Cleo only goes for the small ones. I think she got most every plant I bought last year. She likes to chew on the pots. The big ones were just collateral damage. She didn't intentionally mess with them. She knocked them over while chasing squirrels or leaping over them while trying to get Dan to play with her. I wouldn't call my FW a good one. It has been so ugly the last two years, I wouldn't mind if it bit the dust. It comes up with dessication (sp?) and it stays that way. It always has dead spots on every leaf, so you can't even cut the ugly spots out. bk

Any time is a good time to divide hostas: at your pleasure. And any size is the right size to divide - whether it be a two-eye toddler or a 50-eye senior - your choice. I agree that washing as much of the soil off and then pulling the plant gently apart works beautifully - with some of them. Others need a little encouragement with a knife across the crown, but try to avoid the roots. Still others are stoloniferous, so their main feeder root needs to be cut from the parent plant. As long as you have a few roots attached to the above-ground part of the plant, and provide even moisture after the surgery, generally they should do very well. I routinely rescue chipmunk-dug hosta root fragments from our local arboretum (which has a hosta garden to DIE for), and none have so far expired. Mind you, I make sure they get no more than the teeniest amount of direct morning or evening sun - direct midday sun would cook them in a blink, even up here in Ottawa. Steady bright shade is the key to success. Since most hostas generally do well in saturated soils, it's a good idea to provide lots of moisture in the planting hole when you're ready to plant (dig the hole, fill it with water, push some dirt in it, plonk the plant in, water some more, fill with dirt to the top, water again).

Thanks Ken for doing some googling. That was sweet of you! Too bad there were no results to be found. I did notice that the horticultural judge (at the Canadian National Exhibition) was a women who had been to our own horticultural society's flower show. I will be on the look out for her and ask her some questions should I see her again. I guess the competition does not concern itself about names? I do wish the competition was earlier in the season. Last year, after two hail storms, pickings were slim! Peren.all, I happen to have the Hostepedia, but didn't even think to look and check out Band of Gold! And when I did, I was surprised to see a photo of a leaf in a vase that looked very similar to the photo above! I would agree that Gary's suggestion of Band of Gold is an excellent candidate! You have a good eye!

Thank you Kathy on not giving up on posting! I know how irritating and frustrating it is after all the effort to write a comment and it disappears---even more so, when it is a long post! I am pleased that my thread encouraged you to continue to try to save your Sun Powers. Yours are ever so cute! I see the resemblance to mine! I will try to take a few more pictures later on and see what happens to the coloring. Maybe we can compare photos in the summer or next spring?