I went out and counted them this morning and there are about 50 seedlings around my Wu. Love Pat has given me a couple seedlings which are about 4 years old now. I have one NOID that has a few ugly seedlings growing around it that are a couple years old. A close up of the Wu seedlings. The seedlings start just above the little Choo Choo Train and wrap halfway around the Wu to the back where the ferns are. The majority of the seedlings are to the back of the Wu. The NOID's 3 seedlings are green and ugly just like the NOID. The two older seedlings from Love Pat.

Old Dirt: No I never deadhead the columbines because I want more! I let the flower heads dry up and when they're ready to drop seed I collect them and scatter them where I want them to be the following year. Once that's all done, then I cut the flower stalks off. Some new columbines pop up all on their own elsewhere of course, but I try to help them along. Here's a pretty shot of Liberty as seen through the columbines.

As Ken is suggesting, often the answer is more about culture than the genetics. Who knows, for example, which will get larger in full sun, given the tendency for the Sum and Substance family to thrive in full sun (with enough water) while other hostas often stay smaller, and have smaller leaves, in brighter light? Since many hostas will increase year after year, virtually a continuously expanding colony, there is really theoretically no limit. If we are talking diameter, my "largest" hosta is actually a smallish one, some kikutii, that has colonized a large area and that is all "one plant" because it is all connected underground by the rhizomes. You also have to define what you mean by large - height or width. Empress Wu is being marketed as the largest because it is so tall, but Komodo Dragon is actually listed as having a significantly larger diameter. I've been through this so many times... don't get lost in the hype. There will always be another "biggest hosta." For years, Sum and Substance was billed that way - long after we knew that green-centered S&S sports grew faster and bigger. In the old days we had fortuneis that were large and designated things like 'Fortunei Gigantea.' And there was Big John, Big Daddy, etc etc etc. T-Rex got a lot of attention... then faded in favor of Komodo Dragon for a couple of years... now Empress Wu... Of course, as a collector, I have them all and I'll be able to answer this question better in a decade - but by then, I guarantee, there will be at least five more major "giant" marketing hostas... Decide where you want a giant, then plant one that doesn't cost too much. If you want green, buy one of the green ones. If you want yellow, buy one of the yellow ones. Frankly, I'd concentrate more on the form of the clump and the quality of the leaves. I am guessing that in about five years, I'll be picking a large green Niagara Falls over a giant (but relatively "plain") Empress Wu.

There was an essay on extreme gardening in Fine Gardening magazine a few years ago. The illustration was a drawn cartoon, but I think they used my pix for it. I am often out in the yard at night, and in wet weather, and especially when the moon is bright. Something is always going on. I have an old flip phone because there are other places to spend my $, like at Bridgewood's "overstock" sale. I like his sales because I get smaller plants that seem to do better when planted in between others or over tree roots. I don't have room for another Empress, but he's got a bunch of medium I'd like to try.