THANK YOU everyone for your input. So perhaps Risky Business would be too big for my space. If I can find a Little Treasure at a decent price, I'd go for that as well as Cracker Crumbs. I was really taken with the look of a neighbor's green hosta with a sharp narrow white line down the middle of the leaves, but the variety was clearly too big for my space, whatever it is. I cannot determine with exact precision the hole where I dug out the HVX infected Golden Tiara, and the Diamond Tiara which was the next plant down didn't come up so far either this year. Neither did 2 of the 3 (approximating the name) albomarginata undulatus I got from a neighbor, but the one which DID come up this year is doing great. The other hosta in this spot are 3 blue-green unmarked smallish hosta with spear-shaped ridged leaves, donations from a work colleague and one Wide Brim, all of which are doing very well. If I put a heuchera in the space where I believe I dug up the HVX infected Golden Tiara, wouldn't a lone heuchera look weird, with all the other plants being hosta and the whole space ringed by annuals?

Just on a lark, I once planted the seeds from one seed pod in a specific spot... and then kept one nice green, one nice blue, and one nice yellow - that all came from that one seed pod. Makes a nice demonstration display for garden clubs. The reason the breeder plants tend to cost so much is that they are streaked - and by definition - unstable. Tissue culturing streakers is tricky and often unsuccessful. One guy who has worked for many years with a lab in China is having some success and he sold a lot of little streaker tcs at the Midwest convention. Still pricey, but probably not as expensive as waiting for somebody to divide their Dorothy Benedict for you. You know that all the seeds from your solid and from your variegated plants will give you solid babies, right? The only way to get not-solids is to plant seeds from streakers... some of the babies may be streakers, and may "settle out" into a margined or centered plant you like. Ken was talking about hybirdizing with a goal - obviously, if you like giant yellows or rippled edges, you are more likely to get those traits from seeds from a plants with those traits. But since hosta genes are so slippery - there are no guarantees. They just don't work like Mendel's peas! Some of the traits do seem to carry pretty well. Abba Dabba Do seems to throw a lot of babies that share its leaf form, without the variegation. Reptilian's leaf shape and character seems to show up in a general form in a lot of its seedlings. The narrow, pointy ones... hacksaw, razor's edge, etc... seem to give you a higher percentage of long narrow ones. No seed pot set on your plants - not sure what that is about... I'm sure seeing plenty plump pods out there in the garden. But you are in Alabama - clearly on the margin of hosta environment. Three options... go to a hosta garden nearby and "borrow" (or ask - people will usually be glad to give you some) ripe seed pods... or ask somebody to send you seeds this fall... or buy some. If you buy, you can choose seed from a plant that has characteristics you like. While you are at it - start some martagon lily seeds. Ten years from now you'll understand why I gave you that advice!.

I can tell you from my experience that the hostas will survive there. My husband snow blows our driveway and throws salt everywhere. All the aluminum garden markers in my hosta bed are ruined from the salt, but the hostas show no signs of harm. I would just plant some cheap hosta there. Jen

At your latitude you can mitigate the burning effects of sun (water transpiration through all that leaf surface) by providing more water. That's what you've done. Remember Hosta are shade tolerant not shade loving. Except for blues (which will turn green) Hosta will grow better in sun if you can give them enough water to handle it. Maple roots are another story. Keep pushing the envelope. Steve