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my empress wu seems to have 5 yellow divisions

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

9 years ago

and only one green ...

whats that all about ...

anyone else seeing yellow???

ken

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Comments (34)

Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
Eyes getting old, Ken? ;-)

Will you share this phenomenon with us?

-Babka
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josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
Crickey man... You keep telling all of us to supply pics...does this not also apply to you? C'mon, give!! LOL We know you have a camera from your trip with Gary.

CRIKEY! ... Eh? I must be the thousandth person to remind you.lol......Bkay, can you 'splain to him how it's done again? He'll listen to you...maybe?

Gotta get back to the yard...I'm sniffing flowers, Ken...for your August thread...my first So Sweet flower opened this morning and it is divine!!!
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Naylor Creek is very reputable, and will send you a plant that is exactly as described and true to type. They also guarantee their plants for a year, and are very nice people, so don't hesitate to do business with them. Your Empress Wu should grow just fine in a lot of shade. I have many hostas that never get any direct sun, or very little, and they do well. Empress Wu may take longer to reach full maturity without direct sun, but this variety is going to take quite a while to reach it's full size in any location. You will find that hostas grown in full or nearly full shade will have fewer leaves than those grown in more light, but the leaves will be larger than usual. Given that Empress Wu is a huge variety with huge leaves, your plant should be really spectacular in a few years.
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OK, who's the biggest.....Parhelion, Empress Wu, or Komodo Dragon
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As Ken is suggesting, often the answer is more about culture than the genetics. Who knows, for example, which will get larger in full sun, given the tendency for the Sum and Substance family to thrive in full sun (with enough water) while other hostas often stay smaller, and have smaller leaves, in brighter light? Since many hostas will increase year after year, virtually a continuously expanding colony, there is really theoretically no limit. If we are talking diameter, my "largest" hosta is actually a smallish one, some kikutii, that has colonized a large area and that is all "one plant" because it is all connected underground by the rhizomes. You also have to define what you mean by large - height or width. Empress Wu is being marketed as the largest because it is so tall, but Komodo Dragon is actually listed as having a significantly larger diameter. I've been through this so many times... don't get lost in the hype. There will always be another "biggest hosta." For years, Sum and Substance was billed that way - long after we knew that green-centered S&S sports grew faster and bigger. In the old days we had fortuneis that were large and designated things like 'Fortunei Gigantea.' And there was Big John, Big Daddy, etc etc etc. T-Rex got a lot of attention... then faded in favor of Komodo Dragon for a couple of years... now Empress Wu... Of course, as a collector, I have them all and I'll be able to answer this question better in a decade - but by then, I guarantee, there will be at least five more major "giant" marketing hostas... Decide where you want a giant, then plant one that doesn't cost too much. If you want green, buy one of the green ones. If you want yellow, buy one of the yellow ones. Frankly, I'd concentrate more on the form of the clump and the quality of the leaves. I am guessing that in about five years, I'll be picking a large green Niagara Falls over a giant (but relatively "plain") Empress Wu.
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I would echo the caution as to size. I would suggest you look up the estimated size of each hosta and then plot out what your beds will look like in a year or two. I have just spent some time moving a lot of hostas out of a bed that is just 2 years old. They looked like many "wave" designs I have seen but some hosta were crowding out and even "eating up" some of the smaller hosta. I now find I prefer having individual plants allowed them to show their full form. I am thinking you have planted each hosta wih equal spacing disregarding the fact that they have very different mature sizes as others have noted. The bed I have created for my Empress is 7 feet by 7 feet to accomodate what I hope will be a 5 foot by 5 foot footprint for the Emoress itself and allownace for the Emerald Green Arbovitae and whirlwing hostas I have planted as a "throne" Even taking a mature size of at least 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot, I think the Empress will swallow a lot of your adjoining hostas. See if you can convince Myrle to do a plot plan with the mature sizes. I think you will find you have enough plants to spread to different areas, maybe double the size, depending on your taste for spacing. Photos of the hosta in each location even spread out on a table will give an idea of how they will look shortly. Swithch them around and see what appeals to you. If Myrle can do a photoshop composition you would have a "look into the future" which I hope you would share. I am writing this having done the very same thing I critique, so I hope you take this as constructive criticism. I admire your enthusiasm and know you will make it work and it will look fantastic. I just hope to give you the advantage of learning from my mistakes without have to experience them yourself. Jon
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Comments (22)
Ouch. All of us who are guilty of similar mishaps probably wince first while looking at the photos, groan, and sometimes laugh at ourselves afterwards....I don't know what order these go for you but I usually end up laughing at myself while I am trying "to repair" my booboo - like...how in the heck can I fix a perfect but half-ripped off shoot? (Like Cicely's KR shoot) Put a splinter on it and tape it?? LOL I am pathetic but the thought did occur to me - splinter it, then after it fully unfurled, put it in water in a vase or bowl and enjoy for a week or more.
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mac48025 ( SE michigan)
9 years ago
Sounds like an interesting sport ken. I've not that happen with my empress wu but I did with titanic. Here it is:
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User
9 years ago
Mac, you combine your hosta with such lovely ferns. I am tantalized by glimpses of your garden space.

And Ken, no yellow here. I have a blue green Empress Wu still with ONE eye, and ONE seedpod. It is in the ground, part of my experimental bed. The only thing in my grounder bed that is golden is appropriately Sum And Substance which is on the end catching western afternoon sun. It is looking good, and it is remaining golden. But EWu beneath a palm tree has nary a touch of gold.
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stoc zone 6 sweden
9 years ago
CrÃÂ¤jkey Ken post some pics.
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donrawson
9 years ago
I've seen several sports of Empress Wu, but not any with solid gold leaves. Post a pic please...
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in ny zone5
9 years ago
My Empress is blue-green in spring, no yellows. The yellow one on 'Titanic' I simply twisted off, none more of that.
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bkay2000
9 years ago
Jo, he doesn't listen to me. It's like trying to get your teenager (or your ex) to do something. If they think you want it, they won't do it for squat.

bk
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hostahillbilly
9 years ago
what Don R requests, please.
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Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
PHOTO!!!! WE WANT A PHOTO!

-Babka

This post was edited by Babka on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 0:56
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luuk
9 years ago
I join the chorus of those ask the photo, ...come on Ken ;-)
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bragu_DSM 5
9 years ago
next time you walk in your garden, TAPE a camera to your leg and snap a photo. Either that, or we'll have to talk to Gary Ã¢ÂÂ¦ we'll take out a contract on you, and he can finish the job he started the other day Ã¢ÂÂ¦

!
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ConnieMay ON Z6a
9 years ago
Ken - you have teenagers don't you? They could help you post a pic. :)
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paul_in_mn
9 years ago
Ken.....you reap what you sow......and please post the picture upside down or sideways when you do....lol.

Paul
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tnjdm
9 years ago
Maybe Ken is a hosta imposter :)
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hostas_for_barb
9 years ago
Ken, don't make me come over there to get a picture. Adrian isn't that far away and I just love an excuse to be able to shop in the Detroit area. (Won't be for a few weeks anyway as my passport has expired and by then you will have probably caved to all the pressure! ) lol
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Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
Hmmmmmmmm...methinks Ken really lives in a high rise apartment building in a big city. He paid off Hosta Freak and Gary to say they actually saw him and hosta together at the same time. ;-)

-Babka
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DelawareDonna
9 years ago
Ya just wanna torture us, huh??? SHOW US YOUR WU or risk death!!

DD
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in ny zone5
9 years ago
Ken is probably writing an AHS registration for his yellow 'Wu'.
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Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
Do you think he will name it "Ken's Wu"? ;-)

-Babka
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Pieter zone 7/8 B.C.
9 years ago
No, Ken's trying to figure out how to take B&W pictures of his yellow sports. ....
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Pieter zone 7/8 B.C.
9 years ago
No, Ken's trying to figure out how to take B&W pictures of his yellow sports. ....
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hostas_for_barb
9 years ago
Babka, I like that name "Ken's Wu". Got my vote!
0
User
9 years ago
I looked up the word for "yellow" in Chinese, and found something else of note.

The theory of the five elements.
Link below.
Yellow is heroic, so I have Yellow Emperor, who must therefore symbolize a heroic figure. It's a symbol of the earth, it is the most beautiful color. And its creature is the Yellow Dragon.
I like to know the symbology of different words, because words mean things, and it is part of the heritage of different societies. Since I am studying the book The Garden Art of China, this piece of their culture is useful understanding the way they think too.

So a Yellow Wu could be Dragon Empress. Naming things is fun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Theory of the Five Elements
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bragu_DSM 5
9 years ago
or after Barbara Walters Ã¢ÂÂ¦ the name will be Ã¢ÂÂ¦ wait for it Ã¢ÂÂ¦

yell-wu!

dave
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Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
Bragu- ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

-Babka
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almosthooked zone5
9 years ago
I think Ken is totally ignoring all of us now... MAYBE WE ALL HAVE TO SHOUT LOUDLY AT HIM,,,, PICTURES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
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stoc zone 6 sweden
9 years ago
Visa oss en bild!
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don_in_colorado
9 years ago
As Ken reads these posts and laughs, "Heh heh heh, I have POWER!!! No pics for you!!!"

Crikey, man!

Bragu: Baba Wawa
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mikgag Z5b NS Canada
9 years ago
I'll pay $500 for a division !!!!!
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don_in_colorado
9 years ago
LMAO Mikgag!!!

Don B.
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josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
$$$ doesn't work, shouting doesn't work, please doesn't work.....does anyone else think that perhaps Ken is toying with us? dangling a carrot that we took a bite of? Just to see how long we would carry on?

Whatever...I am enjoying the hilarity in this post and Ken is probably apoplectic by now too, rotfl-his-ho!

There is a green Wu...There is a blue Wu...there appears to be ..wait for it..
NO YELLOW WU!

Silly me, I actually stayed up last night, reading a good book....in the hopes of finding a post from Ken!
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paul_in_mn
9 years ago
On the interwebs, if there is no picture it is called a unicorn.....Hosta 'Ken's Unicorn'.

Paul
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bkay2000
9 years ago
Perfect name for a yellow Wu - Ken's Unicorn.

If one ever shows up, I hope they name it Ken's Unicorn or maybe Ken's Wunicorn.

The only problem with that is only about 20 people will get the joke.

bk
0

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