Hosta 'Sum and Substance'

Sub and Substance is one of the most popular hostas in my area, and for good reason. This beauty has enormous chartreus leaves and is ver...Read Morey slug and deer resistant. The only negative I have found with it is that, like many of the chartreus hostas, in my climate it does not tolerate direct sun well. I've had to move it twice in one year, but have finally found what seems to be the perfect place. It now gets plenty of indirect light, but only short periods of direct light as the sun filters through oak trees. When choosing a location for this hosta, it's also important to keep in mind that it will ultimately get very large and seems to grow fairly quickly.

I love these !!!!! I have some planted on the east, west, and north side and they all are great. No maintenance what so ever. I just w...Read Moreatch them come up in the spring and uncurl their large leaves and I don't do anything to them. Not even fertilize them. I have one plant that has been growing slower than the other ones. They are growing in an area that has small pebbles mixed with the dirt. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but I would be very sad without my S&S hostas in my garden

I love Hostas and had wanted one of these for sometime. This is the end of it's 3rd growing season for me and it hasn't grown one little ...Read Morebit. Nor has it produced any flowers. I have it in deep shade and the color is beautiful. I've fed it, kept snails/slugs away from it and even talked to it! It just doesn't seem to grow. It looks healthy though. I'm in zone 7b. Does anyone have any suggestions?

My Sum & Substance started losing leaves at the base in July. It gets sun from 2-5 (Massachusetts). Since I transplanted it last Fall, it...Read More is quite small this summer. It sits about 4 ft. from an irrigation head. Could it be getting TOO much water?
Please post an answer if you know.

I have a very large one of these Hosta's at the new home I just purchased. It had many eyes trying to grow 'under' the plastic that was ...Read Morein place to ward off weeds. I dug them up and moved them to two other locations and they are doing great. Two are on the east side of the house, shaded by trees, but gets sun from about 9-11 in the morning then shade. The one on the west is protected by privacy fence and trees. It gets direct sun from about 12-2 in the afternoon. They seem to grow well here with some sun and some shade. I'm delited with these Hosta's! ! ! !

Mine is planted on the North side of my house and also gets some shade in the afternoon on the West from the real intense afternoon sun ....Read More It is the second year I planted it about this time last year and I couldn't be happier but it seems to be getting darker as the summer gets on....Is this normal...It has grown immence already...

I am in zone 5 and I purchased S&S because it was advertised as loving morning sun. I planted it on the east side of my house where it w...Read Moreas in shade by 11am. It did not do well there so after 2 years I moved it to deep shade in the afternoon and good light in the morning and it has thrived. I have it planted beside a big blue hosta of comparably size and they look great together. I love big hosta, I just have limited space and am consistantly creating more shade. Under any shrub I can trim up. Forsythia, hydrangea and lilacs work great trimmed like a short tree with multi stems, they then have wonderful shade for hosta.

My daughter has a magnificent Sum and Substance at her home in CT that I greatly coveted. So I recently got one from a well known pla...Read Morent supplier and I planted it in the fall (2008).

It was a bare root plant so I never saw it until this Spring when it came up. Now, approaching mid June it just doesn't look right to me. Instead of being huge and chartreuse it is small and bluish. I wasn't expecting a specimen plant in it's first year, but I thought it would at least look a little like it was supposed to.

Has anyone ever had a similar experience with a new Sum and Substance? Should I call my supplier and tell them that they sent the wrong variety? I'm not a novice gardener and I have 6 other varieties of hosta plants that are extremely beautiful. HELP!!

I have grown Sum & Substance for 3 years in a very large pot. The first year I had it in late morning sun and it burned. I moved it to ...Read Moredeep shade and it languished. Last year I moved it so it gets a little early morning sun and bright light all day. Now the edges of the leaves are browned and thinned, almost transparent. I am not sure what is causing this, does anyone have any ideas? It is watered regularly, I grow many other hostas and have not seen this before.
Thanks

Mine tend to be slow to multiply in woodland shade with two to three leaves for each plant. Doesn't thrive as well as other hostas and ma...Read Morey prefer more sunny location.

When I planted these hostas in 2004, I didn't know much about them, and didn't research them first. Unknowingly, I planted them at the he...Read Moread of my flower bed on both sides of a climbing rose, in the full sun. Not only did they grow fast, but I have had to divide them this year. Since they are growing in full sun, they do have a tendency to slightly burn, but I keep the damaged leaves trimmed off. This is one of those type of plants that even the novice gardener can grow with excellent results.

Each year this hosta gets bigger and bigger. This summer it is huge and the color is so beautifully intense.

Be patient...Read More and let this monster take its time....it will be worth the wait.

I absolutely love this Hosta. I have giant pine trees over 50' tall so I took out all the grass in my front yard and planted a nice shade...Read More garden. I have about 30 varieties of hostas. This is one of my favorites. The color is stunning in a shade garden, almost chartruse. Mine is a bit slow growing, probably because it has to compete with the pine roots. It is in dappled shade. It is superb, about 4 years old. It is easy to propagate from a leaf cutting if you cut down to the root area and put some rooting hormone on the leaf and pot it up.. I do not let mine flower for the first few years. They seem to grow bigger for me this way. As soon as I see a flower shoot coming I cut it off. Gorgeous must have for your shade garden! When it finally does flower they are beautiful.

Unlike the majority of you, I have my S&S out in the sun. It gets about 5 hours a day of full sun & thrives. I am in zone 4 and finding...Read More plants that are beautiful & hardy gets to be a challenge at times. I am surrounded by trees around the house so have resorted to hostas for the beauty part. I have 40+ varieties & love to see them from the first nubs in the spring. I do have a problem with deer every summer so have to spray them frequently.

Atlanta - I had mine (3 of them) in really full shade. They languished and I moved them this year to where they get more sun. They are al...Read Moreready perking up.

This is my family's favorite Hosta. It's got humongous leaves and has a great spread and it's only it's second year in my yard. It's in...Read More a showcase spot with some aquilegia in front of it and some ferns nearby.

It grows well in the dappled afternoon sunlight. There is no morning or evening sun. I've never tried hostas in the sun and don't plan on it, since I have a yard full of trees and shade.

This is one of my "Godzillahostas"--absolutely huge leaves, and it grows quickly. I love "Godzillahostas". I have it in dark, dry shade...Read More, and it just keeps going.

I bought several Sum and Substance from a local nursery during a hosta club promo several years ago. I first planted it on the east side ...Read Moreof the house where it received about three full hours of morning sun, bad move. It couldn’t take the sun in my area (burned) and stunted the growth. I moved them to full shade and “BOOM” they got huge, flowers well and keeps a constant chartreuse color all year. One of the last hostas to show itself in spring, it rapidly takes center stage. Seems to grow a bit slow, couple of eyes a year so far, which is too bad for everyone who sees it (they all want a piece). This hosta got me hooked on hostas, love it.

I bought mine as bare rootstock from a department store, and all eyes grew well and flowered first year, and produced seed. Did will whe...Read Moren it was in containers in full sun and when it was later transplanted to deep shade.

I have several of this wonderful hosta. One that gets morning sun and is shaded by grass rest of day. It doesn't grow as well as the ot...Read Morehers.

We had a late frost this spring and S & S was the only hosta that completely died back....but the good news was that it popped up quickly and almost caught up.

It does better in the shade here at 3500 feet, the less sun the better for it.

I have found Sum and Substance to be a very fast growing Hosta here in the western part of New York State. This Hosta of the year for 20...Read More04 is by far the largest Hosta I have, even bigger than the established Sieboldiana's in the garden. Of course, the ability to have a huge Hosta in partial to a half day of sun is the big draw with this one. It does need lots of room. I have had Sum and Substance for 5 years now, and I have divided it many times. From one plant I now have 2 dozen near specimens. I highly recommend it. Bill

I live in Rock Island, IL and have a sum & substance that was purchased in 2000. The plant recieves 2-3 hours of pre-noon sun with one p...Read Moreortion of the plant getting, maybe, an hour of mid afternoon sun. The portion of the plant that gets the afternoon sun does burn a bit even though I keep all my hostas well watered. I'm thinking about moving it to a more protected location this fall, before it gets too big. Any comments on the amount of sun this plant can handle? Also, the leaf substance of my plant is less than others I've seen. Does this come on with age?

TIA... charles

Easy to grow, too much sun turns the plant yellow. It is very hardy and late to show in spring.

Very large leaves - grows to a beautiful, stately size with light green color and lovely texture. Gorgeous plant.