oh ira .. so many words.. so little time ... i hope i answer your questions.. because by the time i got halfway thru.. i w as already composing this reply in my head ... and may have missed something.. lol.. repeat your question if i missed something .... [i think it was a coffee buzz thing.. lol] ... that picture is older than time.. there used to be a link at the library for such pix .... check the link below for dividing.. first off.. as to the diagram.. who in the heck plants their hosta with the crowns 4 inches underground.. so that you have to pull back that much soil???.. that ought to tell yo how old school this is ... second.. the number of buds a plant puts out.. is a function of its root mass ... you are NEVER going to 'trigger' more buds than the roots can grow ... so ask yourself.. what exactly would be the point of doing this??? leave your plants alone.. and when they mature.. you will have more than enough.. and you can not 'force' early maturity.. but cutting them up .. eh??? there are three parts to a hosta ... the leaves above.. the roots below.. in the middle is a potato like structure ... part of which is the basal plate .. when you cut that potato.. that plate.. you can trigger a bud on each side of the cut.. or cut twice for 4.. or 4 times for 16.. etc ... but as i note.. what about the root mass??.. and why leave it in the ground.. just do it like at the link ... [you will end up with 16 MICRO plants!!! .. because of the lack of root mass]] this is so old school.. only zumbar perfected it.. GRHS .... if you want more.. dig your hosta up.. do surgery.. and go for it ..... like at the link ... i too.. long ago.. thought this was some magical potion for cutting the maturity curve.. it isnt.. grow the roots .... and the plant will follow.. field of dreams and all that.. all that said .. if you are the experimenter type.. well.. go for it.. dont let me stop you .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Regarding location of planting...I am in Wisconsin...and have hostas in the sun and shade. I think you have to consider your own habits and lifestyle. A big, beautiful hosta in full sun with a big ugly sunburn is not attractive. My S & S got sunburned last year when I was away for a long weekend, and it looked bad the rest of the year to me. Think about the hostas planted out in front of businesses in stone...they usually look decent through June, and then they are an ugly mess for the rest of the season. I am a lazy gardener when the July/August heat waves hit and I also like to travel. No one in my family but me cares about the hostas, and I can't afford to hire someone to water when I am away. For all those reasons, I don't really like to plant my hostas in full sun if I don't have to.

You're not missing out on anything, Continental Divide has got to be the slowest growing hosta I've ever bought! Mine will be starting it's 4th season. It doesn't look much bigger than it did in it's third season: I'm going to the nursery I bought mine from and see how their's are growing. I know there was an issue with CD in tissue culture. Gesila

Hi Timothy. I have a couple of hosta starts I potted up this spring. Not sure of the exact variety, but you can see what the leaves look like in the picture below. They get a large "spike" of fragrant white flowers. It might be plantaginea Hosta (but I don't think my flowers are quite as large as they mention): http://www.hostasdirect.com/hostas/plantaginea/. Will you be coming to the spring swap? I have a couple reserved for a two people, but have a couple of others as well. Marj