haha...I hear ya, James. I have a staging area on the side of the house where I stash new purchases until I can discreetly plant them out where my long-suffering husband won't notice for a while. Just last week he gave me a major guilt trip when he admiringly said, "Wow! The garden looks great this year! It's hard to believe this was all here last year." (Of course, only about 2/3 of it was there last year...)

I have Dancing Queen, but I don't have enough experience to weigh in. It has come back strong this spring...from one eye to three, so can't complain. Beautiful color...a real "must have!" Tell your wife it is a mother's day gift for her, and be sure to tell her its name...might help with the begging forgiveness stage. :)

A. Very vigorous
B. About as sun tolerant as a Hosta gets. Kent Terpening (the hybridizer) posted that he created all of his Hostas to grow in full sun. Mine is in at least 6 hours of sun and that is all afternoon sun. It took a year for it to adjust to that level of sun, but looks great all year now. Caveat: I'm at 41* north latitude. Your mileage may vary.

It's a great Hosta, a real stand out in the garden. The chances your wife won't notice are zero.

Steve

I concur with Steve. 'Dancing Queen' is a vigorous grower in my garden as well. It puts out twice the amount of growth as most of my other hostas and is in the top 5% for growth rate (in my hosta gardens) overall.

I have mine in afternoon sun and it doesn't scorch or burn. It did the first year I planted it, but it hasn't since. It's a knockout with bright gold leaves that have ripples and waves. It's very noticeable, even from a distance. I love it.

I'm in the PNW (Vancouver, WA)...not sure where you are.

I have mine on order but it hasn't arrived yet. I was looking for the same info, so that is great timing on your post! I am still not sure where I will site Dancing Queen, but I am thinking it would look good near a blue. However, blues are not meant for lots of sun, so who knows! I will post a pic this summer once it has a home and had a chance to acclimate. Please post a pic when u plant yours!!

Raven's Fan makes a good point. Threads need pictures. Here's my Dancing Queen.

Steve

Wow,flower frenzy, are you getting beautiful sun today? Supposed to get to 80 degrees tomorrow down here in Western Oregon. I love DQ and I think I have it but I think the nutty squirrels in my yard are playing 'tag' with my tags, so I am not sure. I also have taken a liking to H. Summer Squall . ( I have to stop this craziness)

As promised here is the "DQ" I got today 2 divisions (all the others had only 1) so the way I look at it I got it for half price!!! $14.99 CAD. Thanks for the replies everyone. I am glad I got the answers I wanted........ this makes cultivar # 84
Cheers
James

James, how true is the color in that pic?? It is positively glowing a yellow orangey color! What amazing coloration! You can also see that slight orangey glow in Steve's pic, maybe due to setting sun, but gorgeous nonetheless. So excited for my DQ to arrive!

Ravensfan the camera I use does saturate color a bit, however the color is still amazing, it beckoned me across the nursery......

Dancing Queen is one of my absolute favorites. Here is a picture of her from last year.

Linda

Just wanted to say this thread just inspired me to purchase Dancing Queen.

Jadie, your comments had me in stitches.

My new last summer Dancing Queen came back from dormant eyes after a bad winter. It has just about filled the pot already. Mine gets a little morning sun, but I'm at 31 or 32 degrees. The rest of the time, it's dappled shade. It looks like a real hosta already.

I'm impressed.

bk

Uk_hostaman has a gorgeous one, so I 'had' to have it. I bought it last year and this spring it struggled, although it did grow from 2 to 3 eyes. It is in a pot and through the new knowledge that I have acquired re: potting medium, I am hoping to see considerable improvement. It gets quite a bit of sun in my garden.

That is about all I have to offer as it is new to me, too. Sorry I cannot be more help and excuse the nasty label :)
{{gwi:963532}}

The color is a little off, probably because I took the picture so early in the morning. My DQ has always been in a lot of mid-day sun, and it does burn if we have a series of days in the 90-100+ range. I keep it well watered to make up for all the sunshine. It's not the fastest grower, but after 3-4 years is looking good.

Without the sun exposure the gold becomes green. Just as pretty a hosta or healthy a hosta but really green. This spring I was repotting and rearranging including this one. It was then located on my new bleachers and forgotten. It turned green. I know it will change back when I have the time to deal with it. Too much monkey business to take care of now to fine tune DQ's color needs. If it was fragrant I might be really concerned. I like it much better than Dream Queen which I lost and did not replace. My other queen is Fragrant Queen and little green Dixie Queen.

Here is a picture of DQ sitting in the bleachers. She is the one with the disco ball.

'The Bleachers' lol

Hehehe, I know. But bleachers is the term of choice for Babka's hosta sitting outside on her deck (Please Don't Block The Exit) and for ILoveToGrow as well. They come highly recommended.

Part of my sweat today is due to working on another row of them, to claim another area of the 100 x 25 foot garden strip for hosta display. But first I had to dig up clumps of tall liriope to plant elsewhere as shade for black pots. I'm reminded of being a child and building little towns and roads in the sandbed of our backyard. Gardening really is an opportunity for adults to play in the dirt/mud/soil/yard. :)

I decided while I was out this morning to move DQ where it gets morning sun. I expect the new leaves coming in will be yellow.

Finally got my bareroot DQ in the ground last weekend. Expanded existing perennial bed to an area that gets a lot of shade to dappled shade and grass was sparse. This little section gets good sun until about 1 pm then cools off. i hope its enough to keep the yellow color. Here are 2 pics this evening as the 7 pm setting sun illuminates her ruffles.

Happy to hear she is a good grower too.
Amy

I can never get a picture that does her justice, but I bought another because she is so gorgeous I couldn't bring myself to split her. Vigorous, takes whatever you throw at her and still looks good.......

Jag, don't blame you. I could not split such a beauty either. Somehow I see Dancing Queen between Manhattan and Lakeside Full Tide, when mine matures.

Definitely yours is a star.

Mine is also a beautiful large plant after 2 years coming with multiple eyes with frost damage in a pot. It grows in dappled shade with perhaps 1 hour direct sun light.

Here is my DQ in its new full sun position. I bought it two years ago. It grew well with some afternoon sun but did green up by mid summer. This spring I moved it to a place with more sun. Its an experiment but if it works it will look fabulous there. Enjoy your DQ.

Beverly

These aren't great pics, but do you want to see how big she can get? Here is a pic in the gardens of Plant Delights. I couldn't get in front of her, so had to lean over to take this

Here's a pic of her across the way. She's right in the middle and she's ginormous!

I'm now convinced that my DQ is holding out on me. She is so small and I got her in 2012. I guess Squash Casserole spoiled me.

My Dancing Queen, this is her 3rd year.

They all look so beautiful! I cannot wait until mine looks like one of those.

If you guys don't mind me jumping in on another old thread, could anyone tell me how "slug resistant" Dancing Queen is? Only found it listed as such on one site, but not sure how accurate that info is. It sure looks free of holes in all the pics I've seen... Planning on getting Sluggo soon, but still prefer hostas that don't really need it. Thanks in advance!

In the UK there is no such thing as a hosta that doesn't need protecting from slugs!

Dave