Gardening with Hostas

Hostas are an all time favorite shade perennial – and quite honestly I’m pretty passionate about them.  I have found throughout my 25 years of gardening that I can plant them any time of the year the ground is not frozen.  They are as tough as a pair of old boots and speaking of boots you can even take an old pair and use them as a planter. I even dug out a few clumps one year in the middle of summer, left them in the garage, went on vacation for a week , then planted them and they did just fine

Hostas come in all kinds of sizes, shapes, colors and even blooms times.  Having grown over 300 of them at one time I do attest to some favorites.  Somebody once asked my what makes a Hosta a favorite – so here you go.

1)  I don’t  like those little holes that pop up all of a sudden in the leaves.  This is caused by slugs.   I have found over the years that slugs are drawn more to old varieties which have a thinner substance than many of the newer varieties with thicker substance.   As long as I know what  is filet mignon to them, I’ll stick with the newer stuff.

2)  Now that I’ve moved recently I have a lot more sunnier areas – so I like varieties that can do well in both sun and shade

3)  Hostas look great in the spring – but what about late summer & fall.  Hey – that’s when my gardening is really starting to kick in and sure don’t want any wimpy performers that start to shut down in August. 

So here’s my I-can’t-live-without Hosta list:

June  – nice medium size – just looks darn beautiful even into September

Stained Glass  – wow can this take some sun  and the leaves are SO shiny

Touch of Class -   the name says it all

Sum & Substance - no garden should be without this beauty – it just gets bigger & more impressive every year.

Regal Splendor – Its the vase shaped style this is just awesome.

TIP: Grows the best in well drained soil & moist conditions.
COMBINATION IDEAS: If I had only 3 plants to use in a shade garden, they would be Hostas, Ferns &  Hakonechloa macra Aureola
by Mary Walters. www.GreatGardenPlants.com

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