Hosta are not shade-LOVING (it's a common misconception). They are SHADE TOLERANT.

In zone 6, hosta on the east side should be ok, but they'll need ample water. But you should choose hosta from the list of sun tolerant hosta. Some will surely burn if left in this situation.. But, if you're zone 6 New England/Pacific Northwest, it'll be less an issue than if you're zone 6 Oklahoma/New Mexico/Arizona/Texas. It's about the angle of the sun. The sun is more intense in the southern states.

Deer do love hosta. But you can use deterrents to help minimize the damage.

What I would do is buy 5 or 10... cheaply at a local place and see if it's going to be more of a problem than you'd prefer to deal with.

Oh, and if you for sure want deer to come to your landscape... plant an expensive hosta! Murphy's law!

good job mel ....

the ONLY issue with sun and hosta.. is how ratty they get late in the summer ....

and that issue is complicated by HOT AFTERNOON SUN ...

full sun thru 2pm ... ought to be fine .... noon even better

yours sounds like a perfect spot..

go for it ...

ken

I was searching for what people are using for deer protection and found this. I know it is old but......What I do if I like a hosta and really want to get quick growth so I can make some divisions. I put a small piece in my Full sun area keep it very moist and it triples it size in 2 years. This way I can have several of a favorite Hosta spread around the gardens.

As said the hosta is real ugly late summer from full sun but it gets big real fast.

I have been under the impression and had this confirmed by the owner of a large nursery here that lighter hostas are more tolerant of sun than darker hostas. The green is chlorophyll and a lot of it would indicate a greater capacity to tolerate shade (???) Lighter variegated hostas would need, and tolerate more sun as they have less Chlorophyll (???)
I have gone by this strategy for several years and had good success�or dumb luck (???)

Jonnyb,

That's a bit of an oversimplification. It's true that blues generally are better in shade, but that's because the wax that makes them blue is less likely to melt there. Most gold Hosta will do well in sun, but there are lots of exceptions. Generally speaking those Hosta with fragrant flowers (progeny of Plantaginea) will do well with sun. But there are exceptions to all of these generalizations. You just have to gather the information about each Hosta and sometimes try it out until you find the right spot.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I knew about the wax causing a blue tint on hostas and conifers. I looked at a few seller's descriptions and they generally don't advise on location except when a light shade or sunnier location is considered acceptable. I would assume if they don't mention location a shady spot would be the best bet. In my case that is not a problem.

Jon

The reason sellers often don't give sighting recommendations is because it varies so much with latitude and other conditions. You and I are at the 42nd parallel and so our Hostas would perform similarly in our gardens, but similar zones in the middle of the country would be at about the 38th parallel and have much more intense sunlight. Still some of the better sellers like Hallson Gardens give sunlight suggestions. You can extrapolate information for your particular situation from that.

Sometimes you get information wherever you can. Last year we were having a discussion about Dancing Queen when Kent Terpening, the plant/s hybridizer, mentioned that he breeds all of his plants to be able to be grown in full sun. I ended up moving my DQ in order to get that light yellow color I had seen in the Library photos.

There is no single definitive source of information on sighting Hostas because it is so variable based on zone, latitude, and amount of rainfall (or supplemental water).

Steve

OP: I have a 5-6 hostas called Royal Standard planted on the east side of my house. The get sun from about 9am until about 2pm in the hottest part of the summer and have held up just fine with weekly waterings during the peak of the drought season. The fragrant flowers that waft over my patio when in bloom are an added bonus.

This hosta is fairly common and is in the famliy of plants Steve mentions early in this thread.

Lykaon78, I have one Royal Standard, and it is a lovely strong growing plant. This will be its first season to grow here in south Alabama, and I'm eager to see it bloom its little heart out! Yes, I am a fan of the plantaginea family of hosta.

When Steve speaks of the 38th parallel, come on down further south and try 30 degrees north latitude? Makes 38th look like a picnic! But we have no problem with deer here, just squirrels planting pecans in the soft soil of my containers. In my quest for proper location, I've again moved my hosta collection to a shadier spot, while waiting for the soil to be delivered and the shade cloth to be strung up.

There is no single definitive source of information on sighting Hostas

Sorry Steve, but the devil made me do it....YES THERE IS, use your eyes.....

Now, as for siting hostas, you're correct....

Pieter

Took me a minute, Pieter, but I got that. ;-)

-Babka

In addition HostasDirect advises:

Hostas with thick leaves, fragrance, and in yellow, yellow and white variegated and some colors of green will tolerate the most sun.

Consider planting hostas with larger leaves in deeper shade and out of hot winds as those varieties lose moisture from their leaves faster in those conditions through a process called transpiration. It is like perspiration in humans. Pores in the hostas leaves, called stomata, open up and allow water to escape.

And they agree with Steve " the species hosta plantaginea is the only fragrant hosta of the original 40 or so "species" hostas. It is native to the more southern parts of China and is far south in the overall range of species hostas. Most of its off spring can be grown in full sun and are more heat tolerant. They can be grown in zones 3 to the northern parts of zone 9A."

This has certainly been "enlightening" to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hostas and sunlight

jonnyb023, You will be better off getting your information from the hosta library or Don Rawson's lists. If you want to go by what a retailer puts on their website got to Hallson's.

I didn't find anything in the hosta library on sunlight requirements. Hallstons did have light requirements listed by individual plant as many retailers do. They had no general classifications, which was my interest.

I think the advice Steve gave and the general advice given at the HostaDirect website are valid and good advice. I don't have any way to judge the individual retailers, would not attempt to and that was not my intention in any way.

I was just interested in what to look for in a situation where you may see a nice plant and have what you think is a nice spot for it and having some idea of whether it is a good bet that the hosta is a good fit for the space envisioned. I think I have that information now.

Don Rawson's Hosta List

Johnnyb023-

At the Hosta Library there is a link to Geo. Schmid's "Species Update". He wrote the tome about the Genus Hosta. All the scientific details can be found there. His giant compendium is now out of print, but he is linking a lot of it at the Hosta Library for everyone to read. I would consider him the ultimate authority on the genus hosta.

And to fill in any other blanks, the American Hosta Society should do the trick.

http://www.americanhostasociety.org/

-Babka

Here is a link that might be useful: Library link to Species Update

The lists of Rawston and Schmid didn't seem to have any references on sunlight preferences. I think the general information on any plantaginea about their origins and their general ability to survive in high heat and sunlight is great. I'm no expert but I did look at the hundreds of photos of plantaginea hostas and most, by far, are lighter colors which, to me, gets back to my original suggestion that darker colored hostas are best suited for shaded areas because they have more chlorophyll to better survive in the shade. There may be exceptions.

Thicker leaves being able to better tolerate sun makes sense and keeping large leaved hostas out of a lot of sun does as well.

What would be most beneficial to me is a set of general rules, easy to remember and probably work 90% of the time.

For sunny spots light colors, fragrance and thicker leaves are indicated.

The shadier the location the darker colored and bigger the leaf.

Simple, easy to remember. If you make impulse buys as I do it would be handy to have this information memorized. Of course an in depth study could be conducted before planting or even buying if done online. Out of curiosity I went through many pages of hostas on Hallson Gardens and find that these simple rules checked out 100% on the random 50 or so varieties I looked at.

I think these things are pretty solid. Of course when you consider the variations in color, soil, thicknesses of leaf and size of leaf there can be hundreds of combinations and it can become more art than science and of course the variations in particular zones, latitudes, rainfall, extremes all play into the selection. Nothing can simplify all this.

But I think these are as good a starting point as any I have seen for an amateur like me.

Jonnyb023-
Well, I guess I have a lot of exceptions, as I grow about 85 different varieties under mostly the same light and water conditions and they do pretty darn well for me.
General rules: grow what you like to look at. There are so many variables from location to location. If one doesn't do well for you where you are, then move it. We are WAY beyond species hostas these days with hybrids galore.
I really do think that you are over thinking all of this. Hostas (when young) are very easy to dig up and move to differing locations, so I am wondering why this is of such great concern??? Relax, and just buy a bunch and see what they do in your surroundings.

-Babka

Babka,

I am way behind with only 17 varieties and 4 more on the way. I do appreciate all the experience and the generous exchange of years of knowledge by so many on this and other forums.

My over thinking is a curiosity about how things work even in nature. I am very sure that no amount of intervention can cure this addiction. I apologize if I have ruffled some feathers with it. That was not my intention.

Jon