You could try this question on the Hosta Forum where the real addicts spend their time. Here is a link that might be useful: Hosat Forum

My large-leaf recommendation is Lakeside San Kao, looks like nothing else... starts lime, turns near-white with green veining. See the photolinks I left on another thread here (three in one note, one in another).

I've seen so many mis-labelled plants at grocery stores and mass merchants that I don't trust their labels anymore. Sometimes, customers switch the labels accidentally, I know...but I've seen tons of misidentified hostas for sale with adhesive labels stuck ON the pots. Yikes! Scary that hundreds of these go out that way from the growers, huh?! I made a Home Depot run to check theirs out - thanks to Mary4b for the suggestion. I found a number of plants marked as 'Great Expectations' (including quite a few that were actually 'Golden Tiara', and some that were actually 'Krossa Regal'...!) None had the crazy bloom stalk, most had only 1-2 eyes/pot, and all had more corrugation on the leaves. Very few had such streaking. The two GEs that I already have were/are v-e-r-y slow-growing, and took 4 years to become established. They still aren't full sized yet, and this is year #5! The other hostas in that bed go gangbusters - so it's not a deficiency in the soil or culture. All my hostas, (now 100+) except for 'Fire & Ice' and 'Spilt Milk' have thrived. My mystery hosta already had 5-6 eyes in the 1 gallon pot when I bought it, and has already increased quite a bit in size...YAY! Maybe it is a GE that had growth regulators applied to it. I wouldn't mind having one that would grow quickly - patience isn't one of my strengths! ;) Maybe it's some other fast-growing variety. Whatever it is, I LOVE IT so far....this should be a very interesting hosta season! Thanks again for all the input - - Lisa

Moccasinlanding thank you for the warm welcome. A tribute to the Queen is indeed merited. I would definitely have to agree with you. Like I said in my original post I knew once I saw these three that they were special. There are a few other cultivars of hosta in the garden as well but nothing like these Elegans. (speaking of which I shall have to put Steve to the challenge again identifying the other mystery hosta in this jungle of mine). Ken won't ID if you don't link pics directly � lazy bum :p j/k Let me clarify though, so as to maybe better offer me advice. We live about 11 miles north of Philadelphia in the burbs. This garden is old and overgrown. There are a whole slew of perennials (mostly ferns and hellebore) from the original landscaping design. But like I said there is nothing to look at except overgrown bushes and self-chocking iris. So when I broke ground and started clearing out the first perennial bed about a month ago I hit clay. Real bad nasty compiled clay that I would rather throw on a wheel and spin into a lovely container than garden with. So my goal as I go through these perennial beds is to amend the soil. Slowly in the process moving all the established perennials to rejuvenate them with proper spacing and a more cohesive design (I'm going for woodland floor since the sycamores are dominating all the light in the yard). With my Elegans I was not intending to move them from their current locations but rather dig them up, amend the soil underneath, and then replace them divided and refreshed. I have read and seen when a mature plant gets to big it starts to suffer and I don't know how long total beyond 8 years these have been in the ground. Am I in the wrong to touch them in any way ? I feel like they would only benefit from a soil amending. I would not dig them up every year, but rather amend around them in the years to follow. Should I leave them be and wait until I see more signs showing me it is time to divide ? Thanks as always ^^ You guys are great. Ludi