This is mine at 5 yrs and 5 ft across.. It has only put up one to two eyes per year for me.

5 to 7 years for giants to achieve their entire potential ... ken

Wu one, Just over 3 feet after 2 years, not counting little seedling (?) on the right

They are getting too much sun this year as Winter Moth Caterpillars have defoliated most trees.

Jon

Ok, then I will have to wait only 7 years...

Cat, how much sun does it get? They definitely like it on the shady side.

Jon

It took mine 6 years to surpass (height-wise) it's immediate neighbors 'Hollywood Lights' and 'Parhelion'.

Hi Jon, she is getting sun in the afternoon, but I can put it nearer the stem of the plum tree and see what will happen. She has a lighter green than yours shown above, but at the moment she seems to be in good health. But the advantage of planting in pots is that I can try out the first years and then find the best place. Because there is no big enough pot for an empress when she decides to grow:-)

Hi Karin, mine have both paled some because much of the leaves have been defoliated by caterpillars. Maybe the extra sun is adding growth (not that I can see), but they looked a lot healthier with more shade encouraging more chlorophyll.

Jon

I was in the garden this morning, hole digging for my new hosta order:-) I put the empress in a more shadowy area and will see what happens...It is strange how hosta react to place and light. Sometimes I get one from my hostafriend and in his garden I'm absolutely sure that I don't have it, plant it and after a few weeks I notice that it looks exactly like one I already have had...For one thing I water much more than he does and this alone often makes the difference between his ones and mine.

Gee thanks for all the info and pictures. I just never got around to buying one. I had a sum and substance that was pretty large, but somehow it DIED. Hostas Never die, but this one did!!!! Is this the biggest one you hosta lovers would recommend. Or are there others just as big/just as nice?

Hi Sue, on the website of NH Hostas you can find a nice variety of Giant hosta, hard to decide which one I would buy, Parhelion and Victory look nice, Sagae and Elegans are already in my garden. Blue Angel is growing nicely here and has lots of really big flowers every year.

As Karin Black Cat says, Parhelion is beautiful, as are VIctory, Sagae and Elegans. I also like Spirit of St. Louis which is becoming quite impressive in my garden. If you like wavy edges, both Queen of the Seas and Komodo Dragon get quite big, too. Atlantis is a beautiful huge, variegated variety. None of them compare to the Empress, however, which in just three years has outpaced all of the above although it was a small plant when it was planted and it was planted several years after the others named above. It is a thug. I stopped giving it additional nutrients in the hope that it would slow down, but no sign of that yet.

@jon, she already got darker after one week in the shadow...a little bit of sun comes through the leaves of the plum tree.

Which of the larger hostas are more slug resistant. Is empress wu? Or are others more resistant? And I have mostly shade under my spruce trees where most of my hostas are doing well (except for the !?!?!? gophers digging under some of them....) Which of the larger hostas should I NOT get because of the slug problem.

I have given to sprinkle food grade diatomaceous earth over ALL my hostasleaves and into the crown. I'd rather see some dust on the leaves than holes in the leaves, or half eaten. Seems to be working.

Thank you for all your input! I love this forum.

Any hosta with leaves of substance should deter slugs more readily.

Agree with Delaware Donna. Hostas with heftier, thicker leaves generally do well in the slug battle. Empress Wu seems to hold her own well against the little b---------s!