Observations on Growing Great Expectations
dougald_gw
6 years ago
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dougald_gw
6 years agodougald_gw
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Great Expectations/Dream Queen/ et al
Comments (5)Last year the contributor 'dhaven' had these very good instructions : "Some varieties are very picky about growing conditions, and unless they are planted in optimum conditions, they will either remain small, or fade away and die. The best example of this I know of is Great Expectations, which also happens to be my favorite hosta. A great many people have lost this one, sometimes more than once. I have three very large mature plants, and they are the prettiest thing in the garden. It took some experimentation, but there are three things that GE absolutely must have to thrive. First, and most importantly, plant it shallowly. It's going to be a very large plant, so the natural inclination is to plant it deeply, but this will kill it faster than anything else. Plant it so shallowly you are convinced that it will tip over, and you've got it right. Secondly, it likes a lot of light. Dappled shade is ideal, but it will take several hours of direct sun, either morning or afternoon. Third, it likes a lot of water. If you give a GE all three of these things, you will increase your chances of growing it into an absolutely stunning plant. " I have two Great Expectations, and they are doing fine. Here is the one in morning sun in June 2011: Here is my other GE which gets more sun in July 2011, also some in the afternoon. It is from a different seller. There are more, smaller and brighter leaves : And here is that same sunny GE in October last year, showing new streaked foliage, figure that out : Bernd...See MoreHow to grow Great Expectations
Comments (21)Esther, I think I may have confused you about my GE. It wasnt one of the first to come up... but it was one of the first to open. I have about 6 other Hostas in the same bed (the eyes on all were about 5" tall) and GE was the first to open (in that bed). sorry for not being exactly clear on that! Janet, my native soil is pure sand, so most of my Hostas are in raised beds (with organic compost). They get lots of water and have really GOOD drainage. Maybe its the drainage that this one likes? side note... I have a high powered sprinkler that pretty much clobbers my GE every morning. I used to worry about the force of water hitting the leaves, but no more.... GE is one tough cookie....See MoreSo what's the latest on Great Expectations?
Comments (63)Here is this GREAT advice on growing GE, from forum member dhaven, which I have saved for future reference. "dhaven Some varieties are very picky about growing conditions, and unless they are planted in optimum conditions, they will either remain small, or fade away and die. The best example of this I know of is Great Expectations, which also happens to be my favorite hosta. A great many people have lost this one, sometimes more than once. I have three very large mature plants, and they are the prettiest thing in the garden. It took some experimentation, but there are three things that GE absolutely must have to thrive. First, and most importantly, plant it shallowly. It's going to be a very large plant, so the natural inclination is to plant it deeply, but this will kill it faster than anything else. Plant it so shallowly you are convinced that it will tip over, and you've got it right. Secondly, it likes a lot of light. Dappled shade is ideal, but it will take several hours of direct sun, either morning or afternoon. Third, it likes a lot of water. If you give a GE all three of these things, you will increase your chances of growing it into an absolutely stunning plant. If you want to try any of the hostas that have the reputation of being difficult, be prepared to try different locations and growing methods, and possibly go through several plants before you discover what works for that variety in your location. When you do find out what works, please share the information with the rest of us!"...See MoreWhat I Was Told About Great Expectations
Comments (11)Great Expectations suffered from early over-popularity. It does have the most amazing individual leaves, often with 4 distinct colors and some overlays. So back in the day, when it was first being marketed, a major magazine - I think it was Better Homes and Gardens - put it on a cover and called it something like the most beautiful hosta ever. Hosta folks already knew about GE, but this made it a shopping goal for general gardeners, some of whom would have previously given that little lip-twitch and said "I don't really DOOO hostas..." The wholesalers didn't have enough plants for the demand, so the next spring a gazillion of rushed tcs came into the market. Some of them were fine, some were really weak. Lots of people lost young plants and swore it was a hard plant to grow. To be honest, most hostas with a lot of light center will require some extra care. They just don't have a lot of chlorophyll. Add in that this is a plant of sieboldianna heritage - a species know for slow growth. So I think the comment was half-true. Some GE tcs were very weak and didn't thrive. Others were OK, if not spectacular growers - and vulnerable to being sold too young. My best GE right now is a tc plant. It is officially 'Great American Expectations' - a Shady Oaks registration for what they believed was an improved strain of GE. Those tcs grew just fine for me... but so did one previous batch of regular GE tcs. On the other hand, I lost all of a previous dozen GE tcs and Shady Oaks refunded them because they knew they'd had a bad "run."...See Moredougald_gw
6 years agodougald_gw
6 years agojimr66
6 years agomusky3048
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agozkathy z7a NC
6 years agomikgag Z5b NS Canada
6 years agoJessica
6 years agojosephines167 z5 ON Canada
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agojosephines167 z5 ON Canada
6 years agomommyc4030
6 years agolinnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
6 years ago
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