Morning Light
Tattoo

The first one disappeared on me and still remains the ONLY hosta I have ever completely lost.

Tattoo comes back, but it just doesn;t seem to like any of the spots I want it to grow. Oh well - too many others out there that will cooperate to fight with this one. It can languish forever.

I've also heard that Carnival is a drawstring nightmare but I have no experience with it.

Great thread idea, Shade.

Alexa

Oh yes Alexa, Morning Light! I have tried twice to grow that one and both times it just got smaller and smaller, until it dwindled away.
Someone here (or maybe Hallsons) had a terrific pic of Tattoo. Mine never seems to thrive either. I was just looking at my Carnival the other day, thinking it looked different, have to get a closer look.

Cherry Berry
Pandora's Crock...err...Box LOL
Korean Snow - floppy and slugbait

Those are a few choice ones for now. :)
Andrea

Reversed - seems to be slug magnet for me, worse than Cherry Berry which both slugs and rabbits seem to like.

I second Morning Light and Tattoo - they both just sit and sit after 4 years and do not multiply.

I'd also add Cat's Eye as it dwindled last year and did not come back this year. Had it three years.

Cherry Berry is okay for me.

Island Charm. It was beautiful,when first planted,but then it slowly faded away,and now it is gone. Also Loyalist,never seems to grow for me. Phil

Cascades
Brim Cup
Many of the minis - too small to cope well with ordinary garden competition, but they may do OK in containers, apparently.

ill add sea thunder .mine looks horrible already.

ademink I'm surprised at your Korean Snow. Mine is a very thick leaved hosta and slugs ignore it.

St. Elmo's Fire - gorgeous but slug bait so it lives in pot, not too far from Cherry Berry in it's pot because of slugs and Pandora's Box, just because it is so small. Island Charm finally committed plantacide this year. It has been trying for years. My Sea Thunder looks good until August, then it melts away. My Super Nova already is loaded with the rusty marks. I wish my husband didn't love it. Cadillac, absolutely gorgeous until it blooms and then it goes downhill so fast I wonder why I keep it. This year it is blooming six weeks early so I get to watch it be ugly for many months. It is planted right in front of my deck, so the looking is up close and personal.

Color Glory & Frances Williams - for the "burn"
- am I'm not too happy with my Aurora Borealis for the same reason

Cherry Berry - slugbait
Korean Snow - not as pretty as when I bought it last year

Morning Light, Tattoo, & Pandora's Box are doing fine here.

Char

Don't forget the always impossible "Great Expectations." Grrrrrrrr. I have never been able to grow one beyond one year, though I have problems with no other hostas. Go figure. I don't think I'm the only one with this problem.

Lainey

Lakeside Kaliedoscope burns.
I can't keep a Cherry Berry alive -- it's an annual with me.
Although I keep buying it, (another annual), Elvis Lives actually doesn't.
I've lost Wagon Gold repeatedly.
Patriot and Minuteman are in their 2nd try.
White Christmas either greens or burns, so exposure is tricky. It's also slug bait.

Thses are the ones that weren't stressed by 1) me moving them repeatedly, 2) moles or voles.

SLOW POKES:
Revolution,
Pizzaz,
Big Daddy,
Blue Vision

These died after the first year. (All but one came from the same seller.)
Little White Lines,
Aphrodite,
Sugar Daddy,
TuTu,
Dancing in the Rain.

Cherry Berry is good here.

For me,

Cherry Berry was a bust, a small TC liner that never made it to, never mind through, the first winter in my garden.

Morning Light unbearably slow, planted a couple of them 3 years ago, one left and it's managing to just hang on, but not by much, will have to relocate it; again.

Revolution is a champ in my books (and garden), vigorous, on par in that regard with its close relative Minute Man

this is my color glory and it is about 3 years old. It gets about 4 to 5 hours of sun a day (morning) maybe a little more and planted in some of the worst soil in my yard. May not work for some, but a keeper in my yard.
wild

{{gwi:1021548}}

Great Expectations, Cats Eye, Cherry Berry. Pandoras Box and Tattoo do great in my yard. But for me Cherry Berry is slug bait and I can't keep GE or CE alive for anything.

A lot of the same ones keep popping up.
Phil, Island Charm doesn't do well here either, I've lost that one twice now so won't try it again.
True, Cherry Berry, Sea Thunder and some of the other thin leaved hostas are slug bait.
My Dancing in the Rain was also a bust. I think there may be more than one strain of this hosta out there. I've seen some that were much stronger than the one I had.
Wild that is the best pic of Color Glory I've seen so you must be doing everything right by it. This is my shameful looking Color Glory in front with the spring desiccation burn on it. Elatior is trying its best to hide Color Glory ;-)

Some varieties are poor performers almost universally, and many of those have been listed here, but for most there are some people who will have great success with them. Some varieties will do well in certain regions but not in others. Many varieties are quite slow to become established, but if they survive the first 2 years, will take off and grow well. Some varieties are known to revert after a few years. I generally try to avoid those varieties that have a bad reputation from growers in several different areas of the country, and especially those that have not done well for people I know to be excellent gardeners.

Medusa, Cascades, Kinbotan, Eskimo Pie, Tattoo and Cat's Eyes are all known to be difficult. Masquerade, Revolution, and most streakers revert. Royal Tiara is a total dud for many, although it survives in my garden. Hart's Tongue is difficult to establish, but fine once it gets going. Uzu-No-Mai probably is the most difficult hosta to grow unless you live in the 2 or 3 counties in the Pacific Northwest where it will survive. Dorothy Benedict is a beautiful plant, but touchy about conditions and absolutely glacially slow to increase.

Some varieties are very picky about growing conditions, and unless they are planted in optimum conditions, they will either remain small, or fade away and die. The best example of this I know of is Great Expectations, which also happens to be my favorite hosta. A great many people have lost this one, sometimes more than once. I have three very large mature plants, and they are the prettiest thing in the garden. It took some experimentation, but there are three things that GE absolutely must have to thrive. First, and most importantly, plant it shallowly. It's going to be a very large plant, so the natural inclination is to plant it deeply, but this will kill it faster than anything else. Plant it so shallowly you are convinced that it will tip over, and you've got it right. Secondly, it likes a lot of light. Dappled shade is ideal, but it will take several hours of direct sun, either morning or afternoon. Third, it likes a lot of water. If you give a GE all three of these things, you will increase your chances of growing it into an absolutely stunning plant.

If you want to try any of the hostas that have the reputation of being difficult, be prepared to try different locations and growing methods, and possibly go through several plants before you discover what works for that variety in your location. When you do find out what works, please share the information with the rest of us!

The following hostas have been reported by many gardeners to be unusually slow or difficult to grow. Don

DIFFICULT TO GROW HOSTAS

ÂAbiqua HallucinationÂ
ÂBanana SundaeÂ
ÂBlessingsÂ
ÂBlue DanubeÂ
ÂBlue IceÂ
ÂBlue JuneÂ
ÂBlue MoonÂ
ÂBlue ShadowsÂ
ÂBold RufflesÂ
ÂBorwick BeautyÂ
ÂBrim CupÂ
ÂCalypsoÂ
ÂCascadesÂ
ÂCatÂs EyeÂ
ÂCelebrationÂ
ÂCherry BerryÂ
ÂCrispulaÂ
ÂCrown JewelÂ
ÂDeeÂs Golden JewelÂ
ÂDorset BlueÂ
ÂEskimo PieÂ
ÂFlame StitchÂ
ÂFire and IceÂ
ÂFused VeinsÂ
ÂGay FeatherÂ
ÂGolden PlumÂ
ÂGolden ScepterÂ
ÂGreat ExpectationsÂ
ÂGreenwoodÂ
ÂHadspen SamphireÂ
hypoleuca
ÂInniswoodÂ
ÂInnovationÂ
ÂIsland CharmÂ
ÂJack of DiamondsÂ
ÂJelly BeanÂ
ÂKinbotanÂ
ÂLove PatÂ
ÂLoyalistÂ
ÂMedusaÂ
ÂMidwest GoldÂ
ÂMinutaÂ
montana ÂEmma FosterÂ
ÂMorning LightÂ
ÂMountain SnowÂ
ÂMr. Asami ImprovedÂ
ÂNorthern LightsÂ
ÂOpipara (ÂBill BrinkaÂ)
ÂPandoraÂs BoxÂ
ÂReversedÂ
ÂRosedale BarneyÂ
ÂRosedale GenevieveÂ
ÂRosedale Tractor SeatÂ
ÂRoyal TiaraÂ
rupifraga
ÂSea SapphireÂ
ÂSea ThunderÂ
ÂSeersuckerÂ
ÂShadow WaltzÂ
ÂSilver TiaraÂ
ÂSnow CapÂ
ÂSnowdriftÂ
ÂSquigglesÂ
ÂSweet JillÂ
ÂTattooÂ
ÂTokudama AureonebulosaÂ
ÂUzu-no-MaiÂ
ÂWhite ChristmasÂ
ÂZager TokudamaÂ

Thought I would bump this up. Goes well with the what to avoid question.

whew! although losing plants is never good, i am happy to see that just about all the ones ive lost over the last few years are listed here-plus ice age trail and hope. mabye if is stopped buying tc's and splurge id have better success rate. better yet..i may just switch to the new heucheras to fill the gaps- never lost a single one and the slugs leave em alone here.