Well, the oldest I have is about 11 years.

I think it is more about the conditions and cultivar. Some cultivars, as we know, seem to only live if in perfect conditions.

I found out this year that planting just a little too deep can cause either major setbacks or total demise. This, after about 2 years of no losses at all.

THEY can live forever ...

WE usually screw it up .. lol ...

like planting them in non-native habitats.. eg. under maples.. etc ...

dont water..

wrong soil.. etc ...

many are grassland plants... that you cant even see in the grass.. think how humid such a setting is.. and we plant them as individual settings...

sooo ... the micro climate we force on them.. is usually not prime.. to there genetic inclinations ...

the old schmid tome.. he had page after page of MAPS.. go figure.. of native distributions.. and talked about elevation [some being mountainous .. other grassland.. including some that lived on shear rock face in water falls... of which i cant recall the name.. but i will tell you.. that one doesnt like sand.. lol ....] ..

and after getting a bit map crazy.. i realized.. just what a battle it would be.. to grow ALL perfectly ... and came to the conclusion.. its not as simple as saying.. they are all just hosta ....

ken

ps: the waterfall one will NOT grow on the driveway ... lol .. wonder if mine is still alive ....

Well,I've only been growing for ten years,and I have some that old,but most of them are years younger. I've lost some,as most people do,but they were hard to grow ones,to start with. Phil

Just wondering here, my DH bought 20 hosta about 50 years ago, the green with white margin one. The hosta were still there when he sold the house this March. Of course, I brought a division of them with us when we moved things south....

WOULD THAT COUNT AS A 50 YEAR-OLD HOSTA?
Just wondering. I'm sure the original 20 have long passed on, but their DNA is in the clumps now gracing the gardens of many homes in Chelmsford MA. They multiplied like crazy.

IS THAT ONE OLD HOSTA?

My hostas did beautifully for about 12 years in pretty deep shade. This year, I have seen nothing yet...

I put hostas in my garden starting 17 years ago, and they are almost all still there, bigger each year. I never expected the beds to fill up with no empty space left, but they have.

Over the years I've divided almost every plant I've acquired, because I usually want LOTS of similar hostas planted next to each other in massed plantings. I carefully shape those masses of foliage. Their shapes determine the garden design, and that design is of great importance because it determines the look of the garden as a whole.

Collecting new hostas every year, small ones, one of each, just hasn't done it for me. I haven't needed to acquire that many different cultivars in order to make the garden look the way I want it to. Instead, I've bought 3 or 5 of whatever cultivar I've chosen, and I've chosen it carefully based on the color its foliage will yield when it is mature and its multiples fill a big space. Then I divide the ones I buy so I end up with even more before planting the bunch as a unit.

The one unfortunate thing my incessant dividing has caused is that I don't have a huge undisturbed plant that's been getting bigger and bigger and more mature for over a decade. At this point my garden is full, so there's no reason to divide any more. Maybe one day I'll have huge Sum and Substances that have reached terminal size. I'd like that.

Very, very few have died over the years, and very few have gotten smaller. When they did it was because of crown rot which came into my garden one season and stayed a couple of years until I figured out how to eliminate it.

Some have formed fairy rings as they've increased in diameter, and I don't bother to mess with them. Once the leaves are up, the empty spot in the middle doesn't show.

The ones that haven't increased in diameter are the Regal Splendors (which shrank), the Dream Queens, and the August Moons. I keep them and nurture them nevertheless, always hoping for glory.

My Sugar Daddys had a problem with their white rims splitting and going brown early in the summer. They looked so ugly for so many years that I threw them out. It was hard to do that. I had one Francis Williams that behaved the same and I threw it out too. Both of those were sad days as the leaves were stunningly beautiful.

Given this experience, my belief now is that hostas live forever unless disturbed by disease, predators, or disappointed gardeners.

I have hostas that are more than 15+ years old. My Elegans I believe was already at the home when we purchased it in 85. I certainly have no recollection of planting it in the one spot in the yard where no one even sees it.....and it’s huge. Abiquiu Drinking Gourd is from early to mid 90’s when I first began hostaing. Blue Angle, 15+ years, Robert Frost which was a huge plant on the N side of the house when we bought the house in 85.... RF has been split and moved to the front bed where it can be seen. My Royal Standards are all over 12 years and Big Daddy is about the same.

@djacob Z6a SE WI would you share some photos of those oldies? I'd love to see them.