Forgive me if this is bad form, but I was going to place 3 pictures in 1 post as they are all the same family.

Sorry about the blur on this one.

Hi Hu,

Welcome to the forum.

They seem like pretty young plants or else they have not been watered much. If so, their looks will change some with maturity.

I think second one is Blue Angel.

The first may be Krossa Regal, but not very sure.

No clue on the third one.

bk

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new home. You might get some conflicting answers, since there are over 6,000 varieties of hostas!

Not sure on the first one.

I think the second one is Elegans.

I think the last one is First Frost.

Gesila

its hard to ID blue hosta... with any certainty ... until fully mature... which they will be in 5 to 10 years ... and even then.. they can all look alike ...

but we have a lot of fun trying ...

the first is way to close to that pine tree... and the tree is mostly going to out compete it for water ...

hosta 'culture' .. how a plant grows ... as in.. soil.. water.. sunlight.. etc.. DOES NOT VARY ACCORDING TO THE NAME ...

they are all hosta... period... put away you engineering research proclivities.. and generalize ...

welcome to GW ... if you read the 60 odd pages of posts.. you should be all set with any possible questions you have... and by which time.. you will tearing up all the other plants.. and collecting hosta.. its called enabling... lol, ..

ken

ps: your shoe keeps falling off... in case you didnt know ... lol ..

Ha - I knew the slipper being used for scale would get funny comments - Here is a picture showing placement of all the Hostas. This is a shady area up on the berm, but after your comment I notice many of them planted near bushes, trees. Should I consider relocating them? I have no idea long long they have been there.

Hi Hu......
My DH (forum shorthand for "Dear Husband" or DW= Dear Wife)
is an engineer and he likes precision too. So welcome, and get ready to have some fun with hosta. They are easy to grow and make the garden (and gardener) look good.

First of all, make sure of the direction of the sun, whether they are east or west, north or south, and whether the light they get is morning sun (perfect) or afternoon sun (a problem in most zones, but it CAN be controlled or moderated, DEPENDING).

I mention the type of sunlight, because those hosta could have been planted close to the bushes in order to get some shade. In the process, the shrubs/trees get most of the nutrients, or else their roots entangle with the hosta and keep them from growing properly.

I think zone 7a should be a nice climate for most hosta, if you fine tune their light requirements. Get familiar with the sun and shade patterns of your property, and consider using shade from the house itself as protection for any new hosta you acquire. Because, believe me, stick around here, and there SHALL be MORE HOSTA!

Others can be more specific so I won't go any further. It is a very rewarding thing to watch the hosta respond to your care. And, they are tough plants. It takes a lot to kill them, but a little water regularly can do wonders with growth.

There is a source of hosta pictures (besides this forum) that has them alphabetically organized, and all of us use it regularly. I put the link below. Hosta Library has many helpful links on its main page to interest you too. Realizing that you might have a job and family commitments to attend to, unlike myself (a retiree), I don't expect you will devote most of your waking hours to hosta, and dream in technicolor about gorgeous hosta in your garden.....but, you have that to look forward to years down the road. Yes, they are addictive, and yes, they have a mystique that defies definition. So consider yourself duly advised!

Welcome to the world of hosta.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta Library

Gesila may be right. I went out to look at mine. Then I counted veins. My Blue Angel has 11 or 12 pairs of veins and Elegans has 17 pairs of veins. Yours appears to have a lot of veins.

bk

Elegans Leaf

I'm in Texas, so my blues don't stay blue very long.

According to www.hostaregistrar.com, Elegans has 14 to 20 pairs of veins. Blue Angel has 12 pairs of veins.

Other ways to ID a hosta include when the flowers bloom, if it makes seed, what colors the flowers are and what shape they take, and the overall shape of the plant. (Blue Angel is spreading. Elegans is more upright.)

bk
Blue Angel leaf

Should I consider relocating them? I have no idea long long they have been there.

==>>>> i said... to put aside your anal retentive engineering proclivities aside!!

a well placed hosta .. NEVER NEEDS TO BE MOVED OR SPLIT...

just try to drown it .... they are heavy water users ...

learn the hosta.. give it time to grow... if it gets smaller.. one year to the next .... then the tree is killing it ...

learn how water moves thru your soil... and apply that knowledge as to how to water your garden ... you need to provide water deep thru the root mass of any given perennial or annual ... trees and shrubs... and conifers.. NEVER NEED WATER ... nor fert ... EXCEPT a new planting ... we can teach you that ...

a garden is a place to ... be your inner child ... to play in the dirt.. with an excuse ... again ... put aside the retentive engineering tendencies... learn just a little info .... but leave most of it at work.. and just come home and relax ..

lol.. i used to get so frustrated at work... lawyering ... that i would come home and dig holes [Seinfeld even had an episode as such] ... then one day.. i figured out.. that if i bought a plant at lunch.. i already had the hole.. lol...

your first year in your garden is basically observation.. and watering...

if you want to do some engineering.. perk your soil ... a couple 5 holes around the yard.. fill with water.. and time its drainage.. and lets see if you have any problems...

then we will teach you how to water ... relating to such ...

and by fall.. which is the next transplanting time for many things.. perhaps you will be ready.. now having knowledge of whats there... then maybe we will consider moving some things ...

i am in a rib coma... i cant focus to reread this.. lol.. ask if it makes no sense ...

ken

We're about to go into a pork chop coma at my house.

Ummm, Hu, I think that first one could be Fragrant Blue. It won't have much if any fragrance, and it would bloom very late in the growing season, like August to September.

Ahhh - lots of great help - thanks!

I will try and see the light, but it will not be easy as you seem familiar with my traits. :)

Now that ribs and pork chops have entered the conversation I am starting to feel more at ease. I am the proud owner of a MAK pellet grill and love to cook it low and slow. I am doing a couple of pork butts for pulled pork on the upcoming holiday - probably about 25 lbs of meat.

Hopefully all my plants will thrive on the sweet blue smoke from a good BBQ

Welcome to the forum.

When I moved to my current address, my first priority was to draw a map of the property and orient it with the compass. That done, I next did a shade study on the Summer Solstice (June 21), marking which areas of the property got sun vs. shade at what time of day. That information let me know which areas received sufficient sun for me to plant "full sun" perennials and which areas were better suited to "part sun" perennials or shade perennials.

Next I sketched in trees, shrubs & established beds. That gave me a visual of what existed and allowed me to start picturing what could be.

One of my first shopping expeditions was to O'Brien Hosta in Granby, CT where I bought my first "designer" hostas. I designed and planted a full shade bed with the hostas as the featured elements and added other shade lovers for contrast: Japanese painted fern, brunnera, bleeding heart, columbine, lady's mantle, coral bells, black snakeroot, Jacob's ladder and astilbe.

I wasn't a novice gardener when I moved here but access to GardenWeb has provided a lot of answers to my garden questions over the years. The forums are a treasure trove of garden tips, ideas, shortcuts and best practices.

My garden beds are designed, planted and looking good after a really horrible winter. Hostas are featured in more than one garden bed on my little green acre and I wouldn't be without them. I planted my first hosta when my son was 8 years old. He turned 43 a few weeks back so I'm guessing growing them from here on is not a passing fancy.

Welcome, Hu. 25lbs. of pulled pork, eh? Can we come? Seriously, all kidding aside, welcome to the forum. Enjoy your hostas and your holiday treats!

Gardenweed, I like your approach to the sun and shade patterns in your property. I've always gardened with that in mind, and while not a formal map, I learned the high and low reach of the sun on the longest day of the year and the shortest. It tells you a lot.

I hope you spend more time on the Hosta forum, you have a lot of experience to share. Plus, your mature hosta pictures would be a treat to see.