Excellent examples of sun versus shade coloration, and especially nice to see that all these hostas, although altered from their 'usual' coloration, are clearly doing very well indeed in sun.

Jo, I have several Blue Wedgwoods in full sun, and they stay pretty blue all season. Two years ago, I moved one to the north side of my house, in almost total shade. That one is dark green. Not what I expected.

Wow! I never, ever would've recognized Summer Breeze with those white edges. Looks as if now, when we try to ID hostas from photos, we have to ask about sun exposure along with zone, size, shape, age....

-Babka

Thanks Jo for an interesting thread....I too have a lot of sun in some spots, so I'm in the same boat.

How did you ever come to plant hostas, Jo? My garden has a maximum of 4 hours of sun in its sunniest part. If I'd had six hours I'd be growing tomatoes.

Nice comparisons, what a difference the sun makes. I have the opposite exposure, none of mine get more than 2-3 hrs of direct sun. Most are in dappled to most shade all day.

Like zkathy, if I had more sun, I'd still have a large vegetable garden. Not sorry though because I get a lot more enjoyment from the hostas and other shade perennials than the veggies, just not as tasty.

Kathy and Jerry - good point:. Why not grow vegetables in all that sun? Well, here's the thing... my teen years were spent working on our own land - acres and endless , long acres of vegetables. The hoeing, back breaking weeding, thinning, more weeding, harvesting, packing, lifting and loading etc....from sunup till you can't see past your own nose...right into the fall, through the rain, cold temperatures, frost, etc.

I guess you could say "been there, done that", lol. For years now I keep forgetting to get a tomato (cherry tomatoes, yum) plant for the patio because I am so focused on new perennials/hosta! Am still a vegetable lover through and through but what little land comes with this city lot is used for the enjoyment of perennial gardens...and way too many hostas, lol.

I envy both of you your land and growing environment - ideal in my mind. :)

It's amazing how I can make assumptions that have nothing to do with reality!

Jo, your people and writing skills are so good that I always imagined you as a child of wealth and privilege, growing up schooled in the social graces and language arts.

I enjoyed your pictures Jo. It is amazing the differences. I have a On Stage that is almost white. It's really hard to figure out which ones want sun and which ones don't!

Kathy, bless you! I've had the best of both worlds and experiences that would make for an interesting book....as many of us have, I am sure. Lol ;-)..

Sally, you mean like this? I like the colour of yours! Here is the underpinning of the plant...I will just take a quick photo....

At the base of OS

I push the sun envelope so much that apart from some bleaching out and/or a bit of crispy edges here and there, I end up with more vigorous growing plants, no matter whether a slow grower or "difficult" one. I then have a choice - move it to a bit more shade for true colour, or leave it alone...depending on my mood, lol.

It is fun and certainly educational experimenting with my plants. :-)

Wow Josephine, yours is REALLY white!! Aren't hostas amazing plants. They never cease to amaze!

Old dirt, your On Stage is gorgeous!

bruce can prob share some sagae photos ...

Jerry, you read mine, I'll read yours, deal? Lol

Now that is some On Stage! Wow! How big and how old is it? I am going to give mine more shade! Love that colour, definitely gorgeous, something to strive for.

Final chapter, before I develop writer's block. OS is 22" high x 46" at its widest.

Can't find a record of when I got it but must be at least 8 years.

Both OS are beautiful to me. I have a couple in full sun that shouldn't be.

Paul's Glory today in the middle. Looks good from a distance but is almost white by late summer and has leaf scorch.

From earlier this summer you can see leaf scorch already.

Also, Strip Tease has too much sun, although I like the vignette. Picture taken this morning.

In both cases we removed nearby trees and replace with smaller ones, more appropriate for our yard and garden. In time a little more shade will develop.

Beverly, your Paul's Glory is a wonderful specimen and it's no doubt that it has benefited from all that sun exposure! I have hopes for mine :)

The Striptease focal point is lovely to look at, so cool and inviting - a reprieve for the birds when they come to the birdbath. Love that photo. The one I moved earlier has had three leaves removed already from scorch. I've had to use an umbrella for a couple of hours a day and that seems to help it - and a lot of water.

Loved seeing the hosta difference in the sun and the shade. It is amazing! Summer Breeze is quite a beauty in the sun!

My plants are generally in the shade. The most sun some of them will get is a maximum of two hours. So I envy your sun and the growth that is promoted with it! I'd love to have a spot in my garden that received a lot of sun. I'd probably be planting a couple of tomato plants in the midst of my sun loving hostas!

Love this post. I am plotting out a new hosta bed now. Took hourly pics so I had an idea of which area of the bed gets the most sun, and which part is mostly shade. Putting the blues in the shade area, the sun lovers in the all day sun section, and the rest in the half shade/half sun section. It will be interesting to see the effect of the sun on Whirlwind, Cathedral Windows, and Irish Luck. They are getting placed in an area that gets 6-8 hours of sun.

Deb, fwiw I thought I'd share with you how W and CW have done here. Whirlwind shows absolutely no effects -it is still in a pot but in plenty of direct sunlight. However, Cathedral Windows and one planted Fire Island (approx. a minimum of 6 hours of sun) are the only two hostas in my entire garden to date this season that look actually ugly! Consistent high temperatures and intense sun have bleached out the leaves and in a spot or two parts of the centre have melted out. I didn't have a spot ready otherwise CW would have been moved in spring. CW receives plenty of additional ground waterings. It was a lot better last year in same location - relocation definitely required here.

Thanks for that info Jo. May have to make some adjustments. Would you have a suggestion for a substitute for CW with similar size and coloring?

I think maybe Stained Glass (from same family)...but don't alter your plans - I'd be interested to see how your CW would do for you in that location. Mine gets sun before, during, and after the hottest part of the day onwards and lots of drying winds. I think it will do better at the side of house where sun only appears around 3:30. Just have to figure out what to move out ... and where.

I think yes, I will stick with the plan. As Ken says...they're hostas...move em...toss em on the driveway...show them whose boss! Thanks!

I just ordered two Montana Aureomarginata. Originally ment one for my old friend and one for me. But your post is so interesting that I think I will keep them both and as I grow in pots I will put one to my garden's sunny side and the other in the half shadow. I have two June Fever in different locations and after reading this I checked them and the one on the sunnier side has much more foliage than the one in the shadow.

That is the biggest plus with growing in the sun - faster growth...and an opportunity to propagate plants! :-). Beautiful June Fever!