A Garden of Hostas
It's always so exciting to see how the gardens grow and thrive around my farm.
In 2020, we planted hundreds of hosta plants down behind my chicken coop yard across the carriage road from my allee of lilac. I first got the plants as bare-root cuttings and kept them in a cold frame for several months until they were big enough to transplant. In all, more than 700 hostas in a variety of cultivars including 'Wide Brim,' 'Francee,' 'Regal Splendor,' 'Elegans,' and 'Blue Angel.' Now two years later, they're doing excellently, filling the space with verdant foliage.
Here are some photos.
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- My plan was to plant lots and lots of hostas in this garden bed. Their lush green foliage, varying leaf shape, size, and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas.
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- Before planting, the hostas were strategically positioned and spaced, paying attention to variety, color, and growth habit.
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- Here they are after they were all planted in April of 2020. Remember the gardening rule of thumb – the first year the plants sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap.
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- In the spring of last year, we mulched the entire area. The hostas are already looking quite strong. All the hostas are planted under a grove of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. These trees grow faster than most trees. I planted these about 12 years ago.
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- And here are the hosta plants now – so big and so vibrant. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi.
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- Unlike many perennials, which must be lifted and divided every few years, hostas are happy to grow in place without much interference. In summer, blooms on long stalks extend up above the clumping hosta foliage.
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- Hostas are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
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- The plant flowers feature spikes of blossoms that look like lilies, in shades of lavender or white. The bell-shaped blooms can be showy and exceptionally fragrant.
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- These flowers have six tepals, six stamens, three cavities in the ovaries and the stigma at the top of the pistil has three lobes.
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- Here is a white hosta flower. Hosta flowers are also very attractive to hummingbirds and bees.
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- Hosta leaves rise up from a central rhizomatous crown to form a rounded to spreading mound. Most varieties tend to have a spread and height of between one and three feet.
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- Hosta leaf textures can be smooth, veined or puckered. Their surfaces may be matt, shiny or waxy but are usually satiny.
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- ‘Elegans’ has huge, rounded, blue-gray leaves with white flowers that bloom mid-summer.
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- This variety is called ‘Francee’ with dark green, heart-shaped leaves and narrow, white margins. A vigorous grower, this hosta blooms in mid to late summer.
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- Some hosta clumps can grow to more than six feet across and four feet high.
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- This is ‘Wide Brim’ with its dark green leaves and wide, yellow, irregular margins. This variety prefers full shade for most of the day.
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- And this hosta has light green leaves with darker green margins.
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- Hostas thrive in sites where filtered or dappled shade is available for much of the day, but they can survive in deep shade.
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- And always make sure your hostas are planted in good, well-drained, nutrient-rich soil with compost, well-rotted manure, and phosphorous.
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- A shade garden need not be dull – experiment with shade-loving plants. Hostas, with their palette of so many different colors, textures, and sizes have tremendous landscape value and offer great interest to any garden. I am so pleased with how well this garden is doing.
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