Six Sum And Substance Bare Root Hostas Planted - June 2022

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I've planted bare root hostas the past few years and this season is no different.  In addition to the Aaron Caladium tubers that I recently planted, Nat also brought home this bag of six Longfield Gardens Sum and Substance bare root Hostas from Costco this Spring.  You can see the package showing the Sum & Substance variety below as well as a peek at the size of these Longfield Gardens bare root hosta:


What are Sum & Substance Hostas? Monrovia calls them 'fast-growing' and 'Perhaps the largest and most popular of the hostas' as well as being Hosta of the Year, 2004.

What's that again?!?  These might be the 'largest' hosta out there?  I've been thinking a lot about giant or large-format hostas the past few seasons and added a set of three Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas last Fall back by the firepit that are billed as being a 'true giant' hosta.  Those seem to be back for the first full growing season, so they're NOT quite at mature size just yet. 

These six Sum & Substance bare root hostas are planted in three locations.  

First, I tucked in three spread around the base of one of the treeform Doublefile Viburnum shrubs/trees on the north side.  See those three spots below:
 

The next two went in on the far side of the fire pit border.  In front of one of the newly transplanted Hicks upright Yews and to the left (see below) of one of the recently transplanted Karl Foerster grasses.  


And the final location is in the southside bed, to the east of the Summer Beauty Alliums, behind the row of Fanal Astilbes.  


I'll watch all six of these this year with the hopes they emerge for the first time, but based on my experience, it will take a few growing seasons for a bare root hosta to grow into something of any 'substantial' (huh..get it?!?) size.  

Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

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