Hi Vera, I was born in Puyallup, WA. I'm sure you know where that is, but we moved to WI when I was a year old. I've been back there to visit a few times, but mostly to visit relatives in Tacoma. As I can recall, Eastern WA is much different than Western WA......Eastern WA much flatter? Anyway, about the weather here - you can expect anything and everything. Our summers can be extremely hot, in the 90's,or 100's, dry or humid, droughts and flooding, long cool rainy Springs that never seem to end, or so short we seem to go from Winter to summer. (Same for Fall) No matter what the weather is, the Hostas survive. And as Ken mentioned above, plant whatever you want, and if it doesn't do well, move it. Have fun experimenting. I know I will. Julie

Les, I just create these little dikes at planting time. I learned this from Crocket's Victory Garden (I still have the companion book). That's how old I am. I use these to collect the water for the roots of a new plant. By next Spring that dike will be washed away, but the plant won't need it any longer. The soil in this area was unusually loose for my property. In NE we have mostly glacial till. Hence the rocks and rock walls that line farmers fields in this area. You will notice in the first picture that I started in the spring by putting down a newspaper/cardboard barrier. I then added layers of organic material (grass clippings, woodchips, compost and some bagged garden soil). I was pleased with the result. Steve

The most important thing to remember is hosta are shade tolerant, not shade dependent. In general, the more white a hosta has the more sun it needs to maintain vigor. Be aware though that some white centered hostas will burn in the sun. A lot of the yellow/gold hosta do well with sun, and in fact have brighter colors in the sun. Blue leaved plants do better in deeper shade since the blue color is from a waxy coating on the leaves. Too much sun will melt the waxy coating and you will end up with a green hosta. No matter where you place the hosta, remember to water, water, water until it is established. If you have a particular variety in mind please post an individual request for information on the Hosta Forum.

all plants need sunlight ... usually ... when a plant is said to be a shade plant ... it is really about whether the plant can pump enough water.. during the heat of the day .. to survive ... if the plant can NOT ... then it tends to be called a shade plant ... a great many plants labeled as such.. are shade TOLERANT .... the best example of this.. is that ALL hosta in Britian ... are considered full sun plants ... and most the british authors claim such ... there are two reasons for this... the first is that they at at 60 degrees north ... the actual sunlight is considerably lesser in intensity that far north ... compared to most of us in the states.. that are 45 degrees north and less [there is a highway sign in the middle of MI that says we are half way to the north poles .. 45 degrees] .. and this is one reason.. the brits are a rather pasty peeps.. lol ... you probably couldnt tan there if you wanted too ... lol ... that said... they are also subject to a lot of cloudy weather ... so that even if they plant in full sun ... its rarely ever out.. lol ... here in the states ... anywhere north of the mason dixon line.. hosta can be full sun plants... especially if your soil can hold enough water during the heat of the day ... as compared to say.. my sand ... the only thing that happens... is that they can start looking ratty ... earlier in the season .... many of the northern wholesalers ... in fact.. field grow them in full sun [or used to anyway] ... to increase the root masses.. as they really dont care how they will look at harvest .... on the opposite side ... many of the full sun plants ... are the big flower plants... and if you are going to burn all that energy.. to produce giant flower displays ... you arent going to be growing them in shade... the best example ... is that roses ... the big hybrid Ts ... will not thrive in the shade ... mind you.. they wont die.. they will just grow more green leaves.. rather than flowers .... when it all boils down ... its not really about what the tag says.. or some resource ... sun .. like many other variables.. is a micro climate issue ... subject to soil.. location ... watering protocol.. etc there!!! .. more than you ever wanted to know.. lol ... just try it... and let us know.. how it works out in your garden .... ken