hypoleuca

[gesila9]

I'm having a terrible time growing this one. Every year the first couple of leaves get hit by frost and then it looks horrible the rest of the year.

Any ideas on growing this one?

[viktoria]

No problem here. The species generally like more sun than we think (learned from the "experts"), so you could try a sunnier location?

Viktoria

[Chris_W]

I was thinking the opposite, that maybe put it into a shadier spot so it won't come up too soon and get hit by frost so easily. My plants out in more sun tend to come up the earliest and always get hit by frost worse than others. For those that don't recover so well I move them to shadier spots and other areas that thaw out later. For example on the north facing hills here the leaves collect a lot which keeps the ground frozen so the frost comes out of the ground very late. That keeps some plants dormant a little longer. It also brings up another possibility, that you could mulch your hypoleuca location to help keep the ground frozen longer in winter. When a plant like this only sends out one leaf per eye that does make it a little tougher on it if that leaf gets frosted.

[viktoria]

What you say, Chris, makes sense to me, too, BUT I have been told that in their original sites species hostas often grow out in the open, only shaded by nearby vegetation (eg. grasses, not trees).

[gesila9]

Chris, I bought mine at your nursery. We just potted it up and moved it in the shade.

I know that the hosta library says this one can take sun but it doesn't seem to be taking it in our gardens, and, I grow a ton of hostas in the sun.

Gesila

[gesila9]

6 days in the shade and hypoleuca has three new leaves! What a big difference.

Gesila