The Venerable Hosta
So Many Varieties, So Little Garden Space...Darn!
Hardiness Zones:
3-9Southern Zones: Dense Shade
Northern Zones: Light to Dense Shade
Preferred Soil Conditions: Rich, Humusy, Moist
Possibly the most popular perennial in America and why not?! With so many varieties (currently over 3,000 registered and named cultivars), every one of them beautiful, how can you go wrong?
Hosta (also known as 'Plantain Lily') is from the family
Agavaceae, and
is native to northeast Asia. Hosta
grow from rhizomes.
A
'rhizome' is an underground stem of a plant, that sprouts roots and
shoots from nodes. Hosta are clump-forming and herbaceous. They
produce flowers atop tall stems. The flowers are either
white,
lavender or violet and are scentless. They are pretty, but in
a
'reserved, quiet' kind of way.
As you can see from these few pictures, Hosta are truly grown for their glorious foliage. With literally thousands of varieties, there seem to be limitless combinations of colors, patterns, textures, and sizes. Pictured are a few varieties I am familiar with.
Dividing & Transplanting Hostas
Hosta fill in quite rapidly and grow into a wonderful leafy, round clump. They do benefit from an occasional division to aid in maintaining the desired clump form and size. Hosta may be divided in either the spring (when the eyes first appear) or fall when the plant is mostly dormant and in the root growing stage. When you do divide, be sure to share your divisions with all of your dear friends! Believe me, they will be very appreciative of such a thoughtful gift. That is exactly how I received my very own Hostas.
The picture to the left shows divisions that were taken this spring as soon as the eyes appeared. The 'Gold Standard' Hosta in this picture is a division from the parent plant shown in the above right photo. Just look how it has grown in only a few months time.
Hosta have many positives. They are relatively long-lived,
disease
free, and require little maintenance other than the
occasional aforementioned division. The only
negative is
that snails and slugs do
like to munch them
a bit, and apparently deer do
as well.
Although, there is an abundant deer population here, and I
have yet to catch
them snacking on any of my Hosta.
So, why not give Hosta a try if you haven't already. Stop by your local nursery and check out the varieties they carry. Or, check out the cultivars offered by our sponsors and order online. Finally, if you're very lucky, you will have a dear gardening friend like I have, who will gladly share their divisions with you. Enjoy your hostas!
To learn more about hostas, be sure to check out The American Hosta Society at www.hosta.org.
Please refer to our Annuals & Perennials Archive for additonal articles.