Sum and Substance Hosta
Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ · a glossy chartreuse hosta
One of the biggest hostas: huge, glossy, ribbed leaves that turn from light green to chartreuse to gold, with more gold in more sun, thick enough to resist slugs. A past Hosta of the Year and a bold specimen; keep it moist, and protect it from deer, who find hostas delicious.
- Mature size
- 3 × 5 ft
- 0.9 × 1.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part sun to full shade
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Jul–Aug
Sum and Substance Hosta at its mature size
A mature Sum and Substance Hosta grows to about 3 ft tall and 5 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: Walters Gardens, K-State Research and Extension, Nebraska Extension.
Through the year
What Sum and Substance Hosta looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Below ground · Nov–Mar
Dies back to the ground; draw nothing but keep it selectable.
In leaf · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
The leaf mound, no flower stalks.
In flower · Jul–Aug
The same leaf mound with a few stalks of pale lavender bell flowers on tall stalks well above the leaves.
Growing Sum and Substance Hosta
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Plains and Mountain West, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Good for
- Specimen, shade garden, and fast growing
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- Japan, Korea, and China
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Sum and Substance Hosta, that’s about 5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Sum and Substance Hosta in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hostas
Sagae HostaSum and Substance Hosta
Blue Angel Hosta
Krossa Regal HostaAll drawn to the same scale.