Harryshoe,
Mine looks about like yours and it is in its fifth year.

Denny

its about time.. dont you think..

next year ought to be fabulous ...

i have said it a hunnerd times .. 5 to 7 years for maturity .... on the large ones .... do you believe me now.. lol ...

and yours is coming in on time ...

ken

I wish mine looked like yours. It's about 15 inches tall right now. I actually bought it in 1995. It was "lost" in a bed where I put 'under acheivers'
Then I decided to give it one more shot 2 years ago, so I moved it to it's current place. It's OK,,,not great, I'll let it go a couple of more years and the it's history!

A couple of leaves

lens cap is just over 2"

Paul

Is there some reason BB gets so little attention?

I planted Blue Angel the same year and I would say that BB is bigger and more attractive. Maybe its just the Sieboldiana look.

The lantern is moved so now we'll see if Bressingham Blue will spread out for me. Maybe I can get a full plant shot.

Hosta Hillbilly (HH) has large ones, he did not post now for a while though. I am looking forward to have mine, which he gave me, get to become a big blue one too. It has 3 eyes this year, survived window installers shoes very well.
Bernd

I got a plant shot this morning with a 14" trowel in front for perspective. I think I will be transplanting some of BB's neighbors soon!

Mine. That's a quarter on the leaf at 1 o'clock for perspective. Third year:

You should take a picture with an adult person standing next to it. That will really give us a good perspective of it's size. :-)

Harryshoe, you are so funny!
Love your garden art.

We had an H. 'Bressingham Blue' in heavy shade (under a Red Pine Forest) that not only didn't grow, it diminished in size!

We moved it to a place that got more than half a day of direct sunlight, and with a soaker hose beneath it, and it went nuts, yay!

Give blues sun, despite the fact that they lose the blue as the season progresses.

I'm working on an article for the AHS Hosta Journal regarding this . . .

hh

OK, let me try my 'blue hosta rant' here, before I try to get it published in the AHS Journal:

It's about the colour blue.

After watching several 'blue' Hostas in our garden of over 850 cultivars for about 13 years I've come to an unconventional conclusion: We should abandon the 'ban' of planting blue Hosta in the sun.

Yes, it is true, the 'blue' will fade as the season progresses if a 'blue' is planted in an lot of sun.

Wait, there are many other Hostas that are 'celebrated' for their change in color over a growing season. Some start light and grow darker, others the other way around. Even some grow light, then darker, then again lighter.

We celebrate this variability in several other Hostas, so why exclude 'blues' from this celebration?

Let's discuss why blue hostas may be better grown in much more light . . .

I'm going here because I've noticed that blues are anemic in heavy shade, and after moving a few of them to half-day direct light noticed so much better vigor.

So let's investigate the nature of light.

Should you buy a 'grow lamp' and investigate why it's a 'grow lamp' you will find that it is so because it accentuates the BLUE wavelengths of the light spectrum.

So, it does so because the plant parts that provide the growth energy uses the blue part of sunlight most to grow.

Now for the science of light:

The color of light you see is what is 'reflected' from what you look at.

So, when you see blue, it is because what you look at is reflecting the blue light.

That means that the chlorofil parts of the plant that convert blue light to plant energy isn't getting the important BLUE light, as the waxy layer that is giving your eyes the blue look is keeping the blue part of light from getting to the Hosta to convert to growth.

What all this means is that blue hosta are much less efficient at getting the needed blue part of sunlight to grow.

Yes, blue Hosta will lose their blue color as the season progresses and the waxy coating melts away, but from observation, they will grow faster, better, meaner, bigger, and perhaps we should consider this as a plus as we do with so many other Hosta that change color through the season?

hh

Interesting article abstract, HH. I think the basis of your argument is correct, blues do grow better in more sunlight. But it's a question of taste, isn't it? If you want your blues to stay blue most or all of the season, then put them in shade, if you don't mind the change, then use more sun.

How's this for the perfect scenario. Plant a large blue like Blue Angel or Blue Umbrellas on the north side of a small newly planted ornamental or shade tree. That blue will grow in a lot of sun while the tree gets bigger. By the time the tree gets big enough to shade the Hosta, you'll have an enormous blue that stays blue all year.

BTW, here is a Blue Angel taken on the convention tour in late June last year. This one gets a lot of sun and looks pretty bluish/green in late June in New Hampshire.

Steve