Wow, that's a gift:-) My MA is still a baby (second year), have it in full afternoon sun.

That is a nice size for a baby!. Does this hosta like a lot of sun? I hope not as mine is in mainly shade with a little morning sun.

I was told that it likes sun when I got it. I had it in a shadier area for the first few weeks to accomodate (no problem when in a pot) and then took the risk and it is thriving at this place (sun from around 1 -7 p.m.) and we had temperatures above 30° Celsius the last days. No sunburn so far, but the sun is not yet at it's highest. Montana is mentioned on the HL list for sun tolerant hostas, too. I hope that means all of that species. But I also keep an eye on those in the sunny spot and water them more than the others.

Karin

Barb, that is such a windfall getting a huge division from what appears to be a pristine, mature plant! Nice prep in planting there too! Enjoy it for many years to come.

Here is my newbie I picked up earlier this month. I just stuck it in there temporarily for colour contrast. Winter Snow would have it covered in no time, lol! It gets direct sun currently from around 11:30 onwards in that area.

By the looks of the first photo it seems to be fuller already. I'll have to go take a look later. We are experiencing plenty of rainfall lately.

Here's mine from 6:10 this morning

Oh wow. These are all beautiful! And Barb- that's a nice gift you received. I have a little one that needs planting and I can't decide where. Shade is still at a premium here. Hmmm... I could move Brother Stefan or put mA in a slightly more sunny spot.

I really love this plant! Here's mine that I just put in the ground last week after living in a pot for a couple of years.

I love her. I haven't gotten around to taking pics of all of mine yet, this is last year's. She's in a fair amount of sun and gets pooped on by the birds who sit in the ginkgo tree to her left:

My favourite!

My pic didn't show

MA will take full sun if it is watered and mulched adequately. Full sun may turn the yellow to more of a parchment color. It will also grow in full shade, but will increase very slowly under those conditions. Half to 3/4 sun seems to be ideal. I love this one, have multiples in various spots in the garden.

For those who like the MA look, check out Ebb Tide, which is a beautiful sport. Stag's Leap also has MA in it's background, and is another striking plant.

Thanks to everyone for your beautiful pics. I remember seeing this one on the hosta forum before and knew it was a knock out. Right now the spot in shade is the best place I have for a really big hosta so I will see what she does in the next few years. But nice to know she will take a lot of sun.

I've often thought it would be fine if I had nothing but montana Aureomarginatas in the yard.

Gorgeous!

Mine has been doing really badly, sounds like I had it in too much shade, have moved it today which is a great thing about pots. Thanks everyone for the great advise here.

I got First love back in spring which is another sport of mA with reverse colouring. It doesn't look like much yet but should be nice.

That's one of the best things with potted hostas...move them around as long as they find their place in the garden. They show quickly what they like :-) It is like playing a little bit of hosta chess every year...

Renaat says green hostas need sun, but with some you nevertheless have to be careful, especially now that the sun gets so agressive.

Here's mine. I've always assumed it was a Montana A. -

(I am not the best with tags). Either way, this is one of my favorite hostas. It's in a pot since I moved it last year.

I paid $5 for mine 4 years ago. Now over 3 feet tall. Might be the best $5 I've ever spent

Note: my size 13 foot in the lower left of photo 2

Beautiful pictures, I am hoping mine will get as big one day. Here is shots of mine purchased last year. The little one is from a tissue culture plant, I don't think I will buy tissue culture plants again they take too long to mature and have a high mortality rate.

Hey Beth. Almost every hosta you buy is from tissue culture........unless it is marked OS. (originator stock), which you pay a premium for.

Thanks Jim, I will let someone else raise them to a larger size which does better in my garden. :)

It is possible to find hostas that are neither tissue culture or Originator Stock. Many of us have been raising hostas since well before the advent of tissue culturing, and have long established plants that can be divided. It used to be that the only way to buy a hosta was to find a grower who would divide a clump, or who had divided a clump, lined out the divisions, and grown these out to sell.

Montana Aureomarginata is a sport that was discovered in Japan around 1940. It remained extremely rare and was highly sought after. I was in Japan in 1973, and was fortunate to be allowed to see MA in a private temple garden. It was not possible to buy MA in Japan for many years, only to receive one as a gift, and even that was very uncommon. When this one finally was available for public purchase there, it commanded a price of $1500-$3000 for a single division, and there was a waiting list that was years long. MA found it's way to the US I believe around the mid to late 70s, was registered in the late 1980s, and gradually became more reasonable in price. Initially it was in the $250 range, but came down to $150, then $75, then $50, then finally $30, which is when I bought my first one. That was, of course, for a small single division. Purchasers were told to plant it in a lot of shade, which was how it was grown in Japan. Needless to say, it took many years to get a mature clump. Nowadays you can find a nice large single division from a seller for $10-15, and a decent sized plant with multiple divisions for $25-45.

Great history, thanks.

tj