My wonderful man just installed a long desired privacy fence to block off the view of the foreclosed house next door. The section that runs along the hosta gardens is 92 feet long and there has been NO hosta there at all.
Amazing, eh? Somewhere that has no hosta
I'm thrilled with the shade it will provide and the backdrop that it creates for the gardens. It also creates an amazing spot for tall hosta to tower over the foreground plants.
I'm wondering if I could get some recommendations or suggestions for hostas that are wonderfully tall in their gardens. I have a mature Sum and Substance and just got an Empress Wu for the spot. I also have a young Komodo Dragon that I can't wait to move over there plus a young Blue Umbrellas that has been set back from vole damage.
I still have plenty of room for more tall ones! Please give me suggestions!!! Thanks so much
Do you want tall or big N Tall too????
What fun. What choices.
I would start the list with gold regal,alex summers, regal splendor, krossa regal, nicgrescens and that whole group.
There is a list somewhere of the big hostas. I can't think of where I saw it at though. Give me a little coffee and I will think of the link
On the keyboard of life always keep one finger on the escape key.
Cheryl My Hosta List
Cheryl named all of the ones I would have except one: Eola Sapphire. Tall and huge!! One in a SL garden won best individual clump at the convention. If mine ever approaches that size, my house won't be on its foundation anymore.
Jade Cascade, Ultramarine and/or Tidewater, and an oldie that I am partial to, Snowden.
Any of the Sum and Substance sports if you can use big'n'tall. Lady Isobell Barnett, Bottom Line, Titanic, Parhelion. If you have time to wait for it to grow, T Rex is a monster. It's been really slow for me, though.
Any of the montanas can get quite large. Mira is a big one, one I don't have but would love to run across.
Big John (which is one of the parents of Empress Wu if I'm not mistaken) is another big'un.
And plant some seeds from that Empress Wu when you get some. You'll no doubt get some enormous babies.
Finally, how about a good old Royal Standard? I have a couple of clumps that rival any other hosta in my garden for size, perhaps not quite as tall as some, but definitely very large!
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Cheryl,
You could pot some of the smaller ones and use structure to lift them up above the others. Hosta in pots lifted up by placing them on shelves, hangers etc really make a great focal point. I have an old step ladder that I set some of my small but pretty hosta on so they get noticed
Thanks for the link. I need it too. We are limbing up some old white pines and I am going to plant a bunch of the big fellas along the drip line where the ground might not be too dense with shade. My DH even suggested that it would be really cool to have a line of the big ones along the pines. I would say that is a green flag to order some more this summer/fall if you ask me.
Now my only dilemna is if I go with a "theme" or not like I do with all of my beds. I was thinking of doing a Creature Feature theme bed with the likes of komodo dragon, swamp thing, etc.
Of course, a theme bed could also just be "big ones".
On the keyboard of life always keep one finger on the escape key.
Cheryl My Hosta List
Can't thank you guys enough and duh - I should have remembered the list because I just added it as a reference for myself on my blog page. Double duh.
Thanks for the pix Chris - I hope this means I can buy some of your recommendations here
I have a few of these already that are young or vole damaged but not so big at the moment. My Krossa Regal is big but not that tall. My tenryu (nigrescens) is hidden in a corner (vole eaten) so didn't even think about it.
Don't have Eola Sapphire! Looks very tall on Hosta Library! I've got to look some of these others up as well.
Flowerchild - a theme bed of "big ones" might eat the house! LOL!!!
Ginger - love the idea of the stepladder. I do have a few potted hosta that I moved over there to create some instant height and I built a raised bed for Empress Wu to really give her some extra punch.
I've been looking up these hosta to check on the sizes and to see if I liked any of them enough to add them. Some on the list were from the list link page.
I thought I would share the sizes that I found listed so that other folks could benefit. Keep in mind - I was looking for height rather than just size of clump. I can also assume that these measurements tend to vary on garden conditions. There were also some I couldn't find heights for...
Here ya go!
40 inches Jade Cascade
40 inches Leatherneck
38-48 inches Eola Sapphire
38 inches Lakeside Surf Rider
36-42 inches City Lights
36 inches Regal Splendor
36 inches Krossa Regal
36 inches Parhelion
36 inches Millenium
36 inches Blue Angel
36 inches Blue Umbrellas
36 inches Northern Exposure
36 inches Lakeside Maverick
36 inches Behemoth
35 inches Bottom Line
32 inches Five O'Clock Somewhere
32 inches Mississippi Delta
32 inches Duke
30 inches Lady Isobell Barnett
30 inches T Rex
30 inches Big John
30 inches Green Piecrust
30 inches Flower Power
30 inches Golden Sculpture
30 inches Victory
29 inches Tenryu (nigrescens)
28 inches Komodo Dragon
28 inches Mount Fuji
27 inches Deluxe Edition
27 inches Fluted Fountain
26 inches Grand Canyon
24-26 inches Moonlight Sonata
24 inches Gold Regal
24 inches Royal Standard
24 inches Sagae
24 inches Lakeside Ripples
24 inches Brigadier
24 inches Climax
23 inches Leading Lady
23 inches Old Faithful
20 inches Alex Summers
20 inches Snowden
20 inches Mira
20 inches Niagra Falls
18 inches Ultramarine
18 inches Tidewater
18 inches Rascal
18 inches Sugar and Cream
18 inches Clifford's Forest Fire
16 inches Abiqua Drinking Gourd
15 inches Titanic
I thought of some more yesterday:
Gold Regal
High Noon
Unchained Melody
Sun Power...very tall once it gets some age on it.
Elatior
Did we mention Liberty?
Abba Dabba Do?
I could walk around my yard and add more to the list, I'm sure. Maybe after I have another cup of coffee....
Also, I think some of those heights mentioned are a little on the low side. I'll go out and measure the ones I have on that list when I get a chance. For example, I'm pretty sure that Ultramarine is way taller than 18".
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Many of those sizes sound like registered sizes, others real life sizes.
The registered size is just that - the size at the time of registration. I didn't know this until recently, but it is not intended to be considered the full grown size, but sometimes we just don't have anything else to go on.
Seriously, Chris. Old Faithful IS trying to eat that poor hosta. It's cannibalism I tell you!!
Good to know about the registration size. I definitely am looking for the super tall so you are right - it is something to work with to start but I'll still keep in mind people's garden experiences. Either I get super tall hosta or something other than hosta ... and that just won't work for me right now
Does anyone have Chodai Ginyo?? Pix on hosta library look real tall and I do have that one already although young and vole eaten (bonus ). Perhaps that's another candidate.
I have so many great suggestions now - thanks everyone! You guys are the best and this is THE BEST forum for information, suggestions and support.
Unfortunately if I can't beat these voles, no matter how big my dreams of height, I may always have stunted hosta
After seeing Chris's pics, a couple of thoughts came to mind for tall/big hostas. I think it'd be fairly safe to say that any hosta that Olga Petyraszyn and Bob Balietiwitz [sp?] [Indiana Bob] introduce for sale are gonna be what you're looking for. [ Old Faithful is Olga's and Krugerrand is Indiana Bob's.]
One in a SL garden won best individual clump at the convention. If mine ever approaches that size, my house won't be on its foundation anymore. 
). Perhaps that's another candidate.
Old Faithful is Olga's and Krugerrand is Indiana Bob's.]