Pic of the Day--Krossa Regal

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--Krossa Regal is one of the classic varieties and long time member of the most popular varieties list.. Its distinct, large, vase shaped mound easily lets it pass the 20 foot rule. It also has some of the tallest flower scapes in the genus. Krossa Regal was one of my first hosta purchases, way back in 1993. Growing in a spot that gets about 2-3 hours of midday sun, the plant's size has averaged very close to Zilis' listing of 71x33. The plant has never had slug damage.

Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.ph ... sa%20Regal
MyHostas - http://myhostas.be/db/hostas/Krossa+Regal
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/k/krossa.html

Krossa Regal 62605c.JPG

[Izzy]

Always great to see your pics!
Absolutely beautiful.
Izzy

[Linda P]

Hank...that's an impressive specimen, and perfectly situated to show off the color, form and size.
I suspect when the day comes that I get a chance to walk your gardens, I'll end up with a serious case of dropjaw.
Thanks for taking the time to share your info and pics.
Linda P

[ViolaAnn]

Lovely plant, Hank. Unfortunately, another which I will admire from afar. Just too large for my garden.

Ann

[Pieter]

Lovely plant, Hank. Unfortunately, another which I will admire from afar. Just too large for my garden.

Unfortunately those are my sentiments as well, Ann. I love its form and colour, it just plain gets to large for my yard. Matter of fact, I have to try and find a home for a Sum and Substance this year... didn't quite realize what its mature size was when I purchased it...I'm a little better educated these days, and as I have to be so much more selective about mature size I do due diligence on each and every Hosta I make part of my assortment.

[Wanda]

I really like this one, also! I got mine in a rescue operation at a jobsite during a tornado warning, right after I became addicted to hosta...so mine have special memories. And one of the rescue KR turned out to be my sport - Regal Flame! Somehow I have ended up with 9 Krossa Regal. Well, I needed one of that size, shape and color in various beds, so whacked them up before I knew better. So, although I have had them pretty much from the start of my addiction, the largest ones are only 5' or so across.

I really have to go through my lists and start to weed out some of these large numbers of multiples. The gardens are getting pretty large and I have to double the size of them two more times over the next 6-10 yrs. so there will be enough room for the mature hosta. So, I guess it is time to get rid of all but 3 of each hosta (the hosta, a spare and one for divisions)...and replace the duplicates with something new. That way I can still get a few new hosta each year without expanding too much more. With 26 acres of forest, its hard to draw the line on expansion...but there are only so many hours in the day for maintenance!!!

wanda

[Hank Zumach]

Wanda--I have several good sized areas of forest bottom that are covered with hostas. It took a few years (and a little weeding at first) but the canopy from the hostas dominates the areas. I am using medium to large sized hostas, almost all of them are seedlings that would have been tossed. Here is a photo of one of the areas along one side of a path.

[Wanda]

Absolutely gorgeous, Hank! I might have to try something like that. But I can truly see myself getting overwhelmed with maintenance in just a few years...and I don't have a "Betty" to help out. My dear sister Diana helps when she can, but with her seriously severe allergies, she really has to limit her time outdoors. My Jeff helps with the heavy stuff, but doesn't have time for much else, since he only is home on the weekends (pretty much).

That is why I don't start hosta seeds (much)...I am unable to cull if its willing to live, and just I can't just see 26 acres of boring green hosta. (hehe)

wanda

[FreakyCola]

Hank,
When you first plant a hosta like KR that is going to get big, do you leave space around it for expansion or do you dig the neighbors out as KR gets bigger?

I love the idea of having so much space in your forest that you can plant your seedlings and never have to throw any away. That pic is really neat! (As are all your pics!!!)
Ellen

[Hank Zumach]

Hi Ellen--I place the plant in a space that I expect it to fill up at maturity. We use ground covers everywhere there are not "display" perennials so its not like we have bare ground exposed until the plant grows up.

[jgh]

Wonderful specimen, Hank

One of the greats... easy to grow, dependable... equally valuable as a huge specimen or used in a mass planting in difficult situations.

I removed my specimen plant to make room for others some years ago, but still have two mass plantings growing in deep, dry shade under mature spruce trees, where they provide height and good blue color throughout the season. They certainly don't get the size of Hank's... more like 3' diameter... but they look great.

[renaldo75]

Beautiful as always, Hank!!

I've discovered that root competition from a voracious, water guzzling crab apple tree will keep any large hosta's size in check.

[Eleven]

My larger 'Krossa Regal', received as a division from a neighbor, grown in some sun:




And the smaller one that I bought the year before I was given the other, grown in shade: