Large and giant hostas make a statement. Mature plants can grow well over 60 cm high and more than a metre wide, with leaves the size of a dinner plate.
Large & giant hostas
Give them space (75–100 cm between plants), shade or partial shade and rich, moist soil. They take a few years to reach full size and become more impressive every season.
Every pack contains 2 plants of the same variety and comes with our 100% growing guarantee.
We call a hosta large when its leaf mound reaches about 50–75 cm, and giant above that. For planning, width matters more than height: a mature giant can cover two square metres, and its flower stems rise well above the leaves. Check the spacing on each product page before you choose the spot.
Most big blues descend from Hosta sieboldiana. Elegans is the old garden classic, Blue Angel builds an elegant mound of heart-shaped, blue-grey leaves, and Big Daddy has round, cupped, heavily puckered ones.
Sum and Substance is one of the largest hostas of all, with thick chartreuse-gold leaves. Green giants such as T Rex, Kingsize and Lakeside Maverick make a calm, lush backdrop, and Royal Standard adds fragrant flowers in late summer. Fried Bananas brings gold at a slightly smaller scale and copes with more sun.
Sagae and Liberty light up the back of a border with cream and gold margins. Regal Splendor edges silvery blue leaves in white, Earth Angel edges blue-green ones in yellow, and Wu-La-La is a patterned sport of Empress Wu, one of the biggest hostas ever raised. Winter Snow, new in our range, is a white-edged sport of Sum and Substance.
A big hosta stays in one place for many years, so choose the spot with care: room for the full width, shelter from strong wind that can tear large leaves, and some distance from tree trunks, where roots take most of the water. Prepare a wide area rather than a single hole, mixing in plenty of compost, and water deeply in dry spells, as large leaves lose a lot of water on warm days.
Big hostas often have tall flower stems to match. Victory carries near-white flowers well above its leaves in midsummer, Blue Angel has near-white flowers too, and Sum and Substance flowers pale lavender in August. If you grow giants mainly for their leaves, cut the stems once the flowers fade, or even before, to keep the outline clean.
Give a giant a plain background, such as a hedge, a fence or the dark trunk of a tree, so its outline stands out. Keep the plants in front of it low and leave a little space around it: a big hosta looks most impressive when the whole mound can be seen at once.
A young giant looks lost at its final spacing for the first year or two. Fill the gaps with ferns or with spring bulbs: snowdrops, crocuses and small daffodils flower before the hosta unfurls, and its leaves later hide the fading bulb foliage.
Giant hostas can grow 75 cm or more high and well over a metre wide when mature, with individual leaves of 30 cm or more. Sum and Substance, for example, reaches about 75–90 cm high and 1.5–1.8 m wide. They reach that size after several years in rich, moist soil.
Most large hostas prefer shade, but a few cope with more light as long as the soil stays moist: Sum and Substance, Liberty, Victory and Sagae. Gold-leaved varieties often colour better with a few hours of morning sun.
Choose a spot in shade or partial shade with enough room, for example under trees or as a focal point at the back of a border. Keep the soil moist, especially in the first summers.
Usually four or five years, sometimes longer. In the first year a young plant puts most of its energy into its roots, so the leaves stay smaller than in our photos. Each spring the clump returns wider, with bigger leaves, as long as the soil stays rich and moist.
Many are, because big hostas often have thick leaves. Sum and Substance, Big Daddy and Liberty are good examples. The young shoots are still at risk in spring, so protect them until the leaves have unfurled. See all slug-resistant hostas.
Yes, in a big enough container: at least 50 cm across, heavy and with drainage holes. Mix some garden soil into the compost so it holds water, and water often in summer. Medium-to-large varieties such as August Moon or Frances Williams are easier in containers than true giants.
Propagation
Divide a hosta in early spring, when the pointed shoots are just breaking through, or in late summer as a second choice. Lift the whole clump, cut it with a sharp spade or knife into pieces that each have roots and one to three healthy buds, replant them at the same depth straight away and water well.
8 min read
Order and pay now, and your bare-root hostas ship from 1 March. Here is how pre-ordering works and what to expect when your plants arrive.
3 min read
Bare-root or potted hostas? An honest comparison of price, choice, timing and how well each grows, so you can pick the right one for your garden.
4 min read
