I bought a healthy looking specimen three years ago which, judging by the stalks, had just finished blooming robustly. I planted it in 3/4 sun with a southern exposure and watered carefully.
Each year in that location it has come up smaller and has never bloomed.
This year I finally decided to bite the bullet and move the sad little remnant to 1/4 sun with a northern exposure.
When I dug it up, the crown separately immediately into 6 little plantlets. I had only prepared one hole. After some internal debate I decided to plant them all in the hole in a ring shape, more or less as they were before the transplant.
Although it's early days, they now seem to be flourishing. Each has 4 to 6 leaves, already a definite improvement over last year.
What I'm wondering is, should I leave them as is or should I consider separating them into separate holes, possibly in the fall.
Separately, I would appreciate any suggestions as to how to get this variety to bloom.
I would have planted each section of the crown in its own hole, reducing the competition for water and nutrients. Hostas do best in soil that has been amended with organic matter and that stays evenly moist, but not wet. I would give them some fertilizer now and move them in the spring. There seems to be a trade-off between fast growth and flower production on one hand, and retention of color and avoidance of sunburn on the other hand. Planting in more sun generally yields more flowers but the leaves can get burnt and the color can fade. The blue hostas don't seem to do well at all in the sun. You might want to read the comment posted here:
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as one poster seems to have experienced the same problem that you report
Replanting: Some hosta are bred to stay small, while others will grow huge. Mine grew to about 4 feet in diameter. Check the label on yours for an idea of what max size might be.
When they're healthy, their almost bulletproof with regard to being dug up, split, and replanted. Obviously, the best time is spring or fall, but my wife used to move them around in the summer. They complained slightly, but always looked fine within a few weeks, and totally normal the following year.
As far as planting in 3/4 sun, that never worked for me. I *have* seen hosta thrive in sun, but I suspect their soil was much richer than mine. In any case, mulch heavily. You know the nice fluffy soil you find beneath years' worth of leaves in the woods? That's what hosta REALLY like.
I will do as you suggest, especially since it appears that if the small plants continue doing as well as they have been, they will soon be too crowded in their present arrangement.
Then I may have a no-win situation with my Aprhodite. :( I won't give up for a while, though. A house on 6A has several striking clumps of Plantaginea that bloom profusely and fragrantly in early September. I can't be absolutely sure that they are Aprhodite, but they sure seem like it [double white flowers, intense scent, blooming season, apple-green foliage color]. The present owners have no idea what they are and say the previous owners didn't either. But they also say that I wasn't the first to pull over in traffic and walk back to comment. [That gives you some idea of what I meant by 'striking'! :) ]
Agreed. In my experience some leaves on Love Pat go green with as little as 2 hours of intense [noonday] sun even if shaded the rest of the day, and Krossa Regal tends to lose its 'frosting' with as little as 1/2 sun.
Thanks for the link. My experience with the varieties mentioned there has been slightly different. For me, Francee grows in almost any degree of sun, although in full shade it is much greener and the clump tends to be smaller. Paul's Glory seems to be extremely light sensitive. I have two clumps with classic coloring, brilliant yellow centers fading to yellow-white. A third clump, barely a foot away, gets about 30 mins less sun per day and stays two-tone green. My Frances Williams [the original was a gift from her to my mother years ago when we lived in Winchester] shows striking text-book colors in
1/2 sun at my place in Maine. Here I can't seem to get anything but two shades of green no matter where I put it; the proper pattern is still there but both colors are clearly green, not even a hint of bluish or yellowish. I wonder whether soil acidity or too much organic matter may be a factor.
Thanks for the tip. The new location is both well amended and well mulched. The old location had less of both and the soil was somewhat sandier into the bargain.
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