So that settles it I am sooooo putting Liberty in MORE sun!!!
Nice Hostas!

Me too!

Yep! Liberty is moving tomorrow! :)

If I had Liberty, I'd put it in more sun also, but I must admit I like the coloring much better of Paradigm in the shade. In fact, I don't find it attractive at all in the sun.

So no, bigger is not always better. Just sometimes. : )

Kate

What is the date of your Liberty in the sun photo? Does it still look that great late in the season? I may have to get another Liberty since I don't think moving the one I have would be an easy task.
Jan

Jan_ON:

As another poster noted, the colors are deeper with the ones in 'dappled light' v. the ones in (perhaps)too much sun.

More to your question, the H. 'Liberty' edge color goes very white as the season goes on, and yes, even I miss the deep buttery yellow from the first early season flush. Thank goodness I have it in both light conditions, eh?

With this year's very early hot season Liberty has gone white so early that I'm going to stick a festive umbrella over it during the hot, bright mid-day.

Cheating, yup, . . .

hh

Just remember that Liberty and Sagae do not like being moved due to the fact that they set deep roots. It is not unusual for them to "sulk" for a year after being moved before they recover and start growing well. I'm not saying don't move them to more sun, just be prepared for a bit of a setback. What I did with mine was cut more limbs from the tree to give it more sun.

Steve

One of my H.'Liberty's is in 3 hours of sun in zone 5 and has white margins which get crispy at the end. The sunny one is larger than the shady one.

HH, tell us how much you water your 3 sunny plants, I think you wrote you water sunny plants a lot. Anyone moving hostas into more sun should remember to water more.
Bernd

hh - I think a festive umbrella for your sun 'Liberty' in the heat of the day is a great idea. A little table with a nice drink and a bendy straw...........
Jan

HH, Your point that you are in zone 4 is a good one. Your zone has a low temperature 20 degrees cooler than my 6b. This is caused by the length of sunlight and also the greater angle at which the sun hits in your loacation. The angle is close to perpendicular at the equator and almost tangent at the North Pole (In summer).

I would suspect (guess) that your location is comparable to a 2 hour or more differential in sun exposure (less exposure) than my zone 6b. In other words in my 6b a full sun day would be about 2 hours "longer" than your full sun day as you have a shorter "day" and you also have a greater angle and more atmosphere for the sun to penetrate.

Your point of getting better results with more sun is a good one, but not reproducable in higher zones where the sun's intensity and "shining time" is greater. I mention this as a caution to people in warmer zones as they cannot expect to acheive the same results you do.

They will need proportionately (2,3, or 4 hours) more shade (or more watering) to get similar results, as you have a built in geographical shade because of your northerly location.

Jon

Yes, I try to drown Hosta in a lot of sun with water. I can get away with this due to a very light, well-drained soil. Very well-drained also means nutrient flush-through, so additional mulching and fertilization is called for.

Now if your soil is heavy, you'll need to avoid crown rot from over-watering.

Remember that Hosta genetics are pre-disposed to a lot of water. In their native lands they get about 5-6 times more annual rainfall than most of us (think Monsoon season).

Also know that in their native lands, it's not uncommon to find large 'drifts' of them out in the open in all-day sun.

Ahhh, again the water is the key!

Where possible, I've buried weeping soaker hoses past the ones in a lot of sun. That has proven a real solution, where possible.

HTH,

hh

Jon, the zone is not responsible for the difference in the angle of the sun and therefor the sun's intensity, it's the latitude that makes the difference in the angle. I'm in roughly a zone 8a, yet I can get away with the vast majority of my hostas in full sun because I'm just north of the 49th parallel and the angle of incidence of the sun here is quite a bit less as a result then wherever you are in your zone 6B.

Coeur d'Alene, ID and Wichita, KS have roughly the same zone, around 6B, yet their respective latitudes are very different and thus the angle of incidence of the sun also is. Their daylight hours of course also differ, with the northern part of Idaho seeing a longer day, because of the latitude.

Pieter

Pieter you are correct. In the case of HH's location and mine it is a matter of latitude directly affecting the zone and sunlight. This is not always the case as you point out, although sun exposure is alaways related to latitude....exscept that one location may have more moisture and cloudy days.

I stand corrected. HH is also correct that watering can compensate for more heat and sun as well.

Jon

Jon