Blue Angel grows like a weed.

Kathy

Something that is not needing a lush moist
environment, because of the trees.

==>>> i am guessing.. if its never been gardened before.. its going to be a desert under there...

and you are sure listing some of the most foo of the foo hosta...

i would go with the standard workhorses .. undulatas and lancifolia .. IF YOU WANT A CARE FREE GARDEN UNDER THERE..

otherwise.. be prepared to water heavily.. every other day ...

and BTW ... all transplants need lush.. until they get going.. you know that ... but these would be near carefree by next spring ... for sure the year after ...

ken

So...Great Expectations, Guacamole , Frances Williams, Sagae, Krossa Regal, Regal Splendor, are foo foo? I would not know, just that I found them all at home improvement stores, and figured they must not be picky. There is a nursery I go to out of town that has exotic varieties (with exotic prices). I have inferred that those would be harder to grow. I've bought a few for beds that get a lot of attention.

I am prepared to water like mad for now. The area was broken up, compost and topsoil added, and planted with daffodils and ferns this spring. The daffodils are all dormant but the ferns are doing well. I just want more in there.

You could do worse than a batch of Gold Standard. They are inexpensive, large, fast, slug resistant and the bright leaves will help brighten the dark area. Beware of Gold Standard from box stores.

The hostas you listed are kind of "foo foo" ("frou frou"?) hostas, but all of them are good growers except for Great Expectations. Gold Standard is actually a great suggestion on a good grower, multiplier, and just all around good hosta. Francee would be another.

If you're looking at home improvement store for hostas, I'd suggest you try Green Mountain Hostas online instead. They have mature divisions of some of these older hostas for the same price as the big box stores, but less worry about getting HVX infected plants.

Guacamole, a foo foo??? Poo poo!!! In all seriousness though, do you currently have anything growing under that spruce? I ask because I tried growing hostas under my spruce. Was a big no-go for me.

So…just what makes a hosta "foo foo" (or "frou frou") ? A friend has a foo dog garden sculpture he’s
been trying to unload on me. Maybe I’ll take him up on it, put it in with the
hostas, and they can all be foo hostas, regardless of pedigree. ;)

I had a Francee in my front bed that I decided didn’t go with the gold and
blue color scheme I have there. I already moved that into the new area in
question yesterday. You are right that it is very fast.

I’ll look at GreenMountain.
I only ordered online once (my first group of hostas, years back). They were so
tiny I never ordered by mail again. It was a Hostas specialist, too.

Don, that's a reason why I don't want to spend much money there. The ferns were kind of a test. Some have been in there a year, so we added more this last May.

I have several mature sitka spruce and getting things to grow under them is a struggle, like trying to plant through horizontal chain link fence, I have experimented and found that cornus canadiensis is quite happy there and spreading so you could try that, just a suggestion.

Denis

Spruce with branch die back are not long for this world. You might be better off investing in a tree removal service before it falls down and breaks something. They get a little top heavy as they are dieing and a strong wind will take them down.

I have a bunch you can have...LOL I have no idea what they are, but they are growing like weeds and overtaking my yard. Last year I actually planted some under a pine and they are thriving - it is a fairly wet area. The originals are now about to take over the path that was thinned out last year again this year and have never once watered them. Oy.

Die back is the wrong word. I was oversimplifying and not thinking what that implied. Trimmed back is more accurate. We removed a scruffy 25 year old golden juniper underneath. That had growth at the tips but was ugly. Once the juniper was out, the lowest branches of the spruce looked misshapen, since they had grown around the juniper. My husband trimmed those back. He's seen me put a lot of plantings under trees and was anticipating the same thing. The neighboring spruce, with no shrub under, has its branches sweeping to the ground.

My non-gardening neighbor offered me some last year, but they are a small, solid green with a narrow white edge one, common as dirt. (She wanted my advice for something more interesting to put in there, but she didn't want to spend any money. Nor did she want to plant them. It didn't go anywhere. ) I have small ones (Abby and Golden Tiara) I will dig out later this year. I will put those in the foreground. Those are horrendously prolific, but I hope to find something large for the background.

This one doesn't grow as tall as the ones you listed above, but is a fast grower - Striptease! Regardless whether it gets 1/2 day or sun, or filtered shade, it is a very good hosta. Once established, it tolerates drought well. (my zone)

I'll be right back.... going out to get measurement stats for you, then will add pics to see what you think of my suggestion. If it's a height factor, you can always elevate by potting it. Just another suggestion following Ken's "workhorses" suggestion. Striptease may be more glamorous than lancifolia or undulata albomarginata or erromena, but a workhorse it is, in my opinion.

Striptease

22"h x 43" w, x 39" deep, planted

It just happens that I have a Golden Tiara growing in the right foreground of the first pic that will be moved somewhere else, now that it's grown to a good size.

Another suggestion.... I've noticed that my new Liberty tripled in size (leaf count) from last year. It is a large, relative of Sagae and is a faster grower than my Sagae (huge superstar in my garden, exceeding 52" in diameter this year). I've only supplemented water less than a handful of times this growing season. Sun exposure until 1:30 p.m.

That Striptease is very attractive. I looked up erromena, I recognize that from my grandmother's garden. She had that and one that had wide leaves, wavy, with a white center. I have one of the latter, from her garden.

I have a mature Liberty: it's my absolute favorite. I don't know where I bought it. It's probably 8 years old, and massive. I've tried it in 3 places, and I think it likes best where it is now, which is the sunniest spot I've tried (sun til about 1 or 2, like yours). I don't know whether it is just hitting it's stride now that it's older, or it just really likes sun.

If I could find it locally, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Maybe 2 or 3. Or 6. I don't know how well it would like the shade, though.

It's funny how some just like...what they like. I tried a couple of Gold Standards in some part sun spots, it was always unhappy, always bleached. I moved one into bright shade for the last 2 years, and wow, did that EXPAND. The color is a brilliant chartreuse to gold. It looks so perfect I just stand and stare at it. Others in dappled shade, blah.

If you ever drive up I75, I'm a hop skip and a jump away and will let you dig freely! :)

Thanks for the offer ;) I actually do get up that way at times when I travel on business. Not until next summer, now, though.

There will be even more by then! :)

When I travel on business I try to check out local
nurseries. Around here I see just the same stuff all the time, even the same
things from place to place or year to year. If I’m driving through a rural area,
especially, not only will I see different varieties, but I can often get good
deals, too, as they seem to mark down sharply as the season advances.

Thus while driving through Minnesota this morning, I stopped
to take a driving break and ended up getting Earth Angel, Frances Williams, and 2 Blue Hawaii for a
song. Earth Angel and Frances Williams are in 2 gallon pots, and the Blue Hawaii
are in 2.5 quart pots. All have a couple of crispy outer leaves, which may
account for the markdown. But fresh leaves coming from the center look great.

I think these will satisfy my desire for big plants, at
small cost! How fast they might be, I don't know.

Green Mountain Hostas didn't have any mature divisions. Just starter plants. I'll have to call and see when those are offered. Meanwhile, I'll place those others. Now I'm finding I wish I had a nicer place to put Blue Hawaii. But all the prime, show-off locations are occupied.