Orange Marmalade. West side of fence. 4+ hours of afternoon sun.

Keep in mind growing hosta in 4 hours of MN sun is different than VA....latitude and climate are very important.

Paul

Sun Power. Maybe 5 years old. 4+ hours of afternoon sun. Leaf colour inside is greener - outside sunkissed leaves more yellow. Occasional burning of leaves.

Hostas are shade tolerant which means they CAN go in shade and thrive but I have much success in sun as do others. The zone matters significantly as well as how much you water them as to how much sun you can expose them to.

I have a North side bed that is not sheltered. I have 3 trees planted in the bed but they are babies and provide no shade yet and this bed contains 41 hostas. They get sun ALL day and go into the shade around 5pm.

Here are a few hostas from that bed:

Bridal Falls - bought last year and went in this bed off the bat

Captain Kirk - 3rd season in this bed

Crested Surf - 2nd year in this bed

Dream Weaver - 2nd year in this bed

Gold Standard - 3rd year in this bed

Goodness Gracious - 2nd year in this bed

Mountain Snow - 4th year in this bed

Paul's Glory - 3rd year in this bed

Then I have a west bed that receives the hottest sun of the day. By the time the sun comes around the south side of the house onto the west side it is around 11am and stays in the front during the hottest part of the day. In that bed I have:

Liberty - 4th season in this bed

Christmas Tree - 8th season here

Lakeside Shoremaster - 4th year in this bed

Wide Brim - 8th season in this bed

Frances Williams - 2nd season in this bed

Summer Fragrance - 4th year in this bed

I dont concern myself with sun exposure when it come to planting my hostas. The only consideration I give is to the blues. They can take sun exposure as well but I tend to loose the blue hue when I put them in sun. I have a large Halcyon that was in the sun for a few years but I always lost my blue hue so I put in the shade and this year its maintaining its blue.

So I say take into consideration the zone you are in and don't be scared to hostas in the sun. Remember to water them a bit more to help them along (I use a sprinkler and just move it around so Im not out there for hours watering).

I don't have pictures, but I used to grow Gold Standard in 4+ hours of sun in Zone 6 after the tree shadowing it had to be cut down and the new tree hadn't grown enough to replace some of the partial shade. It was disaster--GS bleached out white gold and started frying around the edges--the brown increasing to the downright ugly stage by the middle of August.

The point being that I am trying to reinforce Paul's observation that direct sun in zone 6 is a whole different ballgame compared to Zone 5/Minnesota direct sun.

And western sun in Zone 6 is a killer sun.

Kate

Golden Scepter in 6hrs of sun. Wisconsin sun.

August Moon in 6 hrs of sun.

This post was edited by unbiddenn on Tue, Jul 15, 14 at 9:49

For hostas in direct sun, the overall heat and amount of water are also very important.

For example, here in zone 4 in the rural Ottawa Valley far from a city heat island, my home weather station has yet to record a day this summer exceeding 30C (86F). I also irrigate with river water so all hostas are getting more than a half inch of water every day plus the natural rainfall which this summer has exceeded an inch per week. No problems with browning or burning.

I think any hosta but a blue will perform well in full sun in my garden - I attached a picture of Gold Standard (10 years old, 7 hours of full sun) as an example. Blues of course need shade to maintain the desired blue colour.

All of the pics look great! Color is still very interesting, doesnt look washed out and plants look healthy. Figured there would be a larger difference between more sun and less. Stinks my zone 6 VA sun could be a killer. Is it the heat that makes it different?

Im trying to choose 5-7 hostas, pending mature sizes, to go in front of a row of hydrangeas, located in front of the house. They would get full sun from 11-3ish. However that would change in a few years once my crape mrytle grows. Maybe many years, unsure of how fast it will grow.

Makes sense, so it is the heat. Love the color on your gold standard. Ottawa Valley is such a beautiful place. Amazing mountain bike trails. Have been trying to get out that way for a few years for a biking trip.

Front of my bed gets 6 hours of sun:

This hosta transitions in color throughout season until leaves are a light ivory. Year 1

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Raucous Ruffles - Very Sun Tolerant - Year 1
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On Stage Year 1

Dancing Queen - Year 1
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DD

Donna,
You must have a great hosta source with mature plants for sale if you have hostas that large and full in 1 year! Jealous!
Vanessa

Little Stained Glass by the driveway, west side of the house. Exposed to morning sun and until 1430H in the afternoon.
Unsure of the age but bought it two months ago with fewer leaves.

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Little Spritzer but the west side of my backyard fence. Exposed to afternoon sun around 1430H till sunset. Unsure of the age but bought this last May with fewer and shorter leaves.

Little Paul's Glory but the garage, west side of the house. Exposed to afternoon sun around 1430H till sunset.
About two months old from date of purchase.

Looks good, guys. I could never get away with hostas in that much direct sun here, and not have them bleach/melt out already.

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Tue, Jul 15, 14 at 14:04

I've posted this pic before so pardon the repeat, but this is one of my Junes in almost all day sun. Starts with sunrise and gets direct sun until about 5 pm. Very different from my backyard Junes that get little direct sunlight and that golden kart in them stays a soft green.

Leaflover very interesting to know about the sun, I planted a few in total sun just the other day, but am shading them with a pot until they get established. Sounds to me like I will be able to do this, since I am in zone 3.

Sum and Substance. 8 hrs easy full sun, Florida sun, and in some pretty bad rain storms this year. It turned gold and shines.

Vanessa - Yes, I am amazed at these sun loving hostas from Sebright's planted last September. Raucous Ruffles from Naylor's was a limited offering planted with one eye.

Today:

Katherine Lwis
{{gwi:1050965}}

On Stage

Dancing Queen

DD

I, too, believe it's the zone you are in and heat and humidity plays a big role, as well. I have a neighbor, sort of that has hostas in all day sun afternoon sun at that. She has them on the wrong side of her house. This is them and she also doesn't water them much. So they are pretty much ugly for most of the season. They lasted longer this season because it's been less hot and humid and we've had more rain is my thinking. So take into account your zone and all these factors first.

And here are the blue hostas I got her this year. They are in the right amount of sun and on the right side of her house, too.

Both these are in full sun for at least 6 hours.

Both were planted last year but got frozen in spring so had setbacks.
Not good pictures, both of them are really bright, really glad I got both of them.
Pics taken late this afternoon.

Rich Uncle

Choo Choo Train - almost fell out of my chair when I read this can get to 72 inches wide.