• Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Hosta King, LLC / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Hosta King, LLC / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Hosta King, LLC / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
  • Walters Gardens, Inc. / Hosta 'Empress Wu'
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Hosta 'Empress Wu' Starter Perennials. Large and Small Root Balls. Super-Wide Dark Green Leaves. Grow to Over 3 Feet Tall. Love Shade.

Hosta 'Empress Wu' Starter Perennials. Large and Small Root Balls. Super-Wide Dark Green Leaves. Grow to Over 3 Feet Tall. Love Shade.

$24.00 USD
$24.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Size

Shipped Trimmed and Ready to Plant. We sell starter plants, carefully trimmed and prepared for planting upon arrival. They are shipped as bare root or plugs, not in containers.

Common Name: Hosta

This magnificent hybrid cultivar is renowned for its impressive size, with gorgeous dark green leaves that can reach over 18 inches in length and width. Standing tall at 3-4 feet and spreading over 5-6 feet wide, this hosta forms an eye-catching mound that will leave you in awe.

Highlights:

  • Huge dark green, deeply veined leaves of good substance can measure more than 1½' wide and long. Large leaves are formed as a young plant, though entire clump takes about 5 years growing in the ground to achieve mature size.
  • Strongly upright habit, forming a very tall and wide clump
  • Pale reddish violet flowers appear just above the foliage in early to midsummer
  • An outstanding focal point and topic of conversation in your shade garden!

And DID YOU KNOW the Empress Wu is named after Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. It certainly lives up to its regal title.

Hosta 'Empress Wu'

Zones: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9

Botanical Name: Hosta

Common Names: Hosta

Folliage: Green

Color / Shades: Purple

Bloom Season: Early Summer and Mid Summer

Sunlight: Full Shade

Height: 3-4 feet

Spread: 5-6 feet

Features: Attacts Hummingbirds

Growth Rate: Fast

Water Needs: Average

Soil Quality: Average and Fertile

Soil Chemistry: ph 6.5 and pH 7.0

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Empress Wu Hosta

The Empress Wu hosta is a genuine head-turner in terms of appearance. Envision a grand, lush mound of foliage that takes center stage. Its leaves are the main attraction—vast, expansive, and heart-shaped, often reaching 18 inches in length and width.

They’re a rich, dark green with a slightly glossy sheen, and they have pronounced veins that give them a textured, almost quilted look. The leaves grow in a dense, overlapping arrangement, forming an upright clump that can reach 3 to 4 feet tall and spread 5 to 6 feet wide when fully mature. In early to midsummer, it sends up sturdy flower stalks that tower above the foliage, sometimes reaching 4 to 5 feet high. These stalks are topped with clusters of tubular, pale reddish-violet (or sometimes lavender) flowers. The blooms are subtle compared to the bold leaves but add a nice contrast and attract pollinators like bees and hummingbirds.

Aesthetically, it resembles a living sculpture—striking, theatrical, and slightly imposing, yet balanced by its elegant contours and cool hues. Ideal for a shaded area where you desire a commanding presence without direct sunlight.

Premium Hostas

Hostas are exceedingly popular perennials in today's gardens due to their versatility in the landscape. Their subtle colors, tall flower scapes, and broad, coarse leaves fill a niche in garden designs that few other plants can achieve. Their large leaves provide excellent coverage for dying bulb foliage. Hostas also grow well in city environments where the air may be polluted by car exhaust, etc.

This premium hosta variety is part of a group of the finest hostas available today. To be considered a premium hosta, plants must perform superbly in many zones. They must also exhibit exemplary garden presence and performance, have a long season of appeal in the landscape, have leaves of good substance, and demonstrate a greater resistance to common garden pests.

Details about your order

Order Details & Policies

No Returns But Replacements

We do not do returns or offer warranties, unfortunately. We simply can't guarantee the future of plants after they leave our shop and are in your care. But the health of our plants upon arrival is something we'll stand by. 

Shipping can stress plants. If there are any issues with your plants when you receive them, send us a chat message from our website. We can issue store credits or send replacements.

Also, our starter perennials are small plants. We do not issue refunds because they are smaller than expected. For more details about plant sizes, see Starter Perennials Shipped Trimmed.

Starter Perennials Shipped Trimmed

Starters are small, young plants or plugs, bare roots and bulbs. We do not ship mature plants in containers. We will often trim back growth on our perennial plugs to reduce stress on the plants during travel. Trimming does not hurt the plants. They'll bounce back with new growth. You'll receive your plants carefully wrapped and prepared for shipping in a box. 

Plant Sizes

Starter perennials are smaller because they are young. Bare roots and bulbs speak for themselves. We have plug sizes ranging from 1-2 inches x 2-4 inches, although some hostas come in larger sizes.

These are not yet plants at maturity as seen in many of the photos on our store. We have photos of real starter plants on some listings and we are working to post more starter photos this year in 2026. We're adding plug sizes to the plant pages, too. Bear with us as we update all our plant detail pages so you are better informed. In the meantime, if you need more details or a photo of an actual starter, send us a message in our chat. 

Delivery

Your order should arrive within 7-14 days. Occasionally, we may hold an order so that we can fulfill it with new inventory we are expecting to receive. Just send us a chat if you need a status update.

Cost to Ship

Shipping fees are as follows:

  • $11.99 for orders up to $39.99
  • $18.99 for orders between $40 and $79.99
  • $23.99 for orders between $80 and $119.99
  • $29.99 for orders between $120 and $159.99
  • $35.99 for orders between $160 and $199.99
  • $41.99 for orders between $200 and $239.99
  • $47.99 for orders between $240 and $279.99
  • FREE for orders $280 or greater

* Please note these prices reflect substantial fee increases from USPS in April, presumably due to gas price hikes. We'd hope to lower them in the future, obviously.