how did you get a picture of brian???

anyway.. if i grew hosta on 5 feet of compost and manure.. mine would probably get that big also.. lol ...

ken

Manure and probably 5-10-5, allright, will do it! I planted a pot with Empress Wu, likes shade, burns in sun. It is glorious to see such a large plant! WOW! Large is better!

That is by far the biggest hosta I have ever seen.

I built a raised bed of pure mixed manure compost (from the county fair!) and it sat over the winter before I planted Empress Wu in the spring. She did fine until the deer ate her in late summer, but the stems stayed green until frost, so I have high hopes for next year! the albomarginatas that make a skirt for her tripled in size in one season. Damn deer didn't eat those, they stepped over them to get to the Empress!

I bought EW in 2009. No appreciable growth in 2010.
I don't think she's a particularly fast grower.

I agree with thisismelissa - I also bought in 2009, and it didn't do much this year. It will be interesting to see what 2011 brings!

Empress Wu is so cool, she has her own website.

Here is a link that might be useful: empresswuhosta.com

This photo came in a gardening catalog yesterday, so apparently it's widely available.

bkay

Naylor has a Blue Wu available. The site states:
"[L] (King) This is the first plant from Jim King of Washington state we are introducing...an early hybrid from H. Empress Wu with H. Skylight as the other parent gives us a very large blue-green hosta (perhaps one of the largest blues). The clump is topped with pale lavender flowers."
I think I just like saying "Blue Wu".

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1104471}}

I just put Empress Wu leaves and pictures on the Hosta Library against Blue Wu, it seems that the Empress is more blue than Blue Wu!
Wow, eh, Wuu!

I'm sure it will take many years to fully evaluate H. 'Empress Wu'.

I have a lot of appreciation of BnV's plants, and their unique and fun outlook on life!

Having visited Wade and Gatton's this past summer, I can tell you that there are wonderfully HUGE hosta there to enjoy, not to mention the true 'friendship plant' Van Wade exhibits to visitors.

It's one of the true 'meccas' of hostadom to visit, believe me. Be sure to plan the time to spend at LEAST an entire day there, and try to plan it during the 'fringe' season so Mr. Wade can spend time with you, it's sooo much fun and informative. His years old rotten piles of wood chips sure grow his hosta well, and he has systems in place to ensure the all important hosta chocolate (water).

Some reading I've done indicates that H. 'Lake Superior' may compete with Wu in overall size, but I've yet to find an affordable sample to start growing and I'm not getting any younger, so not holding my breath . . .

I'm also curious about comments in this thread about Wu not being a sun tolerant plant. At this point I'm going to bet that it's a matter of enough water in a sunny planting and a cupla to a few years of root development. After all, so many hosta grow in full sun in their native lands, but the native lands DO get about 5 times the rainfall most of us here do . . .

hh

HH,
my Empress Wu was first planted in our vegetable garden in 3 hrs afternoon sun here in zone 5a. It received about daily overhead water, and burned. I moved it then underneath a pear treee and behind a wooden fence without direct sun, no more burning, but not too much growth, will see this year.
Bernd

Hello Everyone....Popping in here for a quick Hi...just wanted to tell you that any newly planted hosta in direct sun will get burnt..even with watering...it takes a few years to establish a good root system and in the mean time the sun does scorch them (but they will grow alot faster in the sun and look better for you in a few years)...we'll often put up a large beach type umbrella to shade our newly planted hostas in the sun during the heat of the day...this gives them a break during the suns intense rays and and they still get lots of bright light to grow...we also water them alot but not in the heat of the day...early mornings or late evenings is best....now if your hostas is limp and needing water during the heat of the day definately give it some..but don't spray the leaves...the water on the leaves will magnify & intensify the suns burning abilities, so it's better to pour some water on the ground around the hosta or put the hose under the hosta and let it slowly run so it seeps into the ground and doesn't wet the hostas leaves...Bevie

one of my wife's seedlings:

{{gwi:939969}}

That's my hand, and they don't call me 'OJ' fer nothing, heheh.

hh

I'd like to get an Empress Wu to try in my zone 8B garden. I have just the right spot for it where it will get morning sun and shade other times. Also, that spot has about 20 years of leaf mold for top soil. It is basically my tropicalesque garden spot.

We do have a lot of humidity, nothing unusual to be close to 100%. For the last couple of years our cold temps have gone down to the low 20s, even had 2 weeks below freezing. I know some hostas need the cold conditioning of below 40, and if our winters continue as of late, we should be able to grow some of the marginally cold-loving hostas.

I am just enticed enough by the way hostas look in general, to risk trying to grow the Empress Wu. I LOVE those big ole hostas! As I run out of planting room, I'll try something smaller, but for now, I have the space and bigger is where it's at. Oh yeah, and I love the variegated because in the twilight, the white/lighter parts of the leaves light up the pathways without having to use lights. Au naturelle is better than artificial any day.

In 8b you should put the Empress in full shade. Morning sun might be fine in Mass but not Bama. Try Sum and Substance or Parhelion in that morning sun spot.

Just my .02

Steve

If you're wanting large hosta, consider Victory. I saw it at the Dallas Arboretum this week (8b also). I read somewhere that it's the largest variegated hosta available. It looked really nice, especially since we've had about 50 days above 100 (we normally have about 18).

I took a few photos, which I haven't downloaded. I check to see if I got this one and post it if I did.

Bkay

Sorry, the arboretum is 8a. This Victory is covered in crepe myrtle debris. It also has some hail damage. Very impressive considering our weather this summer.

Just an aside - the tagline on the website and emails from the arboretum trial gardens is "If we can't kill it, no one can." (and I can't spell).

bkay

Bkay, I read online that Big Kahuna was supposed to be the largest variegated hosta. I have an itty bitty baby Victory.

Big Kahuna
{{gwi:1104477}}

"I read somewhere that it's the largest variegated hosta AVAILABLE." Available being the key word is my guess. Big Kahuna is not really available, if at all.

BK is available in a few places online but not widely available. It is pretty. Walters has PPAF on it same as Empress Wu.

Victory was not anywhere near that big. What impressed me was what great condition it was in for August and our summer. It looked better than some of the plantaginea offspring. Moccasinlanding is going to have the same heat problems in Alabama we have in Texas.

bkay

"BK is available in a few places online but not widely available. It is pretty. Walters has PPAF on it same as Empress Wu."

I'd be curious as to where. I have been unable to find it for sale online anywhere and TC keep failing from what I can find.

I just looked again at the places that had it listed for sale last year and they have since pulled it. I had seen it for sale at Country Mary's and Hostas Direct.

BKay, I'm beginning to understand that keeping hosta looking good is walking the razor edge. I've butted heads with prima donna plants before....they won until I figured out what worked.

Like I now have happy bougainvillea but in a pot on wheels.
But hostas don't take to pots that well, it seems, so hmmm, can I put them in a big tub and in a building with just a dehumidifier going? For the winter, that is?

I've killed many a plant, just never quit trying. My latest method of gardening is BENEVOLENT NEGLECT. Or RECKLESS ABANDON.

But I was taking notes as I read down this thread, because I dearly love to see those magnificent huge hostas, and was surprised to see mention of the problems I'll encounter being similar to BKay over in Texas.

You guys are so friendly, and I appreciate you letting me join the discussions here. I've tried to participate in other GW forums and some just freeze newbies out. Even though I've been on GW since 2001.

Hostas love pots. The only restriction is size. I don't go over a 3 gal. because I like to move them out of sight when they go dormant, but you could go to a 15 gal and see how big they get. You will get huge leaves, but not a huge plant unless you get one of those 250 gal. nursery pots. Just keep them cool and dry over Winter to keep them from rotting. I put a tarp over the atrium where I grow them, because the only rain we get here is in Winter.

-Babka

Walters was offering last year and they discontinued it. There was some discussion about this on the Hostapix group at yahoo last year. It wasn't coming true in TC. According to that discussion, there were some Big Kahuna plants released, but they are not true BK's.

I didn't realize that Lake Superior got that big!! I just received a piece of it from my guru so at least I know what to expect.

Dave

I have some large black plastic tubs from buying nursery plants, plus more will be available when I dump the philodendron silloum into the ground. That may well be a good way to keep my new hostas above ground over the winter, if I cover them to avoid our rainfall. My "yard friend" told me we got over 11 inches of rain the other day, I imagine way too much for hosta since we do not dry out quickly.

A big concern is that we have had as much as 2 weeks below freezing, but we do not STAY FROZEN that long during our normal winter weather. So I will definitely be listening to BKay's experiences in Texas to guide me through the winter.