My GE is in its fifth year and I'm only starting to see large leaves. Leaves have to be small before they can be bigger. This year's small leaves are next year's bigger leaves.

If your new plant was taken as a division from a mature plant, it takes a bit less time for those big leaves to come. If you purchased it with big leaves and they're all now smaller than last year, then it's probably a case of root disturbance or the person dividing didn't get enough big leaves. Either way, it's an issue of patience.

Big leaves come from mature plants, not from new plants.

Oh dear, don't get Ken started on Great Expectations! He thinks this is one plant that is absolutely not worth it and will not fulfill it;s expectations.

I have one I am babying to try and prove him wrong. It is in its 3rd year and is still alive which I count as a plus, but not much bigger than last year.

chris

GE is notoriously slow and difficult. Here is a photo of my GE, which I purchased in 2007 as one eye. It is still one eye, but the coloring is just gorgeous. However, I hold out some slimmer of hope based on the handful of spectacular specimens periodically posted on this site and moved it this week to a new garden bed with fresh soil and hopefully a bit more light.

This is first year my GE has opened with a yellow center (planted 2008), so be patient. Each year the leaves have become bigger and more rugose - still 1 division.

Paul

Great Expectations has a lot of potential, looks great. Your plant is a young single-eye plant, it will take time.

My 2 GEs are doing fine in bright shade, I bought multi-eyed plants in pots 2 years ago. I measure today 10wx12L leaves. But just next to one GE is an Earth Angel hosta which stopped growing 2 weeks ago. I dug that Earth Angel out and discovered a tree root with many small roots attached intermingling with the hosta roots. Probably that root might have bee the cause, next tree is 20 ft away, no maple. So I potted that Earth Angel in a large pot, and will see how that goes.
Bernd

This is my second year for Great Expectations. Last year it was two or three eyes. I believe we got it in late August, early September. We put the raised beds in a few days before this picture was taken, so it got plucked from the ground rather late in the season, but didn't seem to suffer.

This year, only one eye emerged and it looked rather funny. I realized that it wasn't planted deep enough (or it heaved during the winter), so my DH dug it up and planted it deeper. I was kind of worried that he re-planted it too deep, but it now has 5 eyes and is really starting to look good.

Bought 9/08 - one eye.
2009 - two eyes.
2010 - three eyes but the new one is a reverting blue.
5/11 - four eyes, 3 GE and the one reversion.

The Hosta Database states leaf size as 6x4. (I'm almost positive some of you have older, larger plants with bigger leaves than that.) However, if 6x4 is correct, my leaves look to be about as big as they're going to get.

Pics of mine today, post hailstorm. Morning sun and late afternoon sun in zone 5b. This mulched yet clay bed never seems to really dry out completely in summer. It's a little corner nook by the house, the plant sits inside the L shaped nook. This is my baby hosta bed and frankly, I just stuck it there with no other thoughts about it.
But after reading everything on the hosta forum about GE, I'm afraid to touch it! Even to remove the blue eye!
Nobody touch that plant! lol. I'm not even complaining about the hail holes!

nutmeg- let it revert to the blue sport; it will prolly be a better plant lol. i have a three year old GE and i paid too much for it and i have four measly eyes to show for it after three years- i see some of these amazing GE`s on here and i think `that cannot be a GE` lol.
here is my show stopper:

When we visited SWMO gardens last week, he has a GE that seems to fullfil its name. Growing in almost full shade. He also had two more that if they ever saw a ray of sunshine I would be surprised....almost as big as this one.

I said I was gonna take its picture and put it up next to my plant so it could see what it was supposed to grow up to be!

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Expectations

Mine was bought last year at a great online nursery Made In The Shade Gardens. I go there sometimes because they have a strict antivirus policy. It was a small plant but I'm patient (somewhat lol).
It's planted next to my shed on the east side of my house. It gets morning sun, mostly dappled and afternoon shade. In summer it is a relatively dry area that I have to keep watered well if nature doesn't provide it. However, it is planted about 7 ft from an oak tree. I hope that won't be a problem

I have two monsters and one that looks like a quarter sized mini this year...I laughed out loud when I finally found it!

The two that are monstrous interestingly have half that has reverted. It appears to me that if they half-revert...they grow my heartily!

You know from all these postings I was avoiding GE, but then I saw this one last week at R. Seawright Gardens.

That's Fragrant Blue in the foreground to give you an idea of size.

Steve

lol joebar, I think one of the main things is..we must have PATIENCE. Of which I have NONE, incidentally!!
Bought mine in 08 from Santa Rosa Gardens. Before I knew what HVX was. Before I knew to only buy from reputable places that are hosta specific. (NOTHING against their other perennials, great company, I order every year.)
End of season sale - four bucks, lol.
Don't give up on your little guy. Think of the day you'll be able to look back and say, "my GE took FOREVER to take off, but look at him NOW!"

I also wanted to repost this GREAT advice on growing GE, from forum member dhaven, which I have saved for future reference.

"dhaven
Some varieties are very picky about growing conditions, and unless they are planted in optimum conditions, they will either remain small, or fade away and die. The best example of this I know of is Great Expectations, which also happens to be my favorite hosta. A great many people have lost this one, sometimes more than once. I have three very large mature plants, and they are the prettiest thing in the garden. It took some experimentation, but there are three things that GE absolutely must have to thrive. First, and most importantly, plant it shallowly. It's going to be a very large plant, so the natural inclination is to plant it deeply, but this will kill it faster than anything else. Plant it so shallowly you are convinced that it will tip over, and you've got it right. Secondly, it likes a lot of light. Dappled shade is ideal, but it will take several hours of direct sun, either morning or afternoon. Third, it likes a lot of water. If you give a GE all three of these things, you will increase your chances of growing it into an absolutely stunning plant.

If you want to try any of the hostas that have the reputation of being difficult, be prepared to try different locations and growing methods, and possibly go through several plants before you discover what works for that variety in your location. When you do find out what works, please share the information with the rest of us!"

what a piece of carp ...

odds are it will be dead soon..

enjoy it for what it is.. a terminal patient ...

i have had 9 of them ... trash

ken

ken, we all know your feelings on Great Expectaions! lolol

It made it through winter here, so that's good. Whether it grows anymore or not is another matter.

I figure if it's the same next year or smaller or even dead, I may go with Lakeside Shoremaster or Earth Angel. Any thoughts on those two? :)

here is the key .. its 80 to 90% WHITE ...

white tissue is a net negative in the food producing area ... it uses food in growing.. and return nothing to the plant ...

whenever you see a good one.. note that its green margins are relatively huge ... as in the pic above ...

ONLY the green edge uses the sunlight to produce the food to make a vigorous plant ... and if it can not store enough energy for next year.. guess what happens ...

so if you put a very white plant in shade.. you take its 20% sun using capability.. and retard it even further ...

this plant need as much sun as it can handle ... no matter what it looks like later in summer ...

its weird.. but it is a northern hosta also.. .most successful growers are in MN and WI ... whats that all about ... maybe a cheesehead thing ...

ken

ps: gisela's does not look right.. but it is new.. so who knows ...

Here is my GE. It is now seven years old and had 10 eyes this spring.

Mark

Tremon-

Your photo is what keeps me from dumping mine. Thanks.

-Babka

treemon, 7 years to get ten eyes. GEESH, BUT LOOK AT IT NOW!

Well I purchased 5 Great X last year, and all 5 seem to be doing great, one is awesome ! I think I got lucky as I found some 3-4 eye plants in gallon containers last year at home depot.. really nice looking plants. I have three of them on the north side of my house in shade from the roof. One in the back of the yard tucked up to some shrubs that give it mostly doppled light. And by far the best is on the south side of my house, it gets a few hours of direct sun in the early day, then is shaded by the porch cover and trees.. Its doing excellent, at least 20-30 leaves, many bigger than saucers. I have really been spoiling all my hosta though. I have a large aquarium its 240 gallon. I often fill a big bucket from it and give each plant about 3 cups each to SAVOR :)

I found a pic of my great X and a Sum of all I planted last year.. I took this pic a month ago, or so? I am REAL happy with them.

Fish poo IS the answer! Beautiful coloring on your GE!

-Babka