Oh, good question!! I have no answer but that is a really good question. That is the advantage of pots. I just put a few in pots and am loving it but this is the first year. Ask me again next spring.

I think that's just the nature of Orange Marmalade, and also the reason that I don't own one.

If I want something to grow faster I give it a lot of sun. Yellows/chartreuse get more sun. Blues get the least sun to help the wax last longer. White with a little green get more sun but not enough to burn out the white.

I use a huge shade cloth to add more shade. I had lost some branches so I use the shade cloth until they grow back which is taking years.

Somehow, BKay, I wound up going to a link about Sissinghurst, which is in Dallas. It has something written, there I think, or by a guy interviewing Ms. Butler through Dave's Garden website, where she was saying the plants need more sun, even in Dallas, but the secret is watering TWICE A DAY unless it rains, and then maybe ONCE a day when it rains. If they are in sun, you water water water.

Makes me think about putting in a well, actually. Our neighbor lady has had a well for 50 years to irrigate with, and her pressure was down. The well guy came over to check and see if the problem was lack of water. No, her well sat in 40 foot of WATER, so she is below sea level with the well (our height above sea level here is 22 feet). But my DH said when he got back from up north he'd take his air compressor over and hook it up to the well, it is an old pipe, and the rust has reduced the seive hole size, and just blowing it out will restore her pressure. Hmmm, I will be looking into a well, so I can have hosta in the sun too.

Now my Orange Marmalade is only a month or so here, and it is assuming an orange glow in the center of the leaf. Is that what you call "fading?" I have mine in pretty bright shade, with some long rays of the late afternoon sun getting beneath the short fat Japanese maple the gold hosta are clustered around. But today, I discovered the Alabama Gold, which is really a nice YELLOW gold plant, was struggling with the direct late day sunlight. Oops, I moved her. Once it adjusts to our climate, I think the fairly heavy substance this plant is trying to exhibit will make it handle the heat better. But hey, I wasn't handling the heat too well today myself.

I bought the OM late last summer, so it overwintered here. It's still attractive. It was stunning when it first came up. It's an overcast day, so the photo today makes the colors more attractive. The older leaves are pale lemon colored. The newer ones are kind of lime green.

The sissinghurst/butler person was trying to get a hosta society going here. I emailed off the hosta society web page, but she/he never responded. I did get a request from her/him for linkedin, though.

bkay

3/27/12
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4/14/12
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5/8/12
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