Help me choose

[ogrefcf]

So I have a front bed that's about 6X6, gets about 4 hours of morning/early afternoon sunlight and dappled the rest of the day. The dirt in it is horrible so I'm going to dig it all out about 18" deep and put pure compost in. I want this to be a place I plant a giant Hosta and nothing else with plenty of room to grow and be a show off. Going to do everything I can to make her grow big and healthy! Here's the bed,





Now What I wanted to ask is what Hosta should I plant. Like I said I really want it to get big, I do understand this is mostly time, but which one has the biggest chance to be huge. Here's the ones I have available to plant now.

S&S, I think this is my personal choice right now. It's the biggest plant I have available to plant right now and I know it can handle the sun.



Sagae, I think this will turn out being on of my favorite Hostas. Close second with the S&S if not tied as to what I want to plant there. I think this will be showy, but how big does it get? It's also only one eye and bought from Chris a couple weeks ago.



Liberty, don't know much about it. just bought from Chris, one eye. Seems to be a smaller giant. Here's the one I have.



I also have Komodo and Blue angel I can move there. Both three eyes. I think. I Like where my Komodo's at so don't really want to move it. I already have to bigger Blues in the bed in the front of my house so don't think I want one there. I'm open to also buy a new giant to put there and and suggestions would be appreciated. Also any tips on growing big hosta's would be great! I have read about the compost, alfalfa, bone meal, plenty of room ETC, but any other tips would be welcome.

[kHT]

Here in the PNW/WA State, we have several H. 'Fortunei Albomarginata' that are growing in full sun and they really
put on the show and bring on the curb appeal! We balance this with the H. 'Lancifolia' up closer to the house in a shadier
area. When planting hostas, (I'm no expert on them) one should look at what is important,, the flowers or leaves? We do
alot of variegation and tuck the solid colors in to show it off. I also move those hostas that have those awesome tall flower
spikes.

[steg]

If it were me, I'd go with Liberty. Love to color on that one and saw a massive one yesterday at a garden tour. WOW

I might even plant it towards the back third of the spot and hide a couple medium in the front with the intention of moving them when Liberty takes over.

Good luck...

[Tigger]

Sagae will grow faster, of course, but Liberty would be an absolute traffic-stopper in that location.

Based on their registrations, they could eventually be about the same size; more than big enough for that location. If you want to see a monster Sagae, here's a pic (from 5 years ago!) of our Sagae (to the left of the walk):

(this is from my Member's Journal)

and the more recent one below.

Liberty is getting big pretty fast, though.

In my opinion, Sum and Substance is not a good candidate for along your front walk. Too unruly, and not that interesting. I like putting it somewhere where it can draw you from a distance.

[ogrefcf]

Wow, Tigger what beautiful Hostas! That Sagae is massive the basketball or what ever it is, is tiny next to that thing! Well the Liberty is planted in a pot by a maple so it would be the easiest to move actually. Thanks for the opinions so far and would like to hear more.

Edit: I watched today and I get straight sun from 8-12 and dappled/shade the rest is that to much for a liberty?

[ViolaAnn]

I would also go with Liberty. It's a real show stopper. Mine is still relatively young, but already attracting attention. This is a more mature one belonging to a friend of mine.

Liberty

[thy]

Think it mostly depend of the time you can wait
S and S is faster than the others and for me Liberty is slower than Sagae, both are vase shaped so you can plant small or even mini hostas under/ in front of it.
I agree Liberty is more of a show stopper, but somehow Sagae is more elegant
then there are several sports of S and S and Empress Wu is told to be the biggest of them all.
Try to look at http://www.hostaparadise.com/hostasearch.aspx - then go for seach by criteria - extra large or large as you please

Mix the top of the old soil with the compost, meaning do not make a layer over bad soil, that way the roots will prefere to stay in the top layer and you want them to go as deep as possible due to the watering. Mix in some hand full alfalfa.
Blod meal if you can get it, but... then dogs may like to dig there If you have access to some pine ´needles it is great for aeration
Then water, water, water
Pia

[dash]

I think Liberty is the way to go...a real show stopper.

[ogrefcf]

Thanks everyone for the input. I decided to go with Liberty like most said. Go the hole dug. Went about 4' wide and 2' deep,





That's a 5 gallon bucket in there. I would have liked to make it a little bigger, but ran out places to put dirt.

Here's Liberty dug up and ready to be put in her new home. No maples to worry about there.



Now just waiting for the truck to get here to go get compost, some alfalfa pellets, and bone meal and get her planted. I think in moving the dirt I made some more places to plant Hosta's! I think they would go nicely in front of my Rose of Sharon.

[ogrefcf]

And half a yard of compost, 5lbs of bone meal, and a bunch of alfalfa pellets we have a new home for Liberty.

[bkay2000]

Nice!

bkay

[Pieter]

And half a yard of compost, 5lbs of bone meal,.........

Don't wish to rain on your parade, but you could have saved some money on the bone meal. By NOT using it. You may wish to read this article by Linda Chalker-Scott -a PDF file- on the subject of the Bone Meal Myth. Bone meal does NOT stimulate plant growth, it is only a mineral....BTW, her website has a lot of great information and it dispels many common gardening myths.

Incidentally, kudos for allocating that much space to your new addition, give it a few years and it'll fill that space with ease.

[ogrefcf]

And half a yard of compost, 5lbs of bone meal,.........

Don't wish to rain on your parade, but you could have saved some money on the bone meal. By NOT using it. You may wish to read this article by Linda Chalker-Scott -a PDF file- on the subject of the Bone Meal Myth. Bone meal does NOT stimulate plant growth, it is only a mineral....BTW, her website has a lot of great information and it dispels a lot of common gardening myths.

Incidentally, kudos for allocating that much space to your new addition, give it a few years and it'll fill that space with ease.

It was only a couple dollars for the bag so not to worried about it. Some say it works, others say it doesn't for a couple dollars I'll try it.

[thy]

Cant wait to see your Liberty bed this year

[babyboomerinbarrie]

Liberty is a stunning hosta. In a couple of years you and your neighbours won't be able to take your eyes off it! I happen to have a 4-yr old Sagae also. It is truly beautiful and elegant. Mine retains its blue/grey colour and the gold edge throughout the summer as it doesn't get afternoon sun. I do nothing for it but admire and talk to it, touch it. It comes back every spring with fatter eyes than year before. I don't fertilize, or mulch. I didn't spend any time at all in planting it (I inherited it from a neighbour that was moving away). I guess what I am saying is that these beautiful hostas grow in spite of neglect. I am impressed that you have gone to all that trouble to ensure a wonderful home for your Liberty. I am ashamed that my hostas are almost neglected by comparison. However; having said that, all my hostas are robust, healthy despite the fact that I do not feed them (watering only). Some of them are so large that now I have to dig some others up to give them more room and relocate them. That wasn't a good plan on my part but moving the hostas around keeps them in check (although I feel sorry for them) and it takes time for them to reach maturity again.

I just wanted to share my experience with the easiest plant on earth to grow. My first hosta was the lancifolia. I got it from an old friend. Transported it in a green plastic bag. Forgot to put into ground. Next spring I saw all kinds of green 'eyes' and was amazed that it survived. The hosta fever grew from there. I absolutely love them - have 42' across backyard and only one wall where they are safe from afternoon sun. Some of that wall has staircase against it. Underneath the staircase my smaller hostas grow. It's simply amazing how wonderful they are.

I am a new member as of today and I am sorry that I got carried away with my story. I am nuts about gardening, can't you tell?

[ogrefcf]

Thanks for sharing babyboomerinbarrie. I did get a little carried away here. I actually put in to hot of compost and burnt my first Liberty here. I got it replaced and added some rock borders.

Pia, here's a recent picture.

[thy]

Thank you

It is looking good and will be even better next year
Pia