Hi heatherbon I have two small hosta plants. The are just the plain green kind. I can trade them for seeds if you like, or postage. Whichever. :) Let me know!

This one is problematic. I've been told that Tiny Tears is really a selection from venusta rather than a hybrid. It may also be venusta x venusta, and since this is a species plant, the offspring should all be venusta, but as anyone knows who has self crossed a hosta species several times, there is sometimes a little bit of variation in the offspring. Ventricosa is a classic example of this--it comes true from seed, but there are a number of ventricosa selections that have been named and registered, and there are very slight differences in these plants. Now here's the real kicker on this one--there are supposedly somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 or 30 "different" venusta forms. In fact, there are people who collect the various venustas. The differences are fairly subtle, but one of the main variations is in size--some venusta is very small, less than 3 inches, and some gets up to 4-6 inches. All are solid green with somewhat heart shaped leaves, and most have a bit of waviness to the leaf. Complicating this issue is the fact that under different conditions, many hostas will grow slightly differently. Factors such as climate, soil type, light levels, and plant competition can all affect the appearance of a hosta. So it's unclear exactly how many "different" venustas there are, but it is clear that there are at least several that are notably different when grown in the same garden. So where does this leave you with your three plants? My answer would be that for the moment, you aren't going to have any idea which might be Tiny Tears and which are venusta. You will have to grow them out for a couple of years and then try to make a determination. In this case, the two that look the most alike will probably be the venusta, since you know there are two of those, leaving the other one as Tiny Tears. What you aren't going to know until then is whether or not Tiny Tears is going to be the smaller of the two hostas. I happen to have a very small 'version' of venusta that reaches about 3 inches, and Tiny Tears in my garden is closer to 5 inches, so it's the bigger of the two. If you have a taller 'version' of venusta, your Tiny Tears might well be the smaller of the two. Only time and patience will tell. There seem to be a number of hosta growers who have sold venusta as Tiny Tears, because it's a more expensive plant, which doesn't help matters any. It is therefore possible that at maturity you will have three identical plants. However your mystery resolves, you will be happy to know that venusta is a wonderful little hosta, incredibly hardy and quite prolific. My clump has been in place for almost 20 years, and at one point was over three feet across. I've since divided off quite a lot, but the clump is still a good 20 inches wide, and very pretty. It's a great edger, looks good all season, and has pretty flowers. So whatever your three plants turn out to be, you will enjoy all of them.

You will rarely see a good blue in the sun... blue coloring in hostas is actually a wax coating over a green(chlorophyll) background. Maybe the best example of this is from the Halcyon family. Halcyon is a nice wax blue. June is a sport from Halcyon with the blue wax genes intact. On the other hand, Devon Green is a green sport from Halcyon that lacks the wax gene and is a shiny green. June Fever, the very bright yellow (in Spring) with a thin green margin is bright and shiny precisely because it is not, as we were originally told, a June sport but rather a sport from Devon Green - it lacks the wax gene and is thus shiny. In the sun, the heat, or after a lot of rain and overhead watering, the waxy blues will lose their wax and become green. It seems that some cultivars will generate more wax, while others never seem to develop it again in the same season after it melts away. The Halcyon clan has been the best at holding blue into the heat of summer. El Nino and First Frost both are still a good blue with the added advantage of crisp white borders. Touch of Class holds up very well in sun. This family has the added advantage of standing up longer into the fall as well. They often look good after many of the other hostas have died back from the first frosts. A surprise for me is how well Kiwi Full Monty, a striptease sport with bluer leaves, holds its blue into summer. And the new flushes will be very blue even if the older ones have lost their wax. So, yes... there are some general rules - but there are plants in each category that do just the opposite. usually yellows get yellower in more sun and more chartreuse in more shade, the simple reason being the plant needs more chlorophyll to grow in lower light conditions. But there are exceptions - yellow plants that get more greenish in sun. And among the green ones, there are probably more that become less green in bright light and darker green in lower light - but there are some that reverse this. I've never seen an exception in the blues - a plant that gets bluer in brighter light. I sometimes plant blue plants in the sun - though they won't look as good, they will often grow much faster, allowing me to get some extra growth on them before moving them into the shade.

Well, I LOVE them ALLL. I have to say there is not a one that I wouldn't mind having. I do have to say that Color Glory done very will for me as all the others did (SO FAR). And, yes there are some that aren't as pretty as other but I tend to find something that I like about every hosta that I have. So, if I had to pick one it would be Frances Williams. She is an awesome hosta - doesn't burn for me looks great! She tends to stay for a couple years and leaves me. I HAD Colory Glory which was beautiful until the stinking, no good for nothing VOLES had it for a midnight snack along with Spilt Milk, Independence and countless other. OH and Thunder Bolt. Boy, I was MAD on that one. I do agree that hosta loves what it loves and they can tend to be spoilt. Anyway, I also have a question. Have any of you tried the Castor Oil remedy for VOLES?