next year ...

Tropic, you are right, it is exciting to see plants get mature and beautiful.
Harry, I have a h.'Bressingham Blue', got it as a young plant from HH, this year it leaped, seems to become very large in several years.
Mocc, yes that's the one, got him hooked on gardening. But not this year so far, he is in minecraft video games, and very busy in school. But 11 year olds have the right to change, and in 2 years he is a teenager....

The following photo shows h.'Kiwi Full Monte in the foreground, 'Blue Mammoth' to the left, 'Vim and Vigor' to the right, which need some more years to get big.
Bernd

We are three weeks late this year .my Squash Casserole is already 41/2 feet ,but will grow to almost 7 feet when it is fully leafed out . I still have some pips just showing .i think it is going to be a fantastic year!

We are three weeks late this year .my Squash Casserole is already 41/2 feet ,but will grow to almost 7 feet when it is fully leafed out . I still have some pips just showing .i think it is going to be a fantastic year!

{{!gwi}}

Way to go, Jon! Keep it up!

Sunnywood, please be sure to post updated picture of your Squash Casserole when you think it is maxxed out. Put something in for scale so I can show my DH? He will faint.
hehehehe

Mine is just a BABY compared to yours, and I thought it was big. HA! The Yesterday's Memories, SC sport, is approaching 4 feet, bigger than the mama plant. Key Lime Pie is the smallest of the 3, and has fewer scapes blooming as well. YM has 10, SC has 7, and KLP has about 3. Beautiful purple blooms on all 3.

Mocc, h. 'Key Lime Pah' it is :

Blue Angel, Empress Wu, Zounds.

Mercy, Bernd! That is some piece of Pah!

JimR, your Zounds is a tight bundle of leaves there. I think mine is just lazy, it never seems to get bigger. What is that bright yellow plant to the left of it? It looks like some kind of grass, but not hakoane grass, which is floppy.

I love how all the hosta have good space around them, mine are pretty close together. Of course, I've developed a new policy--far enough apart that a fat dachshund can walk between pots. :)

Bernd amazing big boys! Drooling over Key Lime PIe!

Harry, magnificent!

Sunnywood....set them free!

Jim, Nice, I hope you have room for them!

Don, thanks!

Okay, I am all out of superlatives and have enjoyed seeing how much company I have in liking the big guys.

Thanks,

Jon

Wow, all your big guys are amazing. I wish I had planted more to begin with. I gave those that I did plant room for their maximum size not realizing that root competition would not allow them to realize their potential. I'm trying to fill the spaces. Here's my Niagara Falls flanked by Liberty and August Moon.

This post was edited by irawon on Fri, Jun 6, 14 at 0:45

Love Brother Stefan but the last two years he's sprouted solid leaves. I've torn them out but may have to dig out the eye completely.

Zounds, not completely unfurled yet.

Bressingham Blue appears to be doing better after I moved him 2 years ago.

Irawon, love your Niagara Falls.
Incidentally, I had a green eye on my Brother Stefan, in a pot. I separated it out, it happened to be no dividing to do because it was not connected to the main plant. I'll show you the two potted up separately.

I haven't seen any large Sun Powers in this thread. Journey's End to the left of it. From last year as hostas still unfurling here.

I have a Brother Stefan and a Tokudama Aureonebulosa on order from Hallson's. I have a very shady and very rich soil spot picked out. I plan a triangle with Abiqua Drinking Gourd, Brother Stefan and the Tokaduma. I am hoping they will keep dark in color.

Abiqua transplanted about 2 weeks ago @ top of the proposed triangle and...

{{gwi:985814}}

....the planned space. My only concern is whether the deep shade will greatly hamper growth. There are azaleas to the left of this area that are in jeopardy of being moved out and another 25 (by ~6 ) feet of bank converted to more hosta. This extended area would have about 50% sun.

Jon

Sounds and looks like a perfect hosta haven! Nice property, Jon!

Thanks Jo, I just ripped out a couple of dead azaleas from the 'Bend' and probably should have raked out the area before taking the pic....but I will do that and show the new hosta when they come in.

Jon

Jon, that sounds like a lovely grouping... Brother Stefan, T. Aureonebulosa and Abiqua D. G. I haven't had much luck with T.A. and tree root competition, so I bought a larger plant two weeks ago and have it in more sun. It will be interesting to see if this works. Good luck with yours.

Moc, I like the look of the green eye from Brother Stefan. It really hurt to throw those lovely green leaves out but I've been too afraid to disturb Bro Stefan. It will be interesting to see whether your all green plant grows bigger than B.S.

No root competition in this area irawon, it will be slow going as it is close to my shadiest location. I don't have any better soil and I'm hoping the shade will keep the color well. Sacrificing growth for color is the plan. We'll see how it works out in a couple of years. If they remain small I can always thin out some of the smaller trees and lighten it up a little leaving the hosta in place.

Jon

Bernd, you Empress Wu is using that yardstick as a toothpick! Massive growth in only a few seasons. Good work.

Don B.

Don, it would probably grow bigger in more light, though initially when growing between squash in bright light it burned.
Bernd

I have two Wu's and both are in good shade, but the one that gets the most sun seems darker

A lot of shade. Seems lighter

More Sun, seems darker in person although being in the Sun makes it look lighter in this picture. In both cases the two Wu are lighter than other hosta that don't seem to have a problem with 50% Sun or a little more, which seems strange to me.

Maybe they will darken with age and become less Sun tolerant.

Jon

My largest is Lady Isobel Barnett seen here with a metre long stick on her. She measures 71 inches max width and 33 inches tall.

The Lady has been split 3 times in her 10 years in my garden ... she is no longer popular with hosta buyers but remains a favourite of mine.

Doug

Those are some very impressive hostas. I wish my garden were a lot bigger like yours.

Here are my large ones:

Sum & Substance that nearly fills my 8â wide bed:

Kossa Regal - at 6' wide is almost as big as my S&S. He is at least 15 yrs. old:

{{gwi:985821}}

Fried Frances Williams nearby:

We lost several trees so my garden is in full sun:

{{gwi:20219}}

Elegans should have been a lot bigger, but she got crowded out:

Blue Angel in the back also gets sunlight several hours a day. This one is 3 years old, and is 5â wide already:

{{gwi:241305}}

Regal Splendor, 4' wide, 4 yrs. old:

Sagae 3' wide, 2 yrs.:
{{gwi:242638}}

A friend gave me this one last year. Would you agree that this is Blue Angel? He got frost burn earlier this spring:

OMG Pit, you have every inch of your space well utilized. What a huge S&S.

Just curious, but are you ever tempted by that beautiful LAWN right next door? So poorly utilized it seems to me. :)
Just kidding, of course.

Beautiful garden

Doug, you look at it all the time so your opinion is what matters..its big I like it.

You pack a lot in a small space Pit. The edges on your questionable Blue Angel look a lot more undulating than any of mine.

Jon

lol
I absolutely cannot stand any bare bare spot in my yard. Since it is such a tiny lot, I want to use every square inch to its advantage.

Of course, moc. The strip next to the blue & white hosta by the S&S actually belongs to my neighbor. :-D

For a few years, I planted a small bed next door on the other, but had to remove everything last year because my neighbor told me he was doing some work at the spot.

Here is Kossa Regal that should have been above. I don't know how it got removed:

Thank you Jon. You are absolutely right; the edge is wavier than Blue Angel. What could this hosta be, I wonder?
And thank you for the idea on Sagae. I am going to split mine a la Jon.

bump to page one

Love this thread. Contributing my 3rd year Empress Wu grown in a 35 gallon flowerpot. It will be moving into a 60 gallon (!) pot that I just found once it goes dormant this winter.

It's over 3 feet tall and more than 7 feet wide.

Here are my two biggest from today- Regal Splendor (2005) and Parhelion (2006). RS is such a sprawler. Elegans was between them but I think voles got to it, and I hated the way it would scorch with a hot spring day, so I just replaced it with LAkeside Ripples, which I now think is too close to RS.

blacksheep, now I think I am going to have to make more room for my Wu. 7 feet in 3 years, that is amazing...and in pot!

coll, that is a nice Parhelion.

Jon