Wow, I am scratching my head.... because I have never seen what you are dealing with. As you see I have had them for years (some over 15 YEARS) and they are BEAUTIFUL year after year, and not showing any of the effects you describe! I am so sorry to hear that you have not been able to have the same thing. I don't know what to tell you except maybe try another source for your plants. Some producers are more concerned about quantity than quality, and sadly they put out inferior stock which drives me "nuts" because not everyone knows the difference and think that it something they are doing wrong.

GardenSplendordotcom we get our hostas from various nurseries and garden centers here in the north seattle area. ive also read online that the "drawstring effect" is/can be caused by the deep green center of the leaves growing at a faster rate than the white edges, due to the darker green areas having a heightened ability over the white areas to perform photosynthesis, which in turn causes the entire leaf to become cupped? literally. some of ours are so bad they have actually rolled up on themselves, while the edge of the leaves have split and appear to be shredded. if you google, "Hosta Drawstring Effect", and view some of the pics, you'll see exactly what I mean.

Jason Burnett Thank you, for your update, it sounds horrible and I can see why any of us would not want them in our gardens! Kind of bears out what I was mentioning earlier, about my thoughts of maybe somewhere along the line stock in some nurseries has deteriorated from the original characteristics and why it is important to only buy plants from known reputable sources that apply good nursery practices. Over the years I’ve seen instances where other types of plants have significantly changed, for instance, I’ve seen dwarf conifers growing taller and more pyramidal because propagators have continually taken cuttings of the tops of liners, bicolor flowering plants turning all one color because cuttings have been taken from non-flowering plants and of course variegated plants throwing more reversion or becoming greener. I don’t know if this is happening here, but I know that if a nursery sells off their best plants and continually (year after year) propagate from the leftovers....., guess what, the stock deteriorates and slowly it becomes inferior and not what the original characteristics were! That’s why it is important for nurseries and propagators to diligently rogue out any malformations and why when we buy our plants, it pays in the long run to shop at places that care and keep an eye on what they are doing.

GardenSplendordotcom hmm... interesting point. i'll definitely keep it in mind while shopping next time. did you google "hosta drawstring effect", to see what I was dealing with?