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Thinking of planting some hostas in your garden but are n’t sure which variety to choose ? The salutary word is that there are over 3,000 different types of hosta cultivars to choose from ! In this clause , certify master gardener and hosta expert Laura Elsner takes walks through her favorite hosta varieties .
Contents
genus Funka are the unequivocal rulers of the shade . Without make flowers as their main features ( although they do flower , some more stunningly than others ) , they swear on their striking foliage in subtlety of cat valium to draw in attention in the garden . Hosta are easy to develop , and arehardy in USDA zones 3 - 9(sorry tropical zones 10 + , but you all can originate houseplants in the garden so you ca n’t plain too hard ) . With such a wide range they can be summate to garden almost anywhere in the country .
Gardens are like paintings , they need to have an element that really focuses our attention . In garden . this is usuallysomething in full bloomthat our eye at once focus on . But if a picture has all bright focal points our optic have nowhere to put down , it ’s chaotic and hard for the learning ability to process . That ’s where the neutral and background elements come up in . In horticulture that is green , green is the al-Qaeda coloration that our eye float over .
So what happens when you have determine you desire to add hostas to your garden , but have tochoose from over 3,000 dissimilar cultivars ? You turn to someone with a little experience , and hope they can ply some guidance . So let ’s jump in and take a tone at 31 of our pet hosta salmagundi , with pictures of each !
Hosta Overview
So , this is the hosta . The foundation to a louche orbit . This is not to say that it is deadening , the hosta is anything but . The subtle variation in common from chartreuse to blue to white-hot and the variegations in dateless combinations gives such perfect details to the cornerstone . Just like in a painting , the main direction is wonderful , but after the initial gaze , the eye will start floating over the rest and scanning for those perfect minor detail . That ’s what get to it extra . Hostas impart the perfect extra something to a garden vignette .
Not all Funka are created equal , which is important to note when you are test to choose the perfect hosta for your space . For case , unclouded colored hostas take more sunlightto keep their color vibrant , whereas the darker thicker leavedblue hostaswill thrive in lower light conditions . Another consideration is size , some hostas will grow 2 - 3 ’ wide , while others top out at 12 - 18 ” astray .
Hostas are a versatilelow - growing perennialthat look groovy on their own , or when planted as a group . If a mass of hosta foliage is the looking you ’re trying to accomplish , keep in mind the color . Hostas with yellow on the interior of their leaveswill pop against other hostaswith yellow borders on their leaves . Keep in head that some hosta cultivar have sensationalistic leaf of course , but for others , it ’s a sign of poor health . A good way to settle which hostas will look great together is by using your shopping cart as the sheet and layering the various Hosta you ’re deciding on in it . You will notice immediately which combinations your eyes are drawn to and which ones do n’t belong to together .
Hosta Varieties
Ok , now I ’ve win over you to take hold of a hosta . You get to the garden centre and there is a whole hosta gangway ! Unlike the Pothos which has onlyaround a dozen cultivars , the hosta has over3000 registered hosta varieties . In this list , we will take a deep nosedive into 31 of my favourite hostas , which barely scratches the surface of the hosta world . But , it will provide a good foundation on where to bug out . So in no particular order , here are some fantastic hosta varieties .
Sum and Substance
summit : 36 ” Width : 60 ”
This is a big son hosta . If grown in its idealistic precondition it can hit 3 foot magniloquent and 5 feet wide ( I will advert , I am a dry northerly climate gardener , they do n’t get that large where I ’m from , it really count on your geographical zone and the humidity where you ’re gardening ) . The tumid and brilliant chartreuse leave brighten and bring contrast to the garden without bloom . It can take a part sun location since the leaves are abstemious in color . This is a great foundation hosta that occupy up a lot of space and then the more intricate or showy leaf hostas can be engraft in with it .
Whirlwind
Height : 16 ” Width : 35 ”
Whirlwind hosta is a not bad heavyset variety with twirly leaves that are variegated with white center and darker greenish margin . If placed in more Dominicus the white centre will become more pronounced , in suspect areas it will boast more unripe in their leave . They also get nebulizer of lavender blossom in the late summertime . Some people hump the heyday of hosta , and other people will turn off them off in Holy Order to display the beautiful foliage , either is fine .
Paul’s Glory
Height : 24 ” Width : 36 ”
Paul ’s resplendence is a beautiful vary variety . It has large prosperous leaves with a blue dark-green tolerance . A bang-up part sun hosta . The favourable and blue gullible variegation await even more dramatic when paired with its antonym , a hosta ‘ Liberty ’ which has the reverse color pattern on its parting .
June
peak : 18 ” Width : 24 ”
Hosta ‘ June ’ is one of my pet , it is truly a oeuvre of art . It has golden centres that run into the juicy green border . The fade almost take care like brush strokes of a lighter immature and then the darker green . It is like a real - life painting .
The first time I come across this genus Hosta in one of my node ’s gardens I cogitate there was a glitch in the matrix for a second , the way the leaf expect is almost pixelated , I had to touch the leaf to be sure it was literal . This one should really be shown off in the front of a garden with larger homely hostas such as Sum and Substance , Blue Angel , or August Moon in the background signal .
Halycon
Height : 16 ” Width : 32 ”
Halycon hosta is a classic gloomy immature variety . It features big costate leaves that are a cold blueish gullible diverseness . This is a great pick for a louche part of the garden , it likes morn sun , but will not tolerate the hot afternoon sun . The lavender flowers provide great contrast against the blue foliage ( of course if it ’s only foliage you ’re after , just nip off the flowers off ) .
Mouse Ears
peak : 6 ” Width 12 ”
This little genus Hosta is as cute as its name suggests , with tiny picayune blue mouse spike leaves it is perfect in a belittled nook , oreven in a container . I utilize mouse ears to dampen rough edges in a garden , like up against a large tilt , or gather in against a decorative log , it total softness without covering or hiding the feature . This guy is so petty , it needs to be at the front of a garden bed and will get lost if placed amongst other plants . It ’s really cunning in a shady container as a little filler plant since the bluish foliage is quite unique .
Praying Hands
Height : 18 ” Width 16 ”
pray hands is a unique genus Funka because its slender pointed leafage target upwards and look like , well , implore hand . I often talk about playing with the colors of hosta leaves when weigh groupings , but another aspect to see is texture . The upright form of this Funka behind a veritable leaf hosta creates a spectacular difference in height and form .
Blue Angel
Height : 36 ” Width : 48 ”
This is the big mamma in a hosta garden . With big stocky and ridged bluish foliage it is a garden anchor . This hosta definitely likes to be in the shadier areas of gardens because of it ’s dark and stocky leafage ( there ’s a scientific account for this , it affect chlorophyll , I ’ll part with you the particular , but darker leave = lower light ) .
Blue Angel is a great hosta to startle with when planning to make a genus Hosta group , get down with it and then layer other smaller genus Hosta around . This hosta is great for low-spirited zone , some of the genus Funka do n’t reach full voltage in colder climates , this one I ’ve run into grown to its full potential in zone 3 .
Brother Stefan
Height 20 ” Width : 32 ”
Brother Stefan hosta is beautiful , it was named the hosta of the year in 2017 by the American Hosta Growers Association . It has big blockheaded and puckered leaves with a tripping lemony lily-livered interior that looks like a darker bluish green has been fine brushed on the tolerance result a slice from lemony yellow , to cold blue green to dark gamy green .
Its thicker leave actually make it a slug resistant variety , which is big in dampish shady field of the garden that can be plagued with the slimeballs . This hosta would look bully next to hosta ‘ Blue Angel ’ .
Stained Glass
superlative : 12 ” Width : 36 ”
Stained field glass hostas have shining sensationalistic - gold interiors and a thin striping of green around its edges . This hosta can be grow in almost full Lord’s Day ( I say almost , this really depend on your location , Arizona full Sunday is much stronger than Seattle full sun ) . This hosta look bang-up with Sum and Substance , that lilliputian border of green will really bug out against the pure pea green leaves of Sun and Substance .
Patriot
Hosta ‘ nationalist ’ foliage rule features a medium green DoI that has an temporary blanched border . This is a popular variety and seem funky when it is miscellaneous with its friend , Reversed Patriot . The everlasting white edge on this hosta really brightens up shadowy areas and bet groovy at night shining in the moonlight .
Reverse Patriot
This genus Funka is just as it ’s name suggests , the reverse of a Patriot hosta . Its foliage has a ashen interior with an unorthodox intermediate gullible perimeter . This hosta looks great on it ’s own , or it can be grouped together with some unconstipated Patriot hostas to create a fantastic blur of white and unripened riffle splendor . Also utilise both Patriot and Reverse Patriot in areas of the garden that need a turn of a gaolbreak up from solid green , that contribute white gives a little something supernumerary for the eye to focalise on ( too much green is often a tone garden suffering ) .
Frances Williams
Height : 24 ” Width : 60 ”
When I first began gardening , the eccentric owner of the gardening society I worked for would jabber about Frances Williams genus Hosta , “ the only one worth planting ! ” she ’d exclaim . While I do n’t quite check with that statement , Frances Williams herself does make quite a statement in the garden .
This hosta has large thick and deeply ridged foliation that is blue in the centre with an irregular border of chartreuse margin . This hosta is very versatile and can be mate with both chartreuse hostas , like Sum and Substance , and blue hued hostas like Blue Angel . In fact , those three together would be garden harmony .
Guacamole
Height:18 ” Width:50 ”
Guacamole is another great Funka if you take to meet a space . It has a thick carinate leaf , and bright lime green leave , with a very small leeway of a intermediate green . This Funka is nice because of the subtleness of the two tone , which can really be made to pop when placed next to a more solid green hosta such as an August Moon genus Hosta .
Curly Fries
Height : 6 ” Width : 16 ”
Curly Fries is a unique genus Funka . It has very long narrow leaves and wavy edge and it is a beautiful chartreuse color . This hosta is great soften for edges in a garden , it almost has the appearance of a sedge weed with its elegant arched appearance . Place this one near anything that has darker foliage ( bugleweed , or a dark huechera comes to mind ) to intensify its smart pea green foliage .
Great Expectations
Height : 24 ” Width : 30 ”
Great Expectations is another genus Hosta that feels like a work of prowess . It has thick ridged leafage that are all pea green , but then it ’s as if a painter come and added brush stroke of a bluish green chromaticity all along the security deposit . This is another great feature hosta , it ’s so interesting it could even be used as a focal in a mixed container , or as a stand alone plant in a container .
Empress Wu
Height : 4 ’ Width 7 ’
Nope , it ’s not a misprint , this hosta is valuate by the substructure and not inches ! She is the large Funka currently on the market . While Empress Wu ’s parting are just a simple dusky green , its sheer size is what makes it digest out . I ’m fit to be honest with you on this one . I come up across this variety in my local garden eye and scooped it immediately .
I ’ve had it in my garden run low on 4 years now ( meaning it ’s establish ) and it never got huge . I live in a dusty and dry climate , I recall to get the full size out of Empress Wu you need to be in a location with more temperate winters and more humidity . But she ’s still a lovely genus Hosta in my garden .
Liberty
Hosta ‘ Liberty ’ is a decent sturdy genus Hosta with turgid leave with a gloomy - green interior and a spacious irregular perimeter of a creamy blank - chartreuse . This is opposite to Paul ’s Glory and would look attractive together , perhaps with a thoroughgoing chartreuse Sum and Substance hosta , or a vestal blueish Blue Angel hosta as a self-colored compliment depending which color you really want to bulge out .
White Feather
elevation : 8 ” Width : 10 ”
Hosta ‘ White Feather ’ is a pure whitened variety of hosta that always draws portion of attending for its staring livid foliage . It emerges staring white and then subsequently in the time of year it will get veins of green run through its leaves . I kind of think of this one as a purebred blackguard , beautiful and aesthetically likable , but not altogether practical or hardy .
Because it does n’t have much chlorophyll ( what makes the industrial plant green and is vital for photosynthesis ) , hosta ‘ White Feather ’ is n’t capable to farm as much DOE and is therefore a very slow growing multifariousness .
This variety does count great in container displays , it does n’t develop too big and the shining snowy foliage tote up a great dividing line to the other plant in the arranging . It also looks good in the front of a border , because of its small size of it , it gets lost in the garden if direct further back . For more pure lily-white foliage ( less green ) position this hosta in a more shady area of the garden .
Minuteman
Height : 16 ” Width : 36 ”
Hosta ‘ Minuteman ’ is a very democratic variety . It has large light-green leaves with a widely all-encompassing margin . It is true , magnanimous , and a slap-up selection to fill a outer space in a specter garden . This hosta looks great along a pathway where the big bright white borders will naturally illumine the garden at dark .
Striptease
Height : 20 ” Width 30 ”
I do n’t know who come up with the name of hostas , but this one is great ! Hosta ‘ Striptease ’ has medium size , semi pointed green parting with a distinct chartreuse stripe through the center . meet up this stripey striptease by adding a full chartreuse Sum and Substance hosta , or perchance a Guacamole hosta that has the thin light-green border margin to provide expectant compliment and demarcation .
Pandora’s Box
Height : 6 ” Width : 14 ”
Pandora ’s corner is a dulcet miniature hosta sport small leaves with clean interiors and a brush - slash border of green . This hosta look great nestle in between rock’n’roll , and in pots . This is actually one of the few Hosta I allow to blossom ( this is all personal preference , I trim off the flowers on Funka that I am only interested in their foliage ) . The lavender blooms get up up from the small leaves are just such a pleasing contrast to me .
ikon Credit : Cultivar413 via Flickr(use let with attribution )
First Frost
Height : 12 ” Width 24 ”
Hosta ‘ First Frost ’ is a simple and elegant hosta with a pointed leaf that has a bluish gullible Interior Department and an irregular lily-livered edge . The thing that pull in this hosta special , is afterwards in the time of year the yellow border will transform to white .
Fire and Ice
altitude : 20 ” Width : 24 ”
Hosta ‘ Fire and Ice ” is a beautiful sheer genus Hosta . It has smaller , more dense leafage than some of the other larger leafage genus Hosta . It has bright white Interior Department with a thin dark , almost forest unripe margin . This is a great addition into a dark-green and white hosta garden ( Patriot , Reverse Patriot , White Feather , Whirlwind , Pandora ’s box etc . ) . It ’s also a great form to consider in a Nox garden as the large white interiors will brighten up a midnight stroll down the garden route .
Dancing Queen
top : 18 ” Width : 30 ”
Oh the Dancing Queen reign supreme . I love this hosta ! Hosta ‘ Dancing Queen ’ is a large riff hosta with deep ridges along the leave-taking and little crinkly ruffles along its edges . The centre of the leaf is a darker greenish that runs through the ridge , this is a subtle detail that contours the ridges and work them toss off even more . This genus Hosta compliments any genus Hosta that has chartreuse in its leaves .
So Sweet
Height : 12 ” Width : 20 ”
This fresh genus Hosta is another smaller leafage hosta with glossy green leaves and a white margin . It has dense foliage and looks really lush in specter garden . Since it ’s a lower growing Funka it await great in the front of a group of hostas where it will be a dense mound of leave-taking around the fundament of another hosta which will facilitate create a lush grouping of foliage at all levels for the heart to travel across .
I also personally really like smaller leafage hostas since I garden in a region that receive a lot , and often large sized , hail ( golden me , I know ) . With a modest foliage hosta like So Sweet , I am able to trim out the holey leave-taking without trim back half the hosta .
Forbidden Fruit
top : 20 ” Spread : 34 ”
Hosta ‘ Forbidden Fruit ’ is another artistic marvel . It has a large inner portion of its foliage that ranges from a creamy lemon yellow , to light lime tree green ( the same plant can feature some leaves let light greenish and some with lemony yellowness ) , that is brush stroked into an temporary drear green margin . The foliage is so pretty , I use this one in pots , or in the front of layer where people can really take the metre to appreciate its beauty .
Abiqua Drinking Gourd
top : 18 ” Width : 36 ”
I was so excited when these started look in local garden middle . Hosta ‘ Abiqua Drinking Gourd ’ was one of those plants that was always have in garden mags and photos , but it seemed nigh impossible to find and use in gardens . It is a dark blue green hosta with thick deeply carinated farewell that form an up lining cup . These hostas can take shadowed sphere and when they get the morning dew caught in their imbibition gourd leaves they sparkle .
Blue Ivory
Height : 16 ” Width : 16 ”
This adorable and symmetrical hosta features a blasphemous green centre with a white margin . The leaves are smaller in sizing and slightly more pointed than some of the larger rounder leaf hosta . Place this one at the foot of a genus Funka ‘ Blue Angel ’ for a beautiful dispirited compounding . Or mixed in with hosta ‘ Halycon ’ which is a similar sizing , but a solid blue .
August Moon Hosta
I opine often in the following of grow the most alone hosta we forget about the beauty of the most childlike hosta . Hosta ‘ August Moon ’ is that simple genus Hosta , it ’s a large dense light green variety . Because of its easy John Bull immature foliage , it can wield more sun than some of the darker foliaged hostas .
This is a dandy building block genus Funka ( Sum and Substance , and Blue Angel both descend into this class as well ) , when other more ornate Hosta are planted with an August Moon kind hosta the unequaled differences in the ornate leafed hosta is intensified .
Fragrant Bouquet
Height : 20 ” Width : 48 ”
Hosta ‘ Fragrant Bouquet ’ is a large , orotund leaf hosta that is burnished fleeceable with a thin yellow clean leeway . It will come as no surprisal that the main feature of this variety is the sweetness that give forth from it ’s delicate plumage of sluttish lavender flowers . This hosta is great when placed near benches or areas where the adorable flowered smell can be bask .
Final Thoughts
Well , that listmight give you some big ideas , but it might also be very overwhelming . Just roll in the hay that when you go to your local garden centre or nursery they wo n’t have every individual form I listed , they will probably have some different unity , and even ones that are simply judge as ‘ Hosta ’ with no variety listed .
I think the take off is tofamiliarize yourself with some of the possible varietiesof folio pattern , size , color etc and adjudicate which direction you want to go base on your personal gustatory perception and the term of the garden you will be planting them in . Darker leaves need less sun than the bright leaf hostas , some Hosta grow 3 foot wide , while others stay heavyset , these are a few considerations when opt a Funka .
I bonk genus Funka because thepossibilities and combinationsare seemingly endless . I can still go into a garden and see a variety of hosta I ’ve never see before . It ’s a perennial with a million exercise . It can be used as a firm border or mountain of super C . It can be a undivided industrial plant used as an anchorman , or a focal , or you could take what I call the Pokemon approach andtry and catch them alland create a patchwork of gloss , shapes , size , and textures . Have playfulness , and glad gardening !
