You have to leave them be and stop moving them. Every time you move them you damage the roots, therefore the plant no longer has the root system to support the growth that was there. Each time you move a hosta you will set it back. They are not annuals that grow super fast. The roots have to get established before it will start getting bigger.

First year they sleep.
Second year they creep.
Third year they leap.

This goes for most hosta except for super slow growers and giants.

the problem.. besides what he said.. is trying to plant too close to established shrubs..

they are probably not getting the requisite water they need..

and if you gave it to them.. i wouldnt be surprised that the boxwood would not suffer ...

now.. that said.. how long are you going to bash your head on that spot in particular ..

crimminey.. if they wont grow there.. they wont grow there ... what more can we say ... just because you will them to grow there.. doesnt mean they can ...

either leave them in situ for 3 years.. or move them one more time ... and then leave them in that spot for 3 years ...

ken

ps: most likely .. all the compost did.. was feed the boxwood.. to invade the root mass ... again ...

Excellent advise given above from Frank and Jim. Just to reiterate I would also move them away from the boxwoods and replant where they will have no competition especially for water. Make sure soil is well amended with compost. Hostas are lilies grown for foliage primarily. Those grown for flowers when purchased generally are immature bulbs,(hostas do not grow from bulbs as other lilies do)and take a few years to mature. Most are picky about being disturbed and resent being moved but in this case moving them may be necessary to reach their full potential. Just make sure they get plenty of water or they will never grow to their full potential.

Scott

Perhaps they're a small kind?

Scott- FYI, Hostas are no longer part of the Liliaceae family. The technical part is detailed at the Hosta Library by Geo. Schmid in his S[pecies Update link.

Part 2:
The Taxonomy of the Genus Hosta
And Evolutionary Placement

-Babka

Jean001, it occurred to me too--that they might be small varieties/species.

Although having a boxwood neighbor on either side would sort of cramp their style, it seems to me.

Thanks I will see how they look when they finally totally leaf out. Then will look to moving them this fall or should I do it this spring?

Moving anytime works. Just get a lot of roots when you dig them up and give them lots of water after you move them.
-Babka

Babka,
I am aware of some of W. George Schmidt's work particularly of the designation of H. sieboldiana 'Elegans' to cultivar status; however, he was not a taxonomist but rather a horticulturist. But he and Taxonomists are always changing either genus names or classification and there is rarely agreement amongst themselves either. At one time they were grouped in the family Agavaceae also. I like many other professional horticulturists still consider Hosta properly classified in the Liliacea family. Flower structure is the primary reason. Compare to other lilies you will see major similarities. Additionally they share similar folar shape to such Asian lilies as Cardiocrinum giganteum. I'm not aware of any other Taxonomists who agree but point me in the right direction if I'm wrong. I'd like to read their theories for reclassification.

Sorry rambling but guaranteed within 10 years someone else will try and change their classification again drives us crazy in the horticultural field.

Scott

"I like many other professional horticulturists still consider Hosta properly classified in the Liliacea family. "

Well those "professional horticulturalists" would be wrong. If you were a member of the American Hosta Society you would be able to read the latest online Hosta Journal. In that Journal you could read an article that specifically gives the reasons for the new family name Hostaceae. That's right Hostas now have their own family name.

If you are interested here is how the taxonomy goes:
Kingdom: Plantae (Regnum Plantae)
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (Vascular Plants)
Superdivision: Spermatophyta (Seed Plants)
Division: Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Subdivision: Magnoliophytina (Seeds enclosed in ovary - fruit)
Class: Liliopsida (Monocotyledons)
Subclass: Liliidae

From this point there are two different viewpoints. Some traditional taxonomists prefer to keep Hosta under the Order Liliales. However, more recent molecular investigations have placed it under the Order Asparagales. But in either case the Family name is Hostaceae.

Steve

Thanks, Steve.
And, since I am a (ahem) new member of the American Hosta Society and just received my first issue of the journal, I will be reading the article, or as much of it as I can understand.

Am I to understand that the Order Asparagales shows a kinship with an asparagus? so, is the hosta edible?

I like it having its own branch of the family tree, Hostaceae. Cool. (My African grey just started saying that.)

steve I am a member of the AHS. However they are only listing what a group has declared to now be what is believed to be true. This group AGP for Angiosperm Phlogeny Group is a group of international systematic botanists who have reclassified Hosta into the family Agavaceae.

To seperate genera into families two common systems developed, the "Traditional" System based on Linnean Taxonomy and Family Name giveen by an a discoverer.

For more than a hundred years Hosta has been placed in the family Liliaceae most recently by Cronquist by including the genus in Hemerocallideae and as I mentioned and also agreed by Cronquist a strong macromorphological resemblance and still within Liliaceae.

New studies indicate that Hosta,Hesperocallis, and Leucocrinum may have originated from a common ancestral group. The two later genera are also still included in the Liliaceae family. So when the genus taxonomy was changed under the APG III system not all taxonomists agree that this is correct nor is it accepted and agreed by all taxonomists to be valid. Again this science is highly fluid and changes on a whim.

Scott
l

No, Scott, I respectfully disagree with you on this. I'm sure you are a brilliant horticulturist. But the folks at the AHS are brilliant HOSTA culturists who have been studying hostas exclusively, while you have been more broadly consumed.

I am looking forward to any photos you have of all your hostas once they break dormancy. You must have quite a magnificient collection considering all your years of horticultural expertise.

-Babka

Thanks Babka yes I will post pics once they have leafed out. What the AHS has listed is only the report done by APG nothing more. They simply copied and entered the report into the journal They had no involvement in its study or production. Until there is more agreement within the taxonomic community that this group of plants should again be reclassified I'll continue to accept what is still currently held that hostas are a form of lily especially when physical evidence supports that belief. APG proposed the change based on DNA evidence that they state is not 100% conclusive which is why not all accept this change as legitimate. But I've said enough and certainly did not wish to get into a taxonomic debate about the physiology of hostas. In the skeem of things really who cares it really isn't important which family the plant is in. And thanks for the compliment but would not call myself brilliant.

Scott

I prefer that lilies are a form of hosta since hosta are better than lilies. :P

Well I agree but whatever the experts as they call themselves want to do it doesn't change the fact that hostas are one of the most incredible perennials we can grow.

Scott