diva ..

just a smaller version of GE.. or remember me..

or any of the other ones i ever mentioned i hated... lol ...

if it works for you.. great for you ...

if not.. join the club ...

ken

....as another person with "issues" re Ann Kulpa, I thank you very much, Ken. I've moved and twitched the conditions for it, to no avail. It got down to one leaf, but now it is giving a sort of flush with about 5 leaves....last I checked, anyway. The fire ants were very near it, so I moved it again.
Should it meet its end, I won't be replacing it. Good to know.

Mine looks terrible. First, the cutworms got it in the spring. Then two weeks later (it seems), the white part of the leaf started melting. So, basically, it didn't even look good in the spring. I don't think it's put out a new leaf since then, either. It just holds it's own. This is just the second year, though. It's possible it could improve.

bkay

I find it interesting to note how different gardens have different success or failure with different Hosta cultivars.

We once had a 'Tattoo' that visitors marveled at. Then one year it notably diminished, so it got de-tree rooted and replanted with protection from said roots. The next year it shrunk further, and the following year it was GONE.

We have a few wonderful 'Great Expectations'. Last year one of them showed all the tree root invasion symptoms, to the point where it was going to die without attention, so out it came, veeeerrrry carefully, all the roots, and into a pot plenty big enough. It died. So the common knowledge that you should never move, divide, or otherwise mess with a healthy GE seems to be true, huh?

As I've read so often and in so many places, the general consensus is that white centered Hosta are, in general, the most difficult. Tis true here as well. A main exception here is 'Night Before Christmas'. That's why, whenever we need a white centered one for artistic reasons, that's our 'go-to' plant.

Now, as for 'Ann Kulpa', we've had one in heavy shade for a lot of years, and it lives, but I wouldn't say thrives.

Two and a half years ago we planted this one where it gets some more light and it's doing O.K. so far:

I can't say the same for 'Fire and Ice'. My boss, errr, Wife, won't even let me buy another one ;-)

I guess a solution is to find something close that works for you?

hh

the general consensus is that white centered Hosta are, in general, the most difficult.

==>>> its the white to green tissue ratio ... the wider the green.. which is the ability to photosynthesize ... the easier to grow ...

i see a lot of green on on the AK above ... much more than other versions of the same plant ...

i am not sure that i ever got a straight answer .. from TC peeps .. as to genetic variations within clones ... why some have wide green margins.. and others thin green ... [of which a vast majority of the thin ones die before they leave the lab.. basically terminal whites ....]

i used to buy small second year TC GE ... with the most white.. AS A BABE .. guess which ones dies ... duh on me ... one might wonder why it took me 4 to 6 $25 plants to figure that out.. lol ... double duh ... or whatever six is.. one after penta-duh??? ... lol ...

buy in person.. from a place you KNOW has properly labeled plants.. and buy the one with the most green ... and the BABE has a better chance to get to maturity.. where the white will shine thru ... note i said CHANCE.. lol ... i still would suggest you not waste your money ...

HH statement above is a bit overly broad ... its not all white centered plants .... but i dont have an argument why a vast majority of the white centers thrive.. while a select few are simply nearly impossible to grow ... except for the few who win that dice roll .. which i have previously noted seems to be mostly peeps from WI and MN ... again.. whats that all about???

i know what HH is trying to say ... but i think the choice of words is overly broad ... most simply are not any harder than the rest ... [and do note.. center burn in a location/water problem.. not an inherent problem .. if that makes sense]

ken

Thanks, Ken. I was not aware that center burn was a cultivation problem. Would too much sun, even early in the spring cause it?

bkay

hillbilly - If I thought that my 'Ann Kulpa' could ever look as nice as yours does I would invest some time and effort in its care.

And further to the info that white centres tend to be difficult, my 'Vulcan' is another that is definitely NOT HAPPY.

I'm hoping for a kinder gentler growing season next summer.
Jan

Here's my 3 year old Ann K taken in July. Nice, moist area with little tree root competition
Peggy

In defense of my 'overly broad' statement, did I not use the word 'generally' or 'in general' twice, to CMA, teehee?

Note that my comment about white-centered ones being 'generally' considered among the more commonly difficult is based not merely on our experience, but also from several other generally accepted sources of information on Hosta.

fwiw ;-)
hh