I don’t know about hostas in zone. Are you in Florida, ………..it would be good to know city and state. I will refer you to the front page of the of Rawson’s lists…..scroll down to Cultural Characteristics, look for sun tolerant hostas. Don’t know if these would overwinter well or not. Others will chime in.

debra

I’m in San Francisco , ca. it’s not so much the sun because I have lots of shade, but I think it’s because the hostas don’t get chilled enough in the winter

Try plantaginea and its progeny. its more tropical and doesnt need much if any chill.

there are plenty of sports from fragrant bouquet. for variegation and you get fragrance and a good flower. so sweet grows in Florida as well.

the rest of them, not really any tricks unless you have a walkin freezer to chill them for 3 months.

According to the Sunset Western Garden book - the ONLY reference for plant selection anywhere in CA worth considering - you are located in Sunset zone 14-17 and virtually ALL varieties of hosta (species and hybrids) are listed as growing perfectly well.

My sister lived for years in Dana Point and grew many hostas in her very shady USDA zone 10 garden.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will look into plantaginea and just keep trying. i have tried a couple times to plant those mixed hostas grab bags. They don't tend to do well. In fall of 2020 I planted 10 and about 7 of them are still here this year, but they don't look much bigger than last year. Maybe I am just not taking good enough care of them. Maybe too much shade, too dry or not enough fertilizer? I think the halcyons tend to be where there is a little more sun and moisture. Maybe that's why they are doing well. Actually now that i look at the pictures, the one in the sun does seem to be doing pretty well and is leafier than last year.

Ordering from reputable vendors helps with getting .healthier plants. there are a number of vendors listed on the front page of the HL that are good. One of my favorites is Hornbakers. They sell you the same gallon sized hostas that they sell to vendors. They are great to deal with.They replaced a year old Brother Stephen that didn’t make it.

About your pics aboveNone are Halcyon except thar little blue leaf on the right in the third pic. It is an all blue hosta, no margins. The first one could be a young Frances Williams and the 2nd one Francee but those are guesses. here’s Halcyon in a morning sun location:

Didn’t know if you were looking for IDs, just thought I’ d give it a go.

debra

S Wang how old are plants you pictured? are these the bag hosta you refer to?

can you give a pic of halcyon and its age?

Most hosta are not recommended past zone 9. I'm in zone 7b/8a and there are lots of hosta that do not do well for me, as I have a really hot summer.

As someone has already mentioned, the problem is not enough chilling hours. Hosta, like fruit trees need chill hours to flourish. That said, in addition to fragrant hosta, which has already been mentioned, look for hosta bred by Tony Avent, who breeds for warmer climates. I only have one, but it does really well. It's named "Squash Casserole". They are hard to find.

Hosta love lots of water. The beds need to be well drained, though. It's said that the species grows in lava rock where they have a monsoon season.

bkay

Bkay has good advice. Growing out of pots also gives alot of flexibility.

we are going to have a heat wave here. so my fragrant breeders are getting a soak in the pond. to aleaveate the stress.

I have killed at least a dozen clematis and keep trying. i know i can never match what people get in warmer climates. and things like jap maples will only be envy for me.

success is a matter of context.

here is a halcyon in the ground with full chill.

but even so there is no shame in growing out of pots.

i do both.

S Wang-

I live about 50 south of you near San Jose, and have been growing hostas in pots since the late 1990's. At one time I had 130 different varieties, but Halcyon and its relatives do better than most. Hostas need a longer/colder dormancy period than we can give them here so they don't have the same vigor they do elsewhere. The air temps get colder than our ground does and that seems to help if they are in pots. And you can move them out of sight during dormancy.

-Babka

Wow, thanks for all your advice. My halcyon do well without much trying. Here is a photo from early spring. They are bigger now.

garden 2022 · More Info

But the photos I posted earlier in this discussion were grab bag hostas I planted in fall of 2020. They are not much bigger than they were last year. I'm realizing that aside from not getting enough chill, the hostas I plant that get more sun do better than the ones I planted in deep shade under the trees, so that might have something to do with it too.

The tree roots might have more to do with it than the shade. But then "sun" in San Francisco is way different from sun down here. Most of mine are in an atrium with 2"x2" redwood covered by 50% shade cloth. They like bright light, or out here, morning sun. You can see in my photos from the previous post where the heat/sun we had for a couple days last week melted the glaucous bloom thru the 2"x2" patio cover on our deck that doesn't have a shade cloth cover.

Here are the rest in the atrium just now. The blue one in front is a halcyon of course.

-Babka

Your greenhouse looks so neat and pretty! Maybe I will try pots too.

Thanks for sharing, Babka.

bk

Love your philosophy Babka! Thanks for sharing your lovely atrium with us.

debra