ptilda,
I have had Tattoo for about 4 years. the first three years it had small leaves and the "tattoo" wasn't highly visible. This year I moved it into a much sunnier location.The results are amazing the leaves are twice as big and the definition of the tattoo is remarkable! I would say at least 4 hours of morning to mid morning sun is needed to make this one optimal.

Denny

I've had three for many, many years. I only lost one a long time ago. Mine are in Afternoon sun for 5 hrs a day.
Good drainage. Good luck it's worth it.

I have two clumps now. One under the "MAPLE TREE" was declining, so I dug it up and moved it. It separated into two clumps, so I put them in two different spots. One gets a lot more sun than the other. Both are doing fine and getting new leaves. I have had it for many years.

For what it's worth, here are my thoughts on this. Tattoo is a variety that is unique and lovely when grown well. It is also a variety that has a very well deserved reputation for being a touchy grower, is very prone to winter die off, especially in colder areas, and is known to have had at least one batch produced that was virused. At it's best it is slow to grow, since like Little Aurora, of which it is a sport, it has a small, short and somewhat sparse root system.

Almost everyone in hostas has at one time or another bought a Tattoo, and many people have purchased multiple plants. Yet you will not see it in most hosta gardens, and it is no longer available from many reputable hosta nurseries. I work with a local hosta seller every spring, and we no longer sell Tattoo, although we could easily sell 50 a year. The two years we did sell it were a disaster--pretty much all the plants we sold died over the winter, and we refunded everyone's money. I live in the northern part of zone 5.

The three people who have responded to your question are all experienced growers with many years in hostas. I would have confidence in their advice, and also in their ability to grow difficult hostas.

Finally, I will tell you that I have lost 2 Tattoos, and will not buy another. The first had almost no root system, and in spite of being coddled along in a specially prepared nursery bed, it overwintered but came up smaller than the previous year and died shortly thereafter. Everything else in that bed, including tc babies that were even smaller than Tattoo, came through fine. The second was from a virused batch, but it didn't show any symptoms until it's second summer. I disposed of it, and I have also eliminated Little Aurora from my garden, as it's also a mediocre grower.

Put all these things together, and your decision comes down to whether or not you think you are capable of growing a hosta that has failed to grow for hundreds of experienced growers, and that is so problematic that it is falling out of commercial production. The growers above have given you the key to your best chance with this one--lots of sun and good drainage. I will add to that the suggestion that you amend the soil in the location you plant it in, using compost and plenty of peat moss.

So make your decision, and if you do buy Tattoo, do so on the understanding that the odds are rather steeply stacked against you, but that there is some chance that you will succeed with this variety.

dhaven, thanks for the advisement (and everyone else, as well). And contrary to my joking comment at the beginning, I'm not disregarding Ken's advice, only looking for alternative opinions.

Truth is, after Ken's warning, if this Hosta was not part of a larger trade, I would probably not be getting the plant. I'm not big on spending money on a plant that has a good chance of not making it in my garden. I will certainly let you all know what happens either way. Thanks again.

trust me.. i fully understand the logic of: I CAN DO IT BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE ...

that is why it took me 8 to stop trying. ...

all i am trying to do is lower expectation .... so if you try.. and you fail... you dont beat yourself up over it..

go for it.. what the heck ...

ken

If you REALLY WANT a tattoo, maybe this is a more surefire way to get one that won't fade away??? LOL
{{gwi:1059851}}

Hosta Confessional... I'm one of those who has always just done an "aw, shucks... I didn't know it was supposed to be difficult" when Tattoo came up - then I'd post my pictures of my two display plants... one 30" in diameter out in the beds and one 24" in my raised display planter.

Of course, I played dumb but was really kind of smug. I grew my first set of a dozen Tattoo tc to maturity with no problems. I ignored the fact that my second set of Tattoo tc were weak and poor growers.

So last year, when the 30" plant shrunk to 18" and the 24" shrunk to 18", I just put it off as a bad year - and used the old pictures!

But this spring - the big one simply disappeared. No sign of any particular problem... just a tiny dead crown left, no sprouting at all... no sign of varmint damage, surrounded by thriving hostas... who knows?

The other one is holding its own... 18" in diameter again, great markings... and I've got a coupleof small ones thriving on neglect in my "farm" area...

I think one of the things that can happen in tc is that the original sample plant can vary... maybe one of the Tattoo plants that was tc'd early on was a stronger-rooted one, but a weaker rooted one was the source for many of the later ones. I know Little Aurora is a poor grower, as was noted... I've babied one along for years... but I've seen the same phenomenon of "some grow great, some are weak and slow" with Little Sunspot, another LA sport.

I know some of you are going to consider me a crank - but I've been around this tc game for a couple of decades now and I've seen things alter depending on which plant is selected as the source for the tcing process.

There is lots of discussion, for example, about June - the multiple different looks it gets depending on nurture, lighting, etc. But if you've been around long enough, you remember that Winterberry actually sold what they labeled as June I, June II, and June III... maybe even a June IV... depending on how bright the center was in the tc. All of those ended up in the market as June. All the Junes I get from the wholesalers now color up relatively early in the season, and thus turn to a bright yellow or even parchment later in the season.

but I still have a couple of display plants from the very first years of June tc... back before June was even on the top ten list, back before Paul's Glory beat out June for Hosta of the Year... and they are much more subtly colored, no matter what light they are grown in. They never get as light as the plants now commonly sold as June. Hosta collectors often remark "I have June... but I want THAT June!"

so... my experience with Tattoo was that one batch was a reasonably good grower, two other batches grown identically to the first did not thrive... and then there is the "whoops - it's gone phenomenon" that makes me humble after showing off for many years.

I want somebody to start over... take a really good, strong Tattoo that has grown well in a garden for 6 or 7 years - and tc that one. It is a uniquely lovely hosta and worth resurecting.

YOUCH- that last photo almost hurts to look at! That is one "FRESH" tattoo! ;-)
I do agree- 'Tattoo' at it's best is a lovely and desirable hosta worthy of a revitalization program.
I was given my 'Tatoo' hosta from a friend who was tired of watching it under perform for several years. It stayed a one eye for him for several years.
I have been successful at getting a few more eyes out of it every year by partially lifting and nicking the white bit between the leaves and the roots in the hotter/drier parts of summer. Although the root mass has not spread much. It still remains a single clump which is too difficult to divide.
I put it in a sunny bed- I have all too well draining sandy loam- and it stays pretty dry all year long as I do not water much at all.
My 'Cherry Berry' and "Raleigh's Rememberance' and a few others do seem to thrive in the hotter, sunnier, drier beds. I guess some of these hosta just do a bit better when they have to work at living just a little harder.
So- I would guess a good dose of neglect in not too rich of a soil, in some part HOT sun bed, may just do the trick for your 'Tatoo'.
Best of luck!

Julie

The hybridizer I bought it from told me to bury it in it's pot. So I did. I've had it now for 6 years, though it has been a very slow grower. I was planning on digging it up next spring to either take it out of the pot or to "refresh" some of the soil in pot depending on it's roots.

aka margo, any reason given to you as to why you should bury it in the pot? What kind of sun/soil situation is it in?

Some plants prefer to be rootbound is what I was told. It gets sun from about 2pm on. I used soil from my yard to put in pots along with some worm castings. Another hybridizer told me to do this with mini hosta that are harder to keep alive, like Cat's Eye.
Jen

Okay, well I got a GORGEOUS two-eye division of Tattoo from GW member Gayle (naturesedge). The leaves are around 4 inches average, and there's lots of new growth. The roots are very healthy too, and the coloring is textbook-perfect (no holes from pests or sunburn either). The eyes are separate clumps, only loosely connected to each other, and could be divided if I want, but I don't plan on dividing it at all for a while.

I don't think I could have a better start! I put it in the south-east side garden, where it will get a good amount of sun, and planted it in a buried 2-gallon pot with a good, light combination of sand and compost/rotten manure. So, with that, I hope to see something next year. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks BUNCHES for the advice and encouragement (even in the form of discouragement). If I can manage to keep this alive (and thriving) for the 6-7 years that idiothe recommends, I'll be happy to share it.

I almost lost my Tatoo growing it in shade. Dwindled down to one eye and they I moved it to a sunny location. The plant featured here has continually increased in size since 2006 and gets sun from about 11:00 am to 3:00 pm...Here's a picture!

Tatoo

hostabuff, thanks SO much for sharing! Inspiration is exactly what I need. My new baby will get sun for about the same amount of time, and even a little later, so I'm hoping she loves it!

OK... even after shrinking, it's still pretty nice at 18"... this is taken on June 2, still pretty early in our season...

Yipes! I wonder if any of us has been devoted enough to actually tattoo a hosta on ourselves.

OH OH! ME ME! lisasmall, I think I should get a Hosta tattoo as my next one! Where should I put it? And which hosta should I get? Maybe I should take a vote on which hosta cultivar I should have tattooed on which part of my body! :)