Growing Hosta
Growing Tips
Shade. It will take some sunshine if watered but will likely bleach out in direct hot sun. Some of the darker green leafed varieites or the ubiquitous Hosta medio-variegata (green and white striped) will not bleach and if given adequate moisture will thrive in sunshine. But for the most part, this is a shade to part shade plant if you want it to look nice.
Survives on manysoils but doesn't like wet winter feet and it can rot.
Tough plant - hard to kill once established and hardy down into USDA zone 3.
The key to growing great hosta is in the organic matter that both feeds the hosta and provides a constant and uniform source of moisture. Add an inch of compost a year to the garden or maintain a deep mulch. A deep mulch (3 to 4 inches) is a superb investment for the shade garden. Mimicking nature is an important way to garden and all natural shade gardens are well mulched with fallen leaves. The mulch preserves soil moisture and acts as a natural source of garden food. My experience with shade gardens is that they do require watering. While many garden books claim that such and such a plant will grow in dry shade, the reality is that the plant may survive in dry shade but few - if any - plants thrive in dry shade. Be prepared to water shady gardens for best results.
Propagation
By self seeding or by spring or fall division.
Name varieties do not come true from seed.
Get a shovel and dig up a chunk with a growing eye early in the spring for easiest and fastest results.
Varieties & Garden Design
H. sieboldiana 'Elegans'. The large ribbed leaves have a good blue tone to them. It is a slower grower than the common form but after a few years, it has an unmistakable presence in the garden.
Other good blue leaved Hosta would include 'Big Mama', 'Blue Angel' , 'Blue Cadet', 'Blue Cadet', 'Blue Mammoth' and even something like 'Halcyon'.
To ensure your visitors get the point, plant some gold leaved forms amidst the blue leaved plants. The contrast between the blue and gold will be stunning in the shade garden.
Good gold leaved forms include 'Golden Tiara', 'June' 'Paul's Glory', 'Janet', 'Gold Edger' (a dwarf), and 'Gold Standard'.
Some of you might want to combine the green, gold and blue in the same plant. In that case, look for H. ventricosa 'Aureo-marginata, 'Wide Brim', or 'Todudama Aureo-nebulosa' (one of my all time favourites) as well as the incomparable 'Frances Williams'.
Two others that visitors to my garden always admire are the monster leaved 'Sum and Substance' and the more ground cover like gold leaved form 'August Moon'.
Any or all of these plants (I've got them all and more in my own garden.) make a wonderful show of foliage all summer long. The golds highlight the shade better than any other colour and lighten up the garden. They all have flowers in July and while some gardeners cut them off, I enjoy the lily-like flowers.
You can use Hosta for showy specimens, ground covers, edging and fragrance. Pick the cultivars to complement your objectives.
Problems
Slugs are the main problem in hosta so here are some hosta care solutions and growing tips,
Questions and Answers
Here are some blue hostaHosta leaf bleaching problem -
If you want to ask about other gardening tips for perennials, click here