Dee, shame on you! lol!! you know that we at the hosta forum would love to enable you! my first thought was Sum and Substance or Sun Power for her Chartreuse green color! Than you said Variegated? how about Earth angel? or lets see, Paul's Glory, Sagae, or Abba Dabba do? the last two are more vase shaped! come on over to the hosta forum, I am sure others can give you more suggestions! Mary

"...Dee, shame on you! lol!! you know that we at the hosta forum would love to enable you!..."

That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Mary! lol!

I have Sagae on my list, but I don't think it will be big enough. Ditto the Paul's Glory. I'll have to look up Abba Dabba Do and Earth Angel. Thanks for those suggestions!

:)
Dee

It's not variegated, but H. sieboldiana 'Elegans' in my garden has been astounding me each year, as I realize I was wrong when I thought it couldn't get any bigger than the year before. This spring, its fifth in the spot I planted it, the unfurling leaves are already 15" across, and it looks like it will get three feet tall (leaves) by the time it's done. It's a whopper, and the blue-green coloring is great. Last year, the clump, planted from a single two-gallon pot, four or five eyes, in 2003, was well over six feet across. An oldie but goodie, and for good reason.

- Steve

If you want a large variegated one, how about Montana Aureomarginata? It's up early, holds the bright yellow margin in shade, and in shade with moist soil will get very large. Mine is four feet wide and a little over two feet tall. I have one that's in a drier spot with more sun in front, and it's much smaller.

I also love Great Expectiations...it gets large but not as big as the Montana for me. But it's slower growing and people seem to have difficulty growing it in some conditions. (It has to be the conditions, because I've done nothing special to mine, other than ignore it :).)

I agree with greenguy - 'Elegans' is an oldie but a goodie with big impact! The flowers are much showier than most hostas' too. I prefer the solid color, 'blue' hostas to most variegated ones. I've planted a couple of Blue Mammoth and Blue Angel this year because those were both recommended to me as getting as big or bigger than Elegans and being equally or more showy. I've not hung out or even lurked on the hosta forum as I expect it would be too dangerous a place....

It's not my biggest, though it is big. But it is definitely my biggest wow, and that is JUNE. It is positively gorgeous with the blue, green, golden colors you are looking for. It is to die for when paired with Halcyon (I think its Mama), which is the exact same shade of blue. The good news is I found mine at Wal Mart, so it's gotta be fairly common and low priced. Mine is three years old and at least three feet across. The fact that it does so well in the deep south is bound to be a good sign for vigor too.

(Your friend will need to figure out a way to get more moisture in the bed.)

The hosta seller in our area suggested Isobel Barnett. There;s something else in the name before isobel....said she gets huge

My daughter works at country Flower Farms near Middletown CT and this weekend we went and I bought her 3 Orange Marmalade hostas. Boy are they beautiful. You might want to try one.
Joann

the hosta's name is Lady Isobel Barnett! Look at the Hosta Library.org

That would be Lady Isobel Barnett, a sport of Sum & Substance. S&S is a bright yellow, with some sun or even in high shade with high ambient light. LIB is a dark green, with variable width yellow margin. Both can become VERY large, more than 5 feet in diameter during a few years.
Blue Angel is another large Hosta and holds it's color through the season, assuming a shady location. A sport of BA, Guardian Angel is also a large one. It emerges in the spring with a white/cream center, that slowly fades to blue later in the year.
I also like Abiqua Drinking Gourd, a large blue, with large, intensely cupped leaves that will often collect water, if positioned correctly when it rains.
Check this one that can become quite large, Inniswood, with a bright yellow center and medium wide green margin. Another one that is fairly large and colorful is Dick Ward, with similar variegation.
If glossy green is your preference in a very large Hosta, try Hirao Majesty.
I have grown all of these for many years and they keep on being impressive Hostas. But, as you know, with large leaves and summer heat, a whole lot of water is necessary to keep them happy. I don't use commercial fertilizer, only top dressing with well aged compost annually in the spring and sometimes in late summer, when a new flush of leaves emerge.
Happy hunting!
Rb

Wow, lots of stuff here! Thanks everyone!

I have to admit that before posting this thread, I did venture over to the hosta forum to do a search on big hostas, so some of these are familiar to me from there (but I was too chicken to actually make a post there, lol.)

It did seem like a lot of the really big hostas are solid colors. And there's nothing wrong with that - we're just going for a variegated look. She already has a huge (unknown) solid blue-leafed hosta in the yard, so we wanted a brighter, variegated one in this spot.

Ruth, I have Montana aureomarginata on my list. I actually saw this at Oliver's Nursery here in CT once, and it literally stopped me in my tracks. It was HUGE! I had to stop an employee and ask what it was - and it was especially impressive because it was in a lot of sun and still looked great. The employee told me the name, and of course I bought one a few months later. However, I'm now thinking that the show-stopper hosta I saw was not a Montana, because mine has much narrower, pointier leaves than on the one I saw. Oh well.

I'm off to do some googling on the above suggestions. I just may have to visit the Hosta Library....uh oh.

By the way, I should have mentioned in my original post - feel free to show me pictures, lol!

Thanks all!
Dee

P.S. Perhaps the way to go is pick a smaller hosta and plant more of them!

I second Sagae.....it will get HUGE! Also liberty....mine is a babe....but that will be a big'un!
AndAntioch....fast growing and "quite" big and white margined.
And Ebb tide is also a show stopper.
Linda C

Another old variety - 'Frances Williams'. I dug it out of a border where it was being troubled by snails and put it in a large pot. This year the leaves are huge... and it's still only a youngster. It has a nice blue 'sieboldiana' type leaves with green margins.

lol ... ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

anyway .. it doesnt seem that you escaped us does it...

hosta enablers lurk EVERYWHERE .. lol

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Dee, I was going to suggest the same thing. If you need a variegated, there seem to be so many beauties, instead of trying to get the largest one, make a grouping of three of the same variety, if you find one you really like.

pm2

FWIW, I have 2 Sagae in dry shade and they have grown very slowly. 3 years and still only 3-4 leaves per plant: about the same as they had when planted. Check into growth rate for dry shade before choosing. I knew PaulÂs Glory is not big, but oh, is it beautiful. The only one I have that looks absolutely perfect, every day.

I bought Frances Williams late last summer in a 1 gallon pot. I am so impressed! The growth rate is much faster than anything I have experienced. ItÂs already bigger than the 3 year old PaulÂs Glory. The gold edge is very rich and bright and the leaf shape is just luscious. On the hosta library the 1st and 4th photos are the most like mine. I have it planted next to a small blue one, then on the other side is June, which is the same color combo in reverse.

(I like to do this back and forth pattern reversal thing: make you think you are imagining things. Fun in the garden...)

Dee, I can't resist helping your addiction. White Oak Nursery is having their sale NOW! See if you can resist looking...

Virginia

Here is a link that might be useful: HOSTA on SALE!

Ooh, you guys are bad, lol! No, I guess I can't escape! Actually Ken, those are the threads I found when I did a search over on the hosta forum.

Well, I guess I have to go look at Virgina's link now. I'm doomed...

:)
Dee

Oh Lord, lead me not into temptation. I'm still recovering from daylily-itis.....

Okay, I think I've got it narrowed down (until someone makes another suggestion, lol).

My list:

Frances Williams
Earth Angel
Sagae
Alex Summers

All these get about 3' in diameter, except for Earth Angel, which gets to about 5'.

Anybody have any experience with Mount Tom or Miss Tokyo?

:)
Dee

Couple of humble suggestions.
1. If you cannot find a satisfactory variegated with large enough leave, perhaps try a combination of two large leaves varieties with distinct colours; for example Sum and Substances with sieboldiana elegans:
{{gwi:224030}}
2. You can put smaller leave varieties in front using the contrast to create an addional visual sense of 'large':
{{gwi:224032}}
3. If really want variegation, Sagae appears to have an elegant look for composition though the leaves are not as big and imposing: (a young clump)
{{gwi:224034}}

get this one .. forget the rest ...

with xxxxxxx and justice for all ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

And remember....no hosta will be knock your sox off beautiful in dry shade.....they need water and lots of it, or they get the uglies about mid summer.
Linda C