That Stained Glass is gorgeous!

Hornbakers sends great plants! My favorite vendor.

Brother Stephen has died on me twice.

Montana died on me too.

Blue Ivory is always perfect!

Forbidden Fruit is in it’s second year and doing well.

June does well in sun or shade.

LS Paisley died on me after nursing it in a pot all summer.

Others I have not had.

BTW, let us know your US growing zone and close big city. As kw says, we all have different growing conditions,so it’s best share yours for us to help.

in sun, first year

June in shade

Forbidden Fruit 2nd year

debra

Where are all the comments for Ann? Come on folks, help her out!

debra

Blue Ivory is a slow grower for me, but otherwise it's doing well.

My Lakeside Paisley Print is struggling, but that could be thanks to voles.

Brother Stefan and June are doing well for me (although Brother Stefan has some sun damage this year).

I don't have experience with the others you've listed.

Thank you for the comments so far! Sorry for the delay answering - today was our local garden tour so I was admiring other people's handiwork. Sounds like Paisley Print might be best avoided, at least for now. And great to know you've had good experiences with Harnbaker. I used to order from Hallson, but of course they are gone now.

Debra, that is a difficult question! The closest "city" is Durango CO. When I moved here 4 years ago I was told Durango is zone 5. I just looked at the USDA map and it puts Durango as 6a, with parts at 6b. I live 2000 feet above Durango, so one would expect that I am in a lower hardiness zone. But the USDA map says my house is 6b. I don't believe that. And I also believe that elevation affects the growing conditions much more than the winter temperature. It is true that we are often 5 degrees warmer than in town due to some sort of inversion. But I do not for a moment believe that we are zone 6. I have been able to keep some zone 5 plants alive, and most zone 4. I've not even tried a 6!!! The biggest challenge up here is the lack of quality soil and the hot, dry summers.

Ann, I grew up mostly in SW MT - Anaconda - zone 4a, 4b & 5, elevation 5,200. My parents moved back there when they retired so I spent time there as an adult too. Their neighbor put lots of effort into growing in ground Hosta & proudly showed them off to me, a fellow gardener. I couldn’t bring myself to show her pictures of mine as hers were so small. That area has an 89 day growing season! I was shocked as never really paid attention to length of growing seasons. My wordy story is meant to express that maybe even large Hosta will never be large in your area unless they’re in pots & you have a heated green house. I have to ask you - how long did it take you to acclimate to your 8k elevation? When visiting my parents & leaving my 300’ elevation, for the first few days I was gasping after walking a couple blocks & often felt the need of afternoon nap! I’m assuming you moved from a much milder climate & much lower elevation.

I thought my elevation was high at 4,800, but you’re really up there! When I got here we were z5 and they upped us to z6, but the few z6 plants I’ve tried on my cold, shady side of the street, haven’t come through winter, so I plant for 5b. So you might want to experiment with cheaper plants to find out.

Have you checked out the Rocky Mountain Gardening forum? I’m sure they have some Colorado gardeners there.

My soil is sandy, alkaline with small rocks. With enough water hostas grow well enough for me. Out of what you’ve listed I’ve had good luck with Stained Glass, June, and Guacamole…. until it didn’t get water. Blue Ivory is pretty but a slow grower for me.

Lakeside Paisley Print is one of those that does great if you find the right spot, so I’d call it a tricky one but so pretty if it likes your conditions. June Fever is a good grower here! I have two, one in some sun and the other in more shade and both do well.

KW, your Stained Glass is glowing in that pot. So pretty!

KW, you are half correct. I definitely moved from a much lower elevation (800 feet) but not a milder climate. I lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota for 25 years (although I was raised in Colorado, jobs took me north). Zone 3. But, super black soil and more moisture in summer.

That's a great point about size maybe not reaching their potential! Although our summers are hot, spring is much delayed here, so the growing season is shorter. Hmmm.

The elevation definitely affects people! When we have visitors, we always plan the first day to be very low key so they can get their breath (pun intended). It took me most of a year to really acclimate, even after spending my younger days in the CO mountains. Even now, I get breathless going uphill.

Here are a couple photos from the major hosta garden I had in ND.

sandyslopes, thank you. I was not aware of the RM gardening forum, I will definitely check it out! Thank you for the comments on the hosta varieties.

Trying again to upload my second photo

Ann, what a beautiful lush garden! Must’ve been very hard to leave that behind. But, there’s also so much beauty in the Rocky Mountains!

Montana Aureomarginata is on early side so if you have late frosts it might be affected.

I kove 30 miles up north in IL, now my friends in Chicago have nearly 3 weeks on me in terms mof blooming and ripening. 

I have grown jusy about every hosta you mentioned and have not had problems with any.

I would consider Liberty too, it is one of the best hostas there. Other thing to check local gardens and see what varieties they grow.

Sorry for mistakes, it seems my tablet does to allow editing.

I'm in zone 6a/6b--Paul's Glory grows like a weed in my yard. I've split mine 4 times over 20 years. Brother Stefan is also a good grower. My elevation is 760. I have a huge Guacamole but Stained Glass doesn't do well for me, why I don't know. I bought 2 Paisley Prints. One in an eight inch pot that has dwindled down to almost nothing and one in a 4 inch pot that is now quite large. They are less than 2 feet apart. Blue Ivory has survived but not thrived even though it's in a bed that has a lot of hostas that have grown a lot. Your area is so different than mine. It will be interesting to see what grows for you.