Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
evermore_gw

H. Alex Summers

For the second year in a row, Alex Summers is my favorite hosta. It grows quickly, has a beautiful upright stance, and has that subtle blend of colors that appeals to me. A mutation of Gold Regal, it was registered in 1989 and is named after one of the founding members of the American Hosta Society. I notice that only a handful of the lists in Paul's Top Twenty include this one, but I would highly recommend it.



Steve

Comments (25)

  • Steve Massachusetts
    11 years ago

    Mine is not as beautiful as yours, but I keep liking this one more and more. I think it was Moccasin that said that this Hosta was impeccable.

    Steve

  • esox48
    11 years ago

    Alex Summers does seem to fly under the radar. I bought two of them a few years back to place in pots on the patio. This is how they looked when I bought them for about $20 each.

    After a couple of years, I took off a couple of eyes from one and planted it in the ground. This is now it looks now.

    I still have the two in pots, but I'm getting tired of planting them in the ground every winter and digging them back up and potting them again in big, heavy pots. So I don't know whether to cover the pots with a tarp and hope for the best, taking a chance of killing them, or just find a home for them.

  • Cricket_Love
    11 years ago

    WOW Evermore! Your hosta is stunning!!!! Is now on my wish list! Thanks for sharing!

  • jodikay
    11 years ago

    Alex Summers 2yrs now in my garden. I love it. It made my list of top twenty. I can see mine is going to be a great beauty when it grows up!

    Steve - what are the pretty yellow flowers in your picture?

    Jodi

  • Steve Massachusetts
    11 years ago

    Jodi,

    Those are an Allium by the name of Moly. Christmas Tree Shop special. They bloom in late May early June.

    Steve

  • Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)
    11 years ago

    I have to agree that I am also quite impressed with my Alex Summers. It always looks so pretty, upright and healthy. It has been a good grower with a nice shape. It filled out much quicker than I had expected too.

  • almosthooked zone5
    11 years ago

    Mine is a mere baby but now I see why I bought it . I can hardly wait. Beauty!!

  • timhensley
    11 years ago

    Mine is absolutely stunning this year as well. I didn't take much notice of it when it was smaller but now that it has come size on it, it's become a real standout.

  • Gesila
    11 years ago

    Not only stunning, but sun tolerant AND the slugs leave it alone. It should be in the top 20 for those reasons alone!

    Here's my Alex Summers grown in full sun. I finally added the mister to this little bed a week ago.

    Gesila

  • gardenfanatic2003
    11 years ago

    Esox, why do you have to keep digging it up, putting in pot, then planting again, or covering with a tarp?

    Deanna

  • TheHostaCottage
    11 years ago

    Here's mine!
    Hosta 'Alex Summers'

  • User
    11 years ago

    Yes, Alex Summers is a sophisticated hosta with lots of class. Impeccable manners and looks. I did not have the foresight to buy this hosta. No, Chris at Hallsons GAVE it to me as a bonus earlier this spring. Mine is not growing in direct sun, but it gets bright shade all day long beneath a tree-size ligustrum.

    Here is the latest glamor shot:

  • User
    11 years ago

    Yes, Alex Summers is a sophisticated hosta with lots of class. Impeccable manners and looks. I did not have the foresight to buy this hosta. No, Chris at Hallsons GAVE it to me as a bonus earlier this spring. Mine is not growing in direct sun, but it gets bright shade all day long beneath a tree-size ligustrum.

    Here is the latest glamor shot:

  • weekendweeder
    11 years ago

    Wow, this is going on my wish list as well. Next year I'm planning on adding some hosta to a sunnier border that just isn't working out well for long-stemmed full-sun perennials (so leggy).

    Everyone's photos look so different. moccasinlanding, yours looks a lot darker green and glossier than most, whereas hippieindenial's and evermore's look waxier and bluer. I can see why you passed it up on Hallson's site though (as did I when making my wish list)--they need a better photo!

  • esox48
    11 years ago

    Deanna,

    It's kind of a risk leaving a hosta in a pot all winter around here, so I've been planting my two potted Alex Summers in the ground every winter to protect them. That works fine, but it's a lot of work dealing with large hostas and large ceramic pots.

    So I'm thinking I may just cover them as they are this winter and hope for the best. Or I might just plant them somewhere or give them away.

  • Gesila
    11 years ago

    I received mine as a bonus plant from Chris in the fall of 2010!

    Gesila

  • paula_b_gardener 5b_ON
    11 years ago

    Hippie, you are in the same province and zone as me. What conditions is your Alex Summers growing in - how much sun and when, etc.

    I love this hosta, I will definitely see if I can find it tomorrow. Today, I started a new bed to make some more room - oh dear, I wonder if my DH will notice?

  • TheHostaCottage
    11 years ago

    Hi Paula,
    I would say my Alex Summers is in sun for most of the day. It handles it well.
    Vanessa

  • User
    11 years ago

    Mine is glossy probably because I sprayed it down with some bug juice that keeps saw flies from eating it. I saw some silvery trails in the soil of the pots in that area, and dosed them all in the area.

    It is in bright shade where it sits, and I might later bring it out into more morning sunlight before it is time for dormancy.

    I do not really know WHEN THINGS WILL GO DORMANT around here, since our first frost date is so late. And this year is the first test of hosta growing for me, actually. So I'm trying to pace them where they will last for another 3 months before they wither away. Prolonging the pretty life is my goal, if I can manage it.

  • User
    10 years ago

    And I have a new picture taken today of my Alex Summers.
    Probably more than one. But I love this shot.

    And, look at the shadow pattern on this leaf. Do you see a face? :)

  • Steve Massachusetts
    10 years ago

    I think that's the Virgin Mary in that shadow pattern. I saw the same thing in my potato chip today.

    BTW, I think that is a fasciated scape.

    Steve

  • User
    10 years ago

    Well, Steve, I read Chris' remark that Alex Summers was a strange acting hosta, something to that effect, and I thought, hmmm, mine is behaving. BUT, now I see I was mistaken.

    I read a thread from last summer about fasciated scapes on the Yankee Blue, will have to go out tomorrow and look closely at that scape. A LOT of leaves on the hosta. I did not notice anything funny, until today when the scape shot up a few inches taller overnight. Now it looks to have a couple of leaves elongating around the flower bud.

    Well heck. I have to cut it off for the well being of the hosta, do I not? Thanks .

  • Steve Massachusetts
    10 years ago

    You can cut it if you want to, but you don't have to. It won't hurt anything.

    Steve

  • User
    10 years ago

    Well......
    In that case, I might keep it around and see if I learn something. The thread with the Yankee Blue grew to be a quite large anomaly up where flowers were supposed to be!

    I vaguely remember responding in that thread. Never saw a real fasciated scape before, so .....learning curve for me. Thanks for identifying the problem.

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    10 years ago

    We get lots of snow here. I ran out of time and left potted hostas in garden over winter...other than removing ice from surface, loosening pots so they could drain (now THAT was not easy as they froze to the ground)...but they all survived and are very healthy, thank goodness. However, I will heed advice and turn them on their sides this winter so no ice worries in spring..Plan A is to get them into the garage!