Santa, it is a problem in Mobile to see actual growing hosta also. Except in my garden. The differences come in the progressive color changes, if you know what comes first and what is the final color. It is in the color of the flower, the height of the flower scape, and the time of the year they bloom. Sometimes it is the fragrance or lack thereof, but that is more subjective if your nose doesn't work too good. And if it sets seed pods. The hosta can give themselves away with these small differences. I like what the Dallas Arboretum is doing with the hosta. BKay will need to tell you which one that was burned to a crisp a couple of years ago in the harsh drought time. But it was still living. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and it must be true of hostas. They burn on top and create a mass of roots below. Just keep pumping the water to them. Over the last 2-3 years, I've gotten better at IDing my own hosta. I take pictures with the tags showing if I can. I then type the plant name as a TAG for Flickr and for my own Windows 7 search feature. By repetition I learn to ID it. I also know where it is in the garden (just about all 500 of them, until I begin REORGANIZING), and can go to it to check the ID tag. However, this year some few are missing their name tags, and I'll have to wait until I discover who is missing and by process of elimination put a name with the plant.

Significant color change.... my thoughts are with Guardian Angel, Minnesota Nice (or ventricosa Aureomaculata), or Hanky Panky. I still don't even know if I like it or not. Leaning towards not. Otherwise, the list of Hostas that change alot all season is endless.....think about it. Dave nailed it. EO mentioned Paradigm. I have mine in full morning sun until noon. Then it's in shade. It takes pretty much all summer for the yellow to turn a brilliant color, but the entire plant never burns. You can plant a June in different situations, light-wise and have several different "looks" I would say most Hosta change over the season, but the significant change you desire is usually short lived. ( War Paint, Sea Fire, etc.) Rox

You will rarely see a good blue in the sun... blue coloring in hostas is actually a wax coating over a green(chlorophyll) background. Maybe the best example of this is from the Halcyon family. Halcyon is a nice wax blue. June is a sport from Halcyon with the blue wax genes intact. On the other hand, Devon Green is a green sport from Halcyon that lacks the wax gene and is a shiny green. June Fever, the very bright yellow (in Spring) with a thin green margin is bright and shiny precisely because it is not, as we were originally told, a June sport but rather a sport from Devon Green - it lacks the wax gene and is thus shiny. In the sun, the heat, or after a lot of rain and overhead watering, the waxy blues will lose their wax and become green. It seems that some cultivars will generate more wax, while others never seem to develop it again in the same season after it melts away. The Halcyon clan has been the best at holding blue into the heat of summer. El Nino and First Frost both are still a good blue with the added advantage of crisp white borders. Touch of Class holds up very well in sun. This family has the added advantage of standing up longer into the fall as well. They often look good after many of the other hostas have died back from the first frosts. A surprise for me is how well Kiwi Full Monty, a striptease sport with bluer leaves, holds its blue into summer. And the new flushes will be very blue even if the older ones have lost their wax. So, yes... there are some general rules - but there are plants in each category that do just the opposite. usually yellows get yellower in more sun and more chartreuse in more shade, the simple reason being the plant needs more chlorophyll to grow in lower light conditions. But there are exceptions - yellow plants that get more greenish in sun. And among the green ones, there are probably more that become less green in bright light and darker green in lower light - but there are some that reverse this. I've never seen an exception in the blues - a plant that gets bluer in brighter light. I sometimes plant blue plants in the sun - though they won't look as good, they will often grow much faster, allowing me to get some extra growth on them before moving them into the shade.

I'm a hosta freak and I still want to keep the piece that's growing on the side. I know its a halcyon and I already have like four I think but I can't kill it on purpose. I have to do some surgery to keep it alive. I also don't know if I even want to give it to somebody.