The title says it all. The Hosta is truly my absolute favorite plant in my entire garden beyond a doubt. I have so many varieties and so many, well, just plain so many I've lost count. These garden design tips are basically a catalogue of my favorite varieties but not my final list by any means!
Okay, let's get some of the basics out of the way before we get into the good stuff. Hostas' are an amazing plant for edging, border accents or for planting around shrubs and trees. I have hostas in full shade and I have hostas in full sun.
They are probably the most reliable leafy perennial any gardener can have in their arsenal. Once you get hooked, you will never be able to image your garden without them.
One aspect of having hostas that vary from gardener to gardener is what to do with the flowers. I personally cut them back leaving only the beauty of the leaves. Others enjoy the disproportionate stick like flower protruding from the centre of the plant. Sorry, my bias was showing there, whoops.
Now to my list;
Guacamole. I think I like the Guacamole just because I love the avocado dip so much. This hosta is chartreuse in color and has a wide green margin. It produces large pink flowers that are sweetly fragrant.
Blue Mammoth. The Blue Mammoth competes with the Big Daddy for shear size. This variety just seems to be bigger and bigger each year. The leaf is more of a chalky blue though.
Midas Touch. I really enjoy the deep yellow leaf on the Midas Touch. It's very broad leaf is heavily cupped like so many of the other hostas. Like the Blue Splendor, it has a near white flower that appears mid June to July.
Blue Splendor. Not sure why it's called Blue Splendor because the leaves on this hosta are more green then blue. The leaf is cupped and quilted and a near white flowers appear mid June to July.
Big Daddy. As you can image, this variety is just about as big as they come. The leaves are frosty blue, cupped and are heavily ruffled or quilted. A pale lavender flower appears in July but can be cut off if desired.
Pizzazz. The Pizzaz has a somewhat heart or oval shaped green leaf streaked with blue-green and a cream to white margin. I have a cluster of these surrounding the base of my clump form birch tree that simply looks amazing.
In addition to the above here are a few more...
Captain Kirk. How can you not want one of these? With a gold leaf center and a dark margin this one says, beam me up scottie!
Fire and Ice. The beauty has white in the center of the leaf with a very dark green margin. Lavender flowers appear on white stems.
Memories of Dorothy. With a name like this, just tap your heels three times and say there's no place like my garden. The blue-green foliage with creamy-yellow margins is quite the looker.
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